final construction project sl 2009

8/14/2019 Final Construction Project Sl 2009

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The Netherlands Toermalijn 7 [T] +31 (0) 84 39667 76

[E][email protected]

3643 AA MIJDRECHT [F] +31 (0) 84 39667 76

[W]www.mindtochange.nl

Sierra Leone 14, Bojon Street [T] +232 (0) 33 7358 20

[E][email protected]



MIND TO CHANGE – Sierra

Leone

PROJECT OUTLINE | one

SUMMARY

A community based construction and training called “Capacity Building and

Construction (CBC)’’. The project will focus on building trust, hope and capacity

between the community people and ex-child combatants that have had some basic

skills training from the National Commission for Disarmament Demobilization and

Reintegration (NCDDR). These ex-child combatants are staying in the various

communities, but are finding difficult to reintegrate into the society.

The Construction project comprises of a group of ex-child combatants that are in a

socio-economic difficult position because of lack of trust in their various

communities they are staying. Construction Group (CG) project will provide

occupational training, construction skills, as well as basic educational services and

leadership development.

The project is multifaceted, comprehensive and innovative. It provides aid not only

to the ex-combatants that are in need of assistance in various communities, but also

to the community people who suffered during the course of war. We anticipate that

25 percent of the program will be set aside for capacity building between the ex-

child combatants and the community people through providing them with free minor

construction services. This will especially involve people that are victims of the war

like the amputees, the war wounded, and the war widows.

After the disarmament, these ex-child soldiers went through various skill training

such as carpentry, masonry, tailoring, gara tying dying, driving plumbing, electrical



wiring. Most of these trainings lasted for only three months, and were followed by

handing out tool kits as a start up for the various careers. Based on the limited time

for the various trainings they received from NCDDR, most of the ex-combatants

ended up selling their tool kits. Yet some are still continuing with the trade, but

people do not trust them enough to be giving assignment or contract and this

especially counts for the carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrical wiring due to

lack of proper training and trust. As a result of lack of job, contract and assignment

for this category of people from the community where they are staying, Mind to

Change (MTC), as a humanitarian organization, sees it as a possible threat to the

fragile peace the country is presently enjoying.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

There are two major goals for the "CBC" Project and objectives within each of the

goals:

Goal 1 - To reduce the degree of marginalization among ex-combatants and child

soldiers.

Objective 1.1 - To provide community people in eastern Kono and southern Bo

province of Sierra Leone with relevant information regarding trust, forgiveness andacceptability for the ex- child soldiers.

Objective 1.2 - To assist communities with minor construction services in Kono and

Bo, especially the war victims.

Objective 1.3 - To teach communities in Kono and Bo how to evaluate changes in the

ex-child soldiers of their community.

Goal 2 - To effectively train the ex-child soldiers with various construction skills in

order to help them solve their socio-economic problems, and gain hope and trust fortheir reintegration.

Objective 2.1 - To recruit a group of ex-child soldiers (30 at provincial level each

year) and help them to reintegrate in society and to become independent and

trustworthy in their various careers.

Objective 2.2 - To provide a one (1) year construction and job training program for

the ex-child soldiers.

Objective 2.3 - To place the ex-child soldiers in a position in which they are able tohelp the community they are staying in with minor construction services.



TARGET GROUP

The target population for the CBC is the group of most socio-economically,

occupationally, and educationally disadvantaged ex-child soldiers in the various

communities. The project administrators will utilize the resources of the community,the community people, along with those of experts in construction companies,

educational planning, administration, and civil engineers to implement the program.

It is essential that the project administrators research, select, and recruit those ex-

child soldiers in the various communities that are most in need of the resources

offered. The following will be utilized by the project planners and administrators to

research, select, and recruit project participants:

• community newspapers and radio stations, using both community service

announcements and advertisements;

• community agencies (such as the Police ghettoes, poyo bars, and Boys and

Girls Clubs) to identify ex-child soldiers who are currently in difficult situations

or have nothing to do on daily basis;

• court officers and probation officers who can identify participants who have

recently been discharged from youth cities or state prisons;

• local religious institutions and their affiliated youth groups;

• local agencies that work with those recovering from alcohol or other

substance abuse problems who might be able to utilize the services of the

program;

• community offices of local political leaders, ranging from district leaders, to

members of the City Council, State Legislature, or Congress;

• individuals who refer to themselves or others;

• The ex-child soldiers themselves as they still know their colleagues that are in

difficult position in the community.

