Santa Rosa community education project

PES covers the period 5/81-10/82 and is based on document review, site checks, and interviews with USAID/G and FUNDACED personnel. Evalution was made difficult by FUNDACED"s poor adherence to project reporting requirements. Progress has been modest. Ten of 30 targeted village leaders have been trained to promote small community development subprojects. But although work has proceeded on Lorena stove projects, animal husbandry, and handicrafts and home economics courses for women, it has not generally been possible to attribute these achievements to the promoters, whose precise functions FUNDACED has failed to specify. Also, FUNDACED has organized 5 of 15 targeted village committees (with varied results), but has not yet begun to create specific committee positions on village committees or to train leaders for cooperative and small enterprise development. Only 200 people have been trained in agriculture, against a target of 1,200. More positively, FUNDACED has completed a feasibility study for potable water and 3 for construction projects (although no further action has been taken) and has trained 150 and 30 people, respectively, in health and nutrition and in environment/Lorena stoves, against targets of 60 and 30. External problems have included the need to demonstrate the project"s importance to a new national administration, the lack of counterpart contributions, the unsuitability of the original site for the Operations Center, FUNDACED"s inability to obtain essential project inputs, and the unavailability of key community personnel. The major internal problem has been the lack of project direction caused by FUNDACED"s youth (3 years) as a PVO and the inexperience of its staff, especially regarding A.I.D. procedures. It is recommended that FUNDACED obtain TA from an established PVO such as CARE or World Education to reprogram the project; FUNDACED has agreed to this. Project experience indicates that new PVO"s be given simpler and smaller projects so that they can develop their skills and human resource capabilities.