Economic Literacy Community Economic Development (CED) Training – From Saskatoon to Mozambique
18 Participants of the CED Training School receiving their certificates.
Last September I traveled to Mozambique in Southern Africa to assist Quint board member, Don Kossick, develop and deliver a 6 week CED training course.
The Massinga Training Centre and Training for Health Renewal Program has partnered with the University of Saskatchewan to orient and educate health professionals on how to work with communities in developing healthy communities, and how communities can develop their own capabilities in building a healthy community.
Similar to the findings of Saskatoon Health Region’s Health Disparities Reports, the Massinga Centre recognized the need to address the underlying social and economic determinants of health to address poverty and community well-being. A new initiative of the centre was created to understand and implement local community enterprise and community economic development (CED) initiatives that contribute to healthier communities.
Community members identified that training and capacity building on how to organize a local enterprise, and to do that within the framework of strengthening the whole community.
Some of the topics in the CED training school included:
- Developing comprehensive community plans
- Tailoring economic development to local conditions (e.g. The role of chickens in the village economy in rural Mozambique)
- Good Leadership and Good Governance
- Making a Business Plan for a small enterprise
Eighteen people from 4 communities graduated from the course and are now working on CED projects. Plans are being made for a group of Mozambiquans to visit Saskatoon in the near future and a similar CED school will be organized here.
Len Usiskin, Manager, Quint Development Corporation
From the Quint Development Corporation Spring, 2009 newsletter, article by Len Usiskin, Executive Director