All recruitment efforts are to be conducted without consideration of a participant's

race, ethnicity, sex, disability, or sexual orientation, and a statement to this effect

will accompany all public service announcements, advertisements, and locally-

placed flyers or posters.

As part of the effort to recruit and retain participants with dependent children, it will

be necessary for the program planners to study the feasibility of providing child care

services for those hours during which program participants are on job sites and in

the classroom. CBC participants will be selected according to the following criteria:

• Participants must be between the ages of 16-30;



• They must be ex-child soldiers that at least have gone through basic

skill training in the following areas: carpentry, masonry, plumbing,

electricity painting, or be in serious risk of dropping out of high school.

75% of the program participants must have gone through the past

NCDDR program.

• They must be very disadvantaged or have no hope of making a living in

the community they are staying in.

• They should express an interest in learning about the construction

trades and in completing at least one of the above skill training options.

Twenty-five participants will be selected on the basis of recommendations of localcommunity people, agencies and leaders, and on the basis of an interview

discussion with the project administrators. Participants should be counselled prior to

their acceptance into the program regarding its length (1 year) and the daily time

commitment (9am-6pm, Monday to Friday) involved.

TARGETS AND PROJECT ACTIVITIES | two

REASONABLE COSTS

The planning process has taken into account all reasonable and legitimate expenses

related to the implementation of the CBC project. MTC and Instructors have had

extensive experience in managing, implementing and administering training and

counselling programs and this knowledge will be put to use to devise both the

project and the budget.

Cost estimates have been based on a detailed project design which takes into

account all of the criteria, and other aspects of the project, which include staffing,

wages, stipends, educational costs, workshops, travelling cost, communication cost,

implementation cost, and uniforms, tools and equipment. Other costs that will be

incurred will include counselling and support services, leadership development and

job placement.

The project is based on a year long schedule which takes into account the difficulty,

hazard and liability that training young people for the construction trades entail.

Safety will be emphasized and all progress through the project will be based on

capability, ability, attentiveness, and responsibility.

The instruction for each of the trades that is covered (carpentry, electrical,

plumbing, electrical wiring, and masonry) will be conducted by trainers who have



practiced the trade that they will teach for a long time. In this way the participants

will learn a great deal more than just how to perform the tasks that each of the

trades requires. They will also be involved in the actual practice of construction as

labourers on the site, and will acquire necessary understanding of the actual process

of construction that governs behaviour at construction sites.Each of the participants will be paid a small stipend for any completed construction

work. We have figured this stipend on the basis of the 10 months that the

participant will be in the actual group of the project. The remaining period will be

spent in job placement activities. Each of the trainees will likewise be provided

appropriate safety equipment, tools and clothing such as work boots, work gloves,

hammers, etc. Classroom supplies will also be provided in whatever manner is

deemed advisable by the instructors.

We have estimated this cost as follows:Selection activities will be extensive and the pool of applicants will be large. Those

not selected will be placed on a waiting list for other selection activities.

Educational and job training services will require one fulltime supervisor/counsellor,

4 part-time classroom instructors and 4 fulltime trade instructors. The cost of

staffing will be € 10.080 per annum.

Supplies and materials for each of the trainees, which will enable them to pursue

instant outside employment once the program is over will be € 22.950 per trainee.

All other costs of the program are reasonable and customary and are illustrated in

the budget worksheets.

METHOD | three

PROJECT PLANNING

The CBC project described comprises of workshops for the community people,research, selection, recruitment, training, education, professional and peer

counselling, leadership development, and job placement for ex-child soldiers who

have had basic knowledge in the above various skill trainings, but are not finished,

because of the short training they had from the NCDDR program, and have very

limited training, educational, or job placement resources available to them. This

project will include feasibility studies on recruiting participants into the project;

utilizing and supporting existing community counselling, child care, health care, and

job counselling services and developing new services where these do not already

exist; retaining participant in the program once they have begun their on-sitetraining and educational activities; providing basic English as a Second Language



training and instruction toward successful completion of construction training under

the supervision of MTC until they start to work in their various communities.

