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).
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.
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, 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.
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.