Cultural relevance of project activities

Utilization and respect for traditional structures and institutions such as clans has been the strength for the project and Partners. Partners in recognising the importance and value of traditional social structure and building on it, has succeeded in building community consensus through clan group discussions, zone and combined forums, which were participatory and facilitated by well trained facilitators.

Most times people from outside create new structures or appoint new leaders in the communities but for Partners, existing traditional leaders were respected and utilised to take the lead in mobilising and organising their clan members for the new initiatives. Clan group discussion is a culturally appropriate as the existing leaders are given the task to lead the discussions and that has been the practice of Managalas people. Clan is a powerful institution with the village that people resort to for cultural activities and discussions. The project has shown respect for the traditional institutions that the people have as their source of community power.

Discussions through clan groups respect and strengthen people's cultural institutions and the values of those institutions. The clan discussions are conducted and attended by most members of the clan since the traditional clan leaders were in charge and control of the discussions but the motivation to initiate the discussions is at most times not available.

To lead clan group discussions is not a new phenomenon for the clan leaders but the issues for discussions are new to most of the clan leaders. It has become obvious to the evaluation team that many issues in the clan discussions are new information. The clan leaders and members often do not possess the skills to process that information and most times depend on Partners to provide detail information. There is clearly a need for increased training of facilitators and for continuous attention to ensuring that discussion process fit as neatly as possible with local cultural practices.

Clan leaders and facilitators taking the lead role in discussions is a traditional norm and practice but getting an allowance at the end of the discussion is an introduced practice. The respect leaders gain from their people is the foremost compensation anyone can get in most Melanesian societies and not necessitating a physical gift. We raise the question about whether allowances for clan leaders are necessary and productive. Providing allowances to the clan leaders is simply putting a value on the leadership role and creating inequality among the clan members. It is like telling a leader that you are worth K10 and nothing more. The feeling of a leader having all the money while rest of the community members go without money is created.

It may be true that because of the added responsibility, the leaders should be compensated but whose work are they doing? If it is their communities' work and for the benefit of their communities, then there is no reason for the project to provide an allowance.

Traditionally, when a leader is given a gift, it is shared equally among the members of the community. Leaders find it difficult to share the K10 they earn from the project among the community and as a result they demand for an increased allowance.

It should be considered whether the consensus building process has by-passed the village, which is an important institutions that people organise around. The identity of the people on the Plateau is recognized through their villages then their clans. It is within their villages that the people are recognized through their clans.

Management and leadership skills are evident in some CBOs but since CBO is a new concept many staff and leaders are not equipped with skills to efficiently manage the CBOs. Since most of the CBOs are geared towards money-making which is not the traditional or cultural practice of the Managalas people, they are not in the position to buy into the concept. People do not have much control over the CBOs whereas the people have much control and power over the management of their clans.

Traditional cultural beliefs, values, and practices are source of sustainability of any initiative in Melanesia. If those belief, values, and practices are neglected in the phase of project design and implementation, then the project is doomed to fail. The traditional values and practices have to be explored and utilized.