Wherever possible, community resources will be put to effective use through CBC in

their operation for the benefit of the community as a whole. In all instances, we will

work with educational consultants to develop the comprehensive educationalcomponent of the project. The participants will be involved into the planning of the

various skill trainings of their choice and program development in order to

implement the project successfully. Careful planning at the early stage of the project

will enable the participants to address the diverse problems they are facing.

POTENTIAL PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

The planning process will be focused on the research, selection, and recruitment of the participants in to the CBC project. The planners will need to study the available

knowledge and tools for recruiting participants: community people, community

newspapers, local popular radio stations, community centres, police community,

local Boys and Girls Clubs, the Society, and religious institutions and their related

youth groups, alcohol and drug centres, such as ghettos and poyo bars, and

guidance counsellors (to identify participants (ex-combatants/child soldiers) at risk

in the communities who may be appropriate participants), community service

agencies that work with young people, and individual referrals will be useful sources

for locating potential project’s participants. The program planners and

administrators need to make connections with these sources and establish working

relationships with them in order to complement existing community problems, while

providing a unique skill training, educational and job training opportunity for the

target population. Specifically, the planning process will be targeted at working

closely with the community to establish the project as a viable community project.

During the implementation stage, it will be necessary to work closely with

participants before they begin their on-site construction training or classroom

education. We want to provide intensive and extensive pre-program counselling that

will help participants to understand the scope of the project; the education,counselling, and training opportunities it provides; the importance of personal

commitment to changing earlier patterns of attendance, punctuality, and

responsibility in a job or school setting; and the potential to use the training to make

significant changes in the life of participants.

All ex-child soldiers who wish to take advantage of the project will be allowed to do

so because of the need to care for their dependents. As part of the effort to recruit

and retain these program participants, project planners will study the feasibility of

providing child care for those hours during which program participants are on the job

as well as the time when they are in class. It will be necessary to consider issues



such as on-site day care for their children in their homes. In addition, it is critical

that project planners take into account the licensing, and the health care, and

educational requirements of all participants. All of these issues need to be studied

and specific provisions for child care will have to be formulated.

STAFF TRAINING

Staff members recruited for the CBC project will be required to work effectively as a

team. Many will work with participants in more than one content area and all will be

expected to assume counselling and leadership-building tasks with the group as well

as a traditional classroom teaching roles. All staff members will need to spend

considerable individual time developing lessons and curricular materials outside of

required class time. In order to facilitate the team-building process, all the project

staff members will participate in a three days retreat after every two months,comprised of workshops and discussions focused on the community, the

construction trades, the program's population, and the mission and goals of the

project. The three days retreat will be held at the project site and will consist of the

following activities:

Monday Morning: Team- Building Workshop (outside consultant), role-playing,

discussions, and exercises to help staff members develop a closer acquaintance with

each other's individual expertise.

Monday Afternoon: The project goals and objectives presentations by programadministrators and a discussion.

Tuesday Morning: Introduction to Construction I field trip to a construction site that

will help staff members to become more familiar with the environment in which the

project participants will be spending an important part of their working day.

Tuesday Afternoon: Introduction to Construction II lectures by representatives of the

construction trades to help staff members understand basic terminology and work

processes on the job.

Friday Morning: Discussion of community and the project resources to assist

participants with problems related to health, child care, and family or legal

emergencies.

Friday Afternoon: Counselling II workshop on recognition and assistance with

learning disabilities; drug, alcohol, or other substance abuse; physical abuse in a

family or relationship; or personal psychological difficulties.

RECIPROCITY/ PAY BACK



The site of both the construction program and the training activities will be

conducted simultaneously. The work will take place in concert with the training

activities. The participants will be actively engaged in learning the relevant

construction trades on the site. The construction items identified in the program’s

funds will be used to construct public infrastructures such as community centres,market schools that were damaged or completely destroyed during the course of

the war in the form of harmonizing the relationship between the community

members and the ex-child soldiers.

