The NPCC is committed to providing opportunities
for people of all walks of life to act upon their immediate environment
through their own ideas and actions. A cornerstone to this empirical approach
is the CAT (Civic Action Team) which creates greater acceptance of civic
values and responsibilities and which is an all-embracing tool accessible
to anybody, of any age group, of any academic level and any professional
activity. CAT’s philosophy and methodology are close to those of quality
circles which originated in post-war Japan to solve work-related problems.
Quality Circles are themselves based on the Kaizen philosophy which views
continuous improvement as a way of life. However CATs go much further and
aim to promote and develop the sense of civic responsibility and to empower
the citizens to become active partners in community development, especially
at the level of the grassroots (in schools, families, NGOs, youth centers,
women centers and social centers etc).
Visioning and strategic planning exercises,
productivity tools that are usually used at the corporate level are also
adapted to facilitate a participative approach at the grass-roots level
to identify, reduce and eliminate muda and work out community and business
collaboration. The methodology used is usually the ZOPP, an acronym of the
German term Ziel (Objectives), Orientierte (Oriented), Projekt (Project),
Planung (Planning).
The jury of the third CATs' convention, targeted at the education sector, invited the participants to share their enthusiasm with their friends and to induldge in networking to spread civic culture
Business Collaboration at Grass Roots
Streaming of Textile Employees who have
lost their Jobs
A visioning workshop was conducted in May
2004 in order to address problems that would prevent some 30 women having
lost their employment with the closure of garment enterprises in the Savanne
district from improving their livelihood. The workshop was organized by
the FCEM (Fédération des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises). The obstacles to effective
entrepreneurship development relevant to the target group and the geographical
realities were identified and subsequently, the core objective agreed upon
was to initiate new collaborative projects and build self-confidence. Clustering
was mentioned as an appropriate tool to improve prospects for development
and FCEM would provide assistance in the setting up of new enterprises.
The Commissioner for Africa of the FCEM was invited to become a member of
the PC on Clusters-Incubators-Science Parks.
Identification, elaboration and implementation
of projects for grass roots
A four-day training workshop, in CAT’s philosophy
and methodology, targeting 200 unemployed women, in the four regional Home
Economics Division, namely Plaine des Papayes, Quartier Militaire, Bambous
and Plaine Magnien , of the ministry of Women’s Rights, Family Welfare and
Child Development, was carried out in October 2003.
A training programme in CAT’s methodology targeting 20 mothers and 50 children
of SOS Village Mauritius has started in May 2004, in Beau Bassin and in
Bambous.
A two-hour presentation was made on 16 April 2004 with the collaboration
of the National Handicraft Promotion Agency (NHPA) for artisans. The objective
was to introduce artisans to the benefits of collaboration. Twenty artisans
attended and an association of handicraft manufacturers was subsequently
set up.
INTEGRATED COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Developing a shared vision among NGOs
A visioning exercise was conducted for some
175 NGOs, members of MACOSS (Mauritius Council of Social Services) on 8-16
April 2004. The objective was to enable the participants to develop and
share the same vision and mission and to elaborate an action plan accordingly.
Financial assistance to projects likely to impact on the life of the
inhabitants of Moka-Flacq
The Mohunlall Mohith Award for Integrated
Community Development was awarded to the Y2K Citizens of Vuillemin, Quartier
Militaire, on 28 November 2003, by the President of the Republic, Sir Anerood
Jugnauth. The Civic Action Team (CAT) of 5 members worked on a project to
upgrade the level of education of the inhabitants of Vuillemin. The CAT
had identified poor education as the main problem that brought about many
social problems such as alcoholism, vandalism, drug addiction. They had
set up an Educational Circle to (1) assist students (2) provide moral education
(3) cater for the education of adults and (4) provide ICT courses.
The Mohunlall Mohith award, which
was presented to the Y2K Citizens, selected as the best Integrated Community Development project, intends to recreate the voluntary spirit and commitment of Mr. Mohith who is 102 years old
Nine projects were submitted for this first
edition. The jury was chaired by N. Treebhoohun, the executive director
of the NPCC.
A seed money of Rs100,000. was offered, by
the Moka Flacq District Council, to the winners for the implementation of
their project which would impact on the well-being of the inhabitants of
the Moka region.
Other projects submitted for the Award could
benefit from the help of the National Development Unit (NDU), the Citizens
Advice Bureau (CAB) and other stakeholders.
Projects linked to the Impact of Climatic Change on the Coastal Zone
In November 2003, 14 inhabitants of Grand
River South East attended a training on the setting up of CATs following
a visioning exercise organized by CEDREFI in collaboration with the NPCC.
Three CATs were set up and started to work on projects linked to the Impact
of Climatic Change on the Coastal Zone. The projects were expected to come
to completion by end 2004.
Developing Civic Responsibility
Sensitising and Training in the education
sector
The education sector is one of our main target
audiences, especially regarding social capital development.
