“Community Organizers are the agent of change of one organization; community organizers are the faces of BDA in communities, thus a need to capacitate them to fully impact changes in the communities”.

This is how community organizer (CO) is defined in inspiring the participants during the opening program of the five (5) day refresher training on Community Organizing on October 1-5, 2013 at Community and Family Services International (CFSI) Training Center in Cotabato City.

Participated by twenty-one (21) COs, five (5) Community Organizer Supervisors (COS), and two (2) Institutional Development Officers (IDOs) coming from the six (6) regions of Bangsamoro Development Agency (BDA) where Mindanao Trust Fund for Reconstruction and Development Program (MTF-RDP) is operating, the refresher training helps the participants acquire new knowledge and skills and further developed their capacities in community organizing. The activity is likewise a venue for the COs to share experiences, best practices and challenges encountered in actual field works.

During the activity, the participation of the COs is remarkable that they were very active in the discussions and workshops conducted. For the new COs, they were very eager to learn that they ask more questions in wanting to understand better the topics. While those who have been in community organizing work are very open-minded in the new approaches introduced during the training. Some shares actual experiences at work and relates it to the topics presented in the sessions.

“We are fortunate to have this training for is help us better understand our work as CO”s, said one of the participants. Accordingly, they are grateful also for the encouragement coming from the BDA key personnel and for believing in their works as agent of change and as faces of the BDA.

Among the initial topics discussed was on community organizing and community development provided by CFSI through Ms. Noraida Abdullah-Karim. Facilitated also by CFSI is the discussion on community organizing including characteristics, roles and skills of community organizer. Ms. Noraida also discussed topics on basic skills in community organizing that includes conflict management with negotiation and mediation.

Conducted under the MTF-RDP, the training likewise comprised subjects on the steps of community-driven development (CDD) approach. Engr. Tohami Ibrahim, Institutional Development Officer (IDO) from BDA Central Management Office (BDA-CMO) together