The participants of CBC (ex-child soldiers) will provide free minor construction

service for the community people in the form of capacity building to harmonize their

reintegration. For example, if there is any damage done to the existing structure of

any community member, especially the war victims, the project will mobilize its

participants to repair the structure. In addition, if any community member wants to

reconstruct his or her structure that was destroyed during the course of war, uponhiring the project participants will have price reduction in labour fees in the form of

community solidarity to fully welcome the ex-child soldiers in their various

communities.

The costs for private construction will purely be the responsibility of the person

hiring the project participants, but the rehabilitation of any public structure will be

the responsibility of the community members and the participants of the project in

the form of pay back.

IMPLEMENTATION | four

a. The CBC project will be ongoing relationships with the community members at

various levels, other social service agencies, and construction companies in their

area of operation. It is anticipated that several of those completing the program will

continue their skill at one of the towns, cities or any community they found

themselves. MTC will run the project in the target area for one year and choose

other areas in the future. The expectation is that more community members would

be ready to accept the ex-child soldiers and obtain services from them the CBC

project after one year in the construction project. MTC itself will offer assistance to

the community in paying school fees for ex-child soldiers that are staying with some

of the community people. All participating in the project would, of course, be able to

use those services. Currently, MTC has on its staff a social worker who provides or

refers ex-child soldiers to the project.

b. In the past MTC has served as an organization to give scholarship to ex-child

soldiers in the form of a reintegration program. The staff of that program is currently

employed to MTC and has extensive contacts with those in the program as well asthe various categories of ex-combatants. These contacts and skills will be further



developed and provided to the staff of the project both in the planning and

implementing phase, as well as during the training period of the program.

c. During the planning phase of the project, all of the Joint Boards as well as the ex-

child soldiers, and the construction industry will be contacted for exact information

concerning their contribution for the programs. MTC's contacts with the variousstake holders as well as the community members, personal contacts with the

educational directors, instructors of the project should provide program with the

contacts necessary to facilitate the transition between the incoming and the

outgoing participants in the construction industry.

COUNSELLING, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, AND SOCIAL SERVICES

Although the Counselling and Leadership Development class component is integral

to MTC and the project’s success, it is also the case that every class, group activity,and on-the-job experience presents an opportunity for leadership development. Staff

members will be trained in essential team building skills not only to form a cohesive

cooperative learning group but also to work closely with the project participants to

facilitate and encourage the development of both individual and group skills.

Speaking in large and small groups; presenting an argument; negotiating; and

mediating among conflicting points of view will all be developed through solving real

problems presented to the group; role playing; and simulation games.

Participants may come to MTC with personal and social problems for which they mayneed advice and counselling. The program plans a feasibility study of child care as

part of the grant or funding process; participants who require counselling for

substance abuse, marital, legal, or other family problems will be referred to MTC.

EDUCATIONAL AND JOB TRAINING SERVICES

Activities:

The schedule below indicates the various educational and job training activities of the project.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

10am Construction Skills and On-the-Job Training

11am Construction Skills and On-the-Job Training

12pm -------- LUNCH -------

1pm



2pm Construction Skills and On-the-Job Training

3pm Construction Skills and On-the-Job Training

4pm Analytical Thinking, Math, , Leadership Counselling.

CONSTRUCTION SKILLS AND ON-THE-JOB TRAINING

This component of the participants' training will be developed with the advice of an

expert in apprenticeship training from one or more of the construction companies.

The consultant will be employed mainly to provide assistance in developing specific

program modules to teach specific job-related skills. The project participants will

work on construction and rehabilitation projects in their communities.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Construction Skills: this course consists of closely-supervised on-the-job work

experience at a local construction site. Participants will become familiar with

construction terminology; common work procedures in different construction trades;

the importance of teamwork; and safety procedures. Supervisors will be men and

women who have achieved journeyman status in their respective trades, and the

ratio of participants to supervisors will be no more than 7:1.

