By Kemo Cham in Makeni
The Sierra Leonean NGO FOCUS 1000 on Monday kickstarted training for data collectors ahead of commencement of a nationwide exercise to map its partners.
Five separate training sessions will be conducted at regional levels for data collectors who will conduct the mapping exercise using the computer application, KoboCollect. The mapping will be done in specific chiefdoms, sections and communities across all 16 districts of the country.
One of the first set of trainings took place in Makeni, bringing together participants from four districts – Bombali, Tonkoli, Karene and Kono. The trainees were drawn from among the Kombra Network and FOCUS 1000 staff.
The mapping exercise is funded by the international NGO, Goal.
Sallieu Jalloh, Programme Manager for the Goal-funded project at FOCUS 1000, said that the objective of the exercise is to create a directory of the organization’s main partners to enhance collaboration and coordination of development activities in their areas of operation.
“We want to know who is where that we can work with,” Jalloh told participants prior to commencement of the training which was conducted in the conference hall of the Sierra Leone Teachers Union offices in the city of Makeni.
The Chairman of the FOCUS 1000 Board, Shiekh Abubacar Conteh, graced the training session and in a statement he urged the participants to endeavour to play their part in efforts to continue the “noble” work envisaged by the founders of the organization.
The mapping exercise is being conducted after FOCUS 1000 unveiled a Five-year (2024 – 2028) Strategic Plan and as the organization announced an expansion of its activities beyond its initial portfolio of healthcare advocacy.
Founded in 2012, FOCUS 1000 was dedicated to promoting recommended health seeking behaviours and advocating for quality services, with particular focus on maternal and infant health care. Over the years, the organization which has earned the nickname ‘UNICEF of Salone’, due to its impact on children, has expanded its activities to cater for social protection and education. The rebranded version of the NGO, which was unveiled last week, include agriculture and climate change among its priority areas.
The partners to be mapped in the course of the next five years have been selected to include institutions which work in these thematic areas.
But FOCUS 1000 officials say the number one target for the mapping exercise are members of the Kombra Network, its main partners.
The Kombra Network is a coalition of grassroots organizations created by FOCUS 1000, which helps the NGO achieve its objectives through social mobilization and community engagement. The network comprises five main pillars of organizations: religious leaders (Christians and Muslims); traditional healers, civil society, market women and media.
Data collectors will target places of worship (Churches and Mosques); homes of traditional leaders; schools and offices of local and international NGOs in all FOCUS 1000 operational areas. They will also map government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, including hospitals, District Health Management Team (DHMTs).
Patrick Faya Mansaray, FOCUS 1000’s Chief of Operations, is heading the team that conducted the Bombali training, which will also serve as supervisors of the mapping exercise in Tonkolili and Kono.
The whole exercise is scheduled to last for five days.
