MAP/HEED KAMALGANJ RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (5/29/79)

Evaluation spans the period 5/78 to 5/79. Three-member evaluation team spent two days observing proj activities. The MAP/HEED (Medical Assistance Prog, Inc/Health, Education, and Economic Development) is in its third yr of operation of an integrated, low-cost health & rural development proj in Kamalganj Thana, Sylhet District in Bangladesh. MAP/HEED is requesting a six-month extension from 7/79 to 12/79. Proj operations improved over the last two yrs, with less personnel conflicts and turnover, and significant progress in employing & training village workers. Expatriate staff decreased from 23 to 17; and the HEED natl staff expanded from 78 to 124. A sampling of outputs from the various HEED proj components included: 80 persons trained in and 400 persons exposed to Fundamental Education (FE); 17 Village Health Workers trained; many leprosy cases arrested, and corrective surgery performed on several leprosy victims; 25 farmers trained in the use of demonstration plots; 5 Union people trained to give livestock vaccinations; 10 ponds stocked with Nilotica fish; and a wider acceptance of winter vegetables achieved with the provision of seed kits to 272 farmers. Two basic issues emerged from this evaluation: First, is the proj"s purpose to support Govt of Bangladesh progs or to establish an independent HEED prog. The second, concerns a proj strategy of integration versus coordination. The evaluators note that there is no Govt of Bangladesh prog which seeks to integrate public services at the village level. This Western community development theory required a great deal of effort, with few lasting outputs. Evaluators recommend that USAID grant the requested six-month extension, and that an in-depth evaluation be conducted in 11/79. HEED should prepare an implementation plan for the next six-months, clearly delineating proj purpose and strategy. USAID should consider a second proj phase only if such a phase would clearly strengthen GOB progs.