English as a Second Language I: this course will provide English language instruction

to those of the project participants who require rudimentary instruction in English. It

will meet at the same time and will share the same cultural events such as field trips

and guest speakers. Topics to be studied include basic grammar; simple sentence

structure; speaking; reading comprehension; and writing.

English speaking training is a critical component of the project, as many participants

will not have sufficient proficiency in English to allow them to compete successfully

in the job market, perform complex tasks on a construction site, or earn their State

General Education Diploma. The twenty-five students in the program will be grouped

according to their English proficiency, with class size ranging from 10 to 15 students. The program will employ two English instructors, each on a part-time basis. They will

work together to coordinate classroom instruction. Reading, writing, and speech will

also be taught by the English instructors in order to maintain a focus on language

learning. Examples of culture-focused lectures and trips that can form the basis of

classroom assignments in English, Reading, and Writing. (what do you mean by this

last sentence? Examples? What are the examples? I don’t get it..)

The instructors who teach English, Reading, and Writing should make every effort to

coordinate as much as possible into language and basic skill teaching.



READING AND WRITING

Reading: this course provides practice in reading comprehension, fluency, and

speed. Materials used in the course range from instructions for operating

construction equipment to advertisements, stories, newspaper articles, construction

education booklets, and compositions written by students. The course will alsoinclude practice in reading aloud.

Writing: Students in this course will improve their writing fluency, skill, and speed.

Subject matter can range from job experiences and personal entries in a journal to

current events.

As described above, these courses are closely connected to the teaching of English

as a Second Language. They should also be focused on teaching the skills necessary

to work successfully in construction. During the last quarter of the one-year

program, instructors will develop and use test-taking exercises to help studentsbecome familiar with taking standardized tests. Two hours each week will be

dedicated to instruction in Reading and another two in Writing. Points of grammar,

spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, and the formulation of a logical argument

will all receive attention in these sessions that will dovetail with the participants'

study of English language and structure in their classes.

SPEECH

This course will provide practice in a variety of forms of oral communication; readinga prepared text, conversation, group discussion, argumentation, and

extemporaneous speaking. Participants will be encouraged to share their own

written work with colleagues as they improve their fluency and diction.

The project’s participants will receive one hour each week in Speech instruction. This

will consist of prepared and improvised conversations, reading aloud,

extemporaneous discussions of topics important to the participants, job interviewing

practice, and informal group discussions. The Speech component of the curriculum is

closely tied to the Reading, Writing, and Leadership Counselling components in that

it seeks to improve the participants' self-image and self-confidence as well as

specific cognitive skills.

MATHEMATICS

Participants will become familiar with basic arithmetic, mathematical operations

such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, number placement, and basic

algebra. They will also become familiar with basic geometry. Learning materials

introduce mathematical skills required in construction as well as everyday activities

such as shopping or reading a chart or graph in a newspaper.



Practical mathematics in occupational and consumer settings will form an important

component of the Mathematics curriculum. However, it will be necessary to insure

that participants had a solid grounding in basic mathematical concepts. The

following topics will be among those covered in the Mathematics curriculum:

Basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division; Number placement,reading simple and complex numbers; Reading simple charts and graphs; Fractions;

Decimals; Percents; Measurement; Geometry; Introduction to Statistics.

LEADERSHIP COUNSELLING

This aspect of the project will transcend its Leadership Counselling by being a

classroom and job site experience. Participants will work together to solve problems,

negotiate solutions, and present divergent points of view. They will discuss issues of

personal development, of their experiences in the project, and encourage each otherto seek solutions for such problems as substance abuse, marital difficulties, or legal

problems.

Leadership Counselling offers the project’s participants an opportunity to learn how

to find the resources to address personal, family, and community problems. During

the course of the year, participants will discuss their progress on the job site and in

the classroom. The program counsellor will integrate class activities, including

teaching and job experiences, into the weekly discussions. Participants will also

become familiar with job interviewing techniques and strategies throughinformational films, discussions, role-playing of interview situations. The Leadership

Counselling component of the program will also serve as a job referral service with

connection to those local communities that lent their support in recruiting

participants for the project.

