Introduction

The workshop which inspired this manual took place on July 3-5, 1989. It addressed the needs of Peace Corps/The Gambia volunteers who are helping village women develop income generating projects. This publication may prove useful to you if you are developing a local marketing project or simply if you wish to conduct training sessions on the separate subjects.

The manual alas to assist you to:

1. Use special techniques that you as facilitator of a group training activity can employ with adult learners.

2. Deal with the cultural and practical problems that women face in controlling their finances.

3. Focus on the type of project that will most benefit the women in your village by using basic principles of marketing.

4. Think about ways to improve quality of locally made products.

5. Develop and conduct teaching sessions on numeracy and bookkeeping.

WAYS AND MEANS:

The goal of this manual is to provide field workers with practical means that can be used directly and immediately for conducting training sessions.

This will be done by:

1. Presenting concepts on the key subjects of:

THE ROLE OF THE FACILITATOR IN ADULT LEARNING PROBLEMS WOMEN FACE IN CONTROLLING THEIR FINANCES PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING QUALITY CONTROL NUMERACY AND BOOKKEEPING

2. Offering suggested session plans for training which are simple and can be easily replicated in village settings. These session plans are developed especially for illiterate participants.

Of course, you, as the facilitator will be confronted with unique situations in your village setting and will have to rely on your common sense and creativity in developing your sessions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This manual is a result of a group effort. I would like to especially thank Lacey O'Neal and the members of the volunteer Women In Development (WID) Committee for assessing needs in the field, assistance in planning and conducting the workshop and for their continuing support and enthusiasm for this project throughout. WID Committee members Bayard Lyons, Andre Burman, Nicky Rawson, Michael Berndt, Sherilyn Paris and Mary Lou Alexander, provided valuable assistance with detailed notes taken during the workshop sessions. I also extend my appreciation to the GARD Project for their support in the production of this manual.

Special recognition and thanks go to Sherilyn Paris for her artistic contributions and the considerable time and energy she expended on layout, editing and production.

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the invited facilitators whose expertise appears on the pages of this manual:

** Ted Hazard, Technical Assistant to Management Development Institute (MDI), The Gambia

** Sam Cole, Language Instructor, Peace Corps, The Gambia

** Ms. Ndey oley Jobe, Manager, Gambian Artisans Marketing Cooperative (GAMCO)

** Ms. Aminatta N'Gum, Magistrate and Board Member of Gambian Women's Finance Corporation

Finally, I would like to thank the workshop participants for their quality input to the workshop, which helped confirm mutual desires to further the women's position in The Gambia. Their names appear on the session plans that they developed.

Peace Corps/The Gambia would greatly welcome any comments regarding this manual.

Sheila Reed