The workshop

Zambia proved to be an ideal location for the meeting not only because of its centrality and good communications with all the other countries, but also because Lusaka's history of settlement improvement projects provided impressive evidence of what can be done when self-help is an integral part of the process. For seven days, the participants lived and worked together just outside Lusaka, making use of the conference facilities run by the Zambian Council for Social Development, the coordinating body for non-governmental organizations in Zambia. All of the days and most of the evenings were filled with presentations of training materials, working group discussions or descriptions of the settlements situation in the countries. The open-air conference room and simple accommodation provided the setting for intensive work, as well as opportunities for slide shows, films and the chance to get to know each other informally.

True to the principles of self-help and group work that formed the Workshop content, the tasks of managing the proceedings were shared by all participants, who performed the tasks of recording and chairing sessions, keeping a library and organizing projectors, meals and transport. On the first day, each member of the group identified the concerns that he or she wanted to be addressed by the Workshop, and the topics of the working group sessions were selected based on these concerns. The sessions were modified following a self-evaluation mid-way through the week and, somehow, time was found to discuss and visit settlements project sites in Lusaka.