COSTS AND BENEFIT | five

The bulk of the CBC grant, funds will be used for the buying of tools to be used bythe ex-child soldiers, MTC as an organization identified to use during any

construction assignment that would be giving to them, and the total amount needed

to implement this project € 45.140. Also MTC will use the fund to pay teachers to

teach them with basic education for them to able do estimate and sign contract with

any future client. Mind to Change will use the fund to conduct workshops in the

communities they are staying in, in the form of capacity building, for the

communities to see them as people to be recon with for them to start giving them

construction assignment that will remedy their socio-economic position. (I think you

should rewrite these sentences, I don’t get what you mean exactly) MTC will use thefund to facilitate the minor construction services for the war victims in the project



operational areas. We estimate that 30 ex-combatants/child soldiers will be served

in the beginning face of the year long program. The program's Administrative cost

will be about 15 percent of the grant/funding budget.

The CBC grant/fund cost breakdown is as follows:

• Buying of tools (€ 22.950);

• Administrative costs (€ 2.450) ;

• The project will benefit both the community people and ex-child

soldiers.

• The community people will benefit minor construction services

especially the war victims, and the ex-child soldiers will benefiteffective training to be able to properly reintegrate and to solve their

socio-economic situation.

• The outputs of the project (?) are: capacity building between the

community and the ex-child soldiers. This means that at the end of the

project the community members and the ex-child soldiers will be able

to understand each other, that there will be proper reintegration of the

ex-child soldiers, that at the end of this project the communitymembers will accept the ex-child soldiers, there will be socio-economic

independency. This means that after the project, the ex-child soldiers

will be able take care of their social and economic situations.

• Average total cost per beneficiary is € 250.

• For this project, the value of benefits and costs of inputs are in the form

of vice versa.

The CBC costs include salaries, staff, workshops, transportation, communication,

medication, recruitment, and tools and materials for training and education and

construction work.

Administrative costs include all of the appropriate financial and program reporting

requirements, accounting and auditing costs, payroll and secretarial work and other

standard administrative costs.

The CBC costs will be funded through other sources including but not limited to

International Construction Companies’ Fund, State Fund for youth activities,



conventional lending, public and private matching funds, and International

Organizations.

MONITORING | six

MONITORING SHOULD BE DONE BY:

• the affected community, represented by the local committee;

• MTC organization (through the Operational Manager); and

The various donors such as: International Construction Companies, Private Sectors,

International organizations, to name but few that are going to fund this project.

MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION OF THE PROJECT

Achievements will be measured through questionnaires.

Achievement will be verified by the project administrators.

Monitoring and follow-up have to be part of the project activities. Part should be

continuous self evaluation by MTC as an implementing agency.

The monitoring and reports from the project will be available on three months bases,

starting from the day the project will come to an effect. The monthly report will be

available from the starting of the project.

PROJECT RESULTS | seven

Job Placement and Completion Follow-Up

The one-year project will offer participants a basic cognitive, developmental, and

experiential foundation for future life and work. However, training and educationrequire substantive follow-up in the form of job placement and continuing

counselling services for program graduates.

During the last month of the project, participants will focus on interviewing and oral

and written skills (development of a resume) in their area of trade they will become

familiar with.

Those who wish to explore the possibility of attending poly-tech will be referred to

Higher Vocational Institute at the community Vocational Institutes.



Measurable objectives will be achieved by the number of ex-child soldiers who are

trained and who will successfully complete the Capacity Building and Construction

project. In addition for each class and the job training sessions, attendance will be

taken, and attendance will be used to measure the degree of program success. No

participants will be permitted to graduate without attending 90% of the sessions/jobtraining in each of their area of trade.

Job and Leadership Development will be recorded with follow-up during one year of

the program of the individual participants. Follow-Up counselling will be made

available by (MTC).