In July 2003, a sensitization programme was
organized on the CAT’s philosophy and methodology, targeted at the management
staff of primary and secondary schools. Indeed it is considered that, for
effective improvement to take place in any organisation, there must be commitment
from the top management. 138 persons attended the sensitization programme.
176 teachers, head teachers and rectors from
69 primary and secondary schools were trained, on a regional basis, during
five two-day workshops organized in July 03- August 03, to act as CATs’
facilitators.
In-house training in the setting up of CATs
was organized in August / September 03, for teaching and non-teaching staff
and students of Gopeechand Chuttur Govt school, Ecroignard; Prof Hassen
Raffa SSS, Terre Rouge; Mauritius College (girls), Curepipe; and Marcel
Cabon SSS, Beau Bassin.
Minister Fowdar, the chairman and the executive director of NPCC interacting with participants of the CAT's convention
Third CATs’ convention targeted at the education sector
295 participants, aged between 12 and 17
years old, from 28 schools - primary and secondary, private and public -
representing very diverse socio-economic and academic backgrounds presented
their projects at the third CATs’ convention targeted at the education sector
at the Octave Wiehe auditorium, University of Mauritius in March 2004. All
the participants had been previously trained to debate issues, participate
in the setting up of priorities at the level of their family, school or
community, act upon problems of their immediate environment, exercise their
full rights and fulfill their responsibilities in decision and implementation
processes. A jury was set up to analyse and suggest areas for continuous
improvement to each CAT. The panel of jury which included Mr. Teeluck Buwanee,
Registrar of University of Technology Mauritius, Mr. Marc Fok Tim Production
Shift Manager of Ferney Spinning Mills ltd, Mr. Hootesh Ramburn, Project
Manager of the Computer Proficiency Programme and Mr. Baljinder Sharma,
Director of CDAC School of Advance Computing, was chaired by Mr. Jacques
Dinan, Director of Infocom Ltd. The chairman of the NPCC, Mr. J-Noel Humbert
proposed that the CAT be officially endorsed as a tool for practical civic
education by the ministry of Education and Scientific Research so as to
‘rescue our youth from petty theft and vandalism, alcoholism, drug addiction
and other calamities’.
The CAT of Keats College sponsored to
present their project in Lucknow
For the first time in Mauritius, a jury was
set up to carry out a structured audit of six school-based CATs having implemented
their action plans presented during the second CATs’ convention organized
in March 2003. The jury members, who visited and audited the proects, were
as follows: Pat de Marassé Enouf, Director of Craft Academy; Mark Fok Tim,
Shift Production Manager of Ferney Spinning Mills; and Soudil Dussoruth,
Quality and Training Coordinator of FAIL Group. The following criteria were
applied: Institutional support, Problem identification, Institutional support,
Problem analysis, Developing solutions, Developing an action plan, Implementation
of actions, Sustainability of actions, Innovation, Communication skills,
Brainstorming, Conducting meetings and keeping of records.
The six schools were: Eden College (Boys)
Quatre Bornes; Loreto College, Rose Hill; Keats College, Chemin Grenier;
Mauritius College (Girls) Curepipe; Windsor College (Girls), Rose Belle
and Universal College, Rivière du Rempart.
A ceremony was organized, in December 2004,
to reward the school-based CATs having successfully implemented their action
plans and won the appreciation of the jury.
The guest of honour was the President of
the Republic, Sir Anerood Jugnauth G.C.S.K, K.C.M.G, Q.C, who said that
it was his ‘duty to attend a ceremony geared towards rewarding our youth
in the enhancement of their civic responsibilities’.
Keats college worked in collaboration with Telfair primary school to bring to a successful completion their CAT's project
Keats College, who worked on The Bad Influence
of Films on Youngsters, won the appreciation of the jury and they were sponsored
by the NPCC to attend the sixth ICSQCC (International Convention on Students’
Quality Control Circles) 2003 in Lucknow on 16-19 December 2004. The State
Bank ltd, Les Deux Ancres, Goupille and co ltd and Maurilait also offered
incentive prizes to those who came after the winners.
The President of the republic of Mauritius congratulating the leader of the CAT of Keats college who have been sponsored by the NPCC to present their project in Lucknow
Parenting Skills for Vulnerable groups
A training programme on Parenting Skills,
targeting 25 women of the Orchidée Women Association of Camp Yoloff, was
launched, in January 2004, by the minister of Social Security, National
Solidarity and Senior Citizens Welfare and Reform Institutions. The workshops
were conducted by Gina Poonoosamy and funded by the Trust Fund for Social
Integration of Vulnerable Groups.
Experience sharing among NGOs
A CATs’ convention was organized in February
2004 by the Rotary Club of Rivière Noire in collaboration with the NPCC
at Pointe aux Sables. Four NGO teams, namely the SOS Children’s Village
of Beau Bassin, the Rotary Village Corps of La Balise, l’Atelier de Formation
Joie de Vivre of Chemin Grenier and La Petite Enfance Civic Action Team
of Rivière Noire, presented their projects and shared their experiences.
Annual Report 