BUDGET | eight

PROJECT BUDGET (30 TRAINEES)

Project CostsComponent Amount

Materials/ToolsSpecification Trainees

Amount

€ 13.325

Carpentry10 € 475 €

4.750

Masonry 10 - 335 - 3.350Electrical Wiring 6 - 220 - 1.320Plumbing 4 - 235 - 940Reciprocity/Pay back - 765



Printing of Learning materials - 500Uniform - 1.000

Teaching and Learning Materials - 700

Workshops Specification € 1.510

Community based capacitybuilding

Days Participants

Region 1: Koidu Town, Kono 3 50 € 550Region 2: Bo Town 3 50 - 550Region 3: MTC 2 50 - 410

Training SpecificationMont

hsSalaryp.m.

€ 10.330

Full time on the job

trainingsupervisor/counsellor (1)

12 € 140 € 1.680

Part time classroomInstructor (4)(€ 35 per instructor per month)

12 - 140 - 1.680

Full time trade instructor(4)(€ 140 per instructor per month)

12 - 560 - 6.720

Travel & Lodging € 150Food budget - 100

Project totals € 25.165

Transport is needed for the project instructors to be able to travel to the implementation

site, because the two places are not close to each other. If the project instructors are

travelling to these places they will need money for food and lodging, and the estimated

budget is for twelve months.

IMPLEMENTATION COST

MATERIALS AMOUNT Transportation MTC Project coordinator € 800Lodging MTC Project coordinator - 800Communication MTC Project coordinator - 550Printing office - 300Total € 2.450

Transport is needed for the project coordinator to be able to travel to the implementation site,

because the two places are not close to each other. If the project coordinator is travelling to

these places he will need money for food and lodging, and the estimated budget is for twelve

months.



PROJECT TOTALS

Project totals (direct & indirect costs) AMOUNTProject costs € 25.165Implementation costs - 2.450Total € 27.615

Transport is needed for the project coordinator to be able to travel to the implementation site,

because the two places are not close to each other. If the project coordinator is travelling to

these places he will need money for food and lodging, and estimated budget is for twelve

months.

THE ORGANIZATION’S PROFILE | nine

GOAL

Our main goal is to bring members of vulnerable groups back to mainstream society

and to actively involve them in their communities, raise their awareness of their

rights and duties as citizens of the community and the necessity of their contributionto society, and finally, to enable them to take responsibility over their own lives.

OBJECTIVES

Mind to Change will focus its projects and programs on empowering and

capacitating individual members of vulnerable groups to enable them to develop

their own lives in the post-war society through education, capacity building, and

skills training.

Mind to Change will:

• Stimulate durable peace,

• Protect and promote the rights of members of vulnerable groups,

• Stimulate societal reintegration and (re)building of the post-war society,

• Educate donor countries about the effects and challenges of war and

living in a post-war society, as well as educate donor countries about

life in a developing country.

Through;• the implementation of programs and projects in post-war societies



• educational campaigns in post-war societies and donor countries to

raise awareness

• scientific research for the development of effective programs and the

general good• Participation and involvement in the political debate and policy making.

BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION | ten

The CBC, is a project that comprises of a group of ex-combatants and child soldiers

that are in socio-economic difficult position because of lack of trust in the various

communities they are staying in. The Construction and Training (CT) project willprovide occupational training, construction skills, as well as basic educational

services and leadership development.

Mind to Change is a non profit organization working with ex- combatants and child

soldiers who have lost hope and trust in the various communities they are staying

for their role in the past war. The Capacity Building and Construction Training Project

is designed by MTC and the ex-combatants and child soldiers in order to build hope

and trust between the ex-combatants/child soldiers and the community through

construction group. Because of lack of hope and trust from the community for the

ex-combatants/child soldiers, it is difficult for them to properly reintegrate especiallyfor those that went through a skill training program with the National Commission

for Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (NCDDR) program.

After the disarmament, these people (ex-combatants/child soldiers) went through

various skill training such as carpentry, masonry, tailoring, gara tying dying, driving

plumbing, electrical wiring, to name but few for three months, which followed by tool

kits as start up for their various career. Based on the limited time for the various

training they received from NCDDR, most of them ended up selling their tool kits,

and some are still continuing with the trade, but people do not trust them enough to

be giving assignment or contract, especially the carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and

electrical wiring due to lack of proper training and trust. As a result of lack of job,

contract and assignment for this category of people from the community where they

are staying, MTC as a humanitarian organization sees it as a possible threat to the

fragile peace the country is presently enjoying.

This proposal requests attention from the various National and International

Construction Companies, Donor Communities, Institutions as well as private sectors

for their help in order for MTC to be able to change the negative image of this

category of people in post war Sierra Leone, by forming groups of them in wherethey can start to exploit the training they have acquired.



We anticipate that whatever support, assistance, funds or grant giving to MTC, will

be an essential and primary part of our program and will help MTC to provide them

with occupational training, construction skills, as well as basic educational services

and leadership development, counselling to community people, in conjunction with

the rehabilitation of some of the public and private structures that was damaged orcompletely destroyed by the ex-combatants and child soldiers during the course of

the war.

The project MTC has proposed is multifaceted, comprehensive and innovative. The

CBCTG will provide aid not only to the ex-combatants and child soldiers that are in

dying need of assistance in the various communities but also to the community

people who suffered during the course of the war. We anticipate that 25 percent of

the program will be set aside for capacity building between the ex-combatants and

the community people through providing them with free minor construction service

especially people that are victims of the war like the amputees, the war wounded,and the war widows.

The ex-combatants and child soldiers are particularly vulnerable and dependent on

the community people for job/employment opportunities for both economic and

social reasons. Economically, the ex-combatants, and child soldiers’ population is far

more lack behind, because in this country the extended families can play a basic

role if they are staying together to sustain themselves in difficult times. Furthermore

the ex-combatants population and child soldiers are confined in a particular area

and are unable to search for opportunities elsewhere. If you go to the cities and

towns in Sierra Leone, you can find the ex-combatants and child soldiers in slum

areas, and remote parts of the towns. They are always grouped together, and

sometimes they engage in illegal activities for their living. Demographically, the

population of the ex-combatant/child soldiers is usually youthful. More than one third

of the population is under 28 years of age with the majority under 21.

The poverty rate is overwhelming. The population of ex-combatants and child

soldiers has the highest poverty rates in all of The Cities and Towns in Sierra Leone.

Over one third of their population is below the poverty line. Over 50% of them is still

staying in strange places instead of its places of origin, and has great difficulties interms of coping with its economic situation. The unemployment rate is over 25%

among the ex-combatants and child soldiers according to our findings in working

with them. And this does not account for the hidden unemployment and

underemployment that is pervasive in the local areas in Sierra Leone.

From the figures available at the present time the future looks no better, and that

will serve as a possible threat to the fragile peace in the country. Below half of the

ex-combatants and child soldiers’ population is in the labour force. Much of this can

be traced to the lack of available employable skills, lack of trust, or a mismatch

between the skills of the ex-combatants and those required by local or regionalindustries or companies. Most of the members of the local community who are



employed work in informal sector such as farming, mining diamond petty trading,

clerical support, service work, sales and general labour. With the emerging young

population entering the work force, the ex-combatants are drastically in need for a

Program that will provide occupational training, construction skills, as well as basic

educational services and leadership development, counselling for them to gain newand better employment possibilities.

The ex-combatants and child soldiers are facing an inevitable crisis involving the

continuing marginalization from the communities they are staying in. Without a

significant change in the current trends of the younger people, whose majority is ex-

combatant and child soldier, will be forced to leave elsewhere to find employment

they have had the training for, such as armed robbery. They will be going to other

areas where there is conflict in order to support their families, since most of them

are married and are having children. One of the ex-combatants told us that at any

time he is in difficult financial problems, he thinks of robbing someone to getmoney, because he has had basic training but cannot make any money out of it.

One of the potential areas of economic growth in the next decade is likely to be

infrastructure, because most of the structures were damaged, and some were

completely destroyed during war. The infrastructure is a major problem in most

parts of the country, since the end of war six years ago.

In these circumstances training for the construction trades has the potential to have

a major impact on the local labour force especially among the ex-combatants/child

soldiers. The likelihood of both union and non-union employment in construction forbuilding both housing and the resulting infrastructure improvements is likely to be a

growth industry in the near future.

final construction project sl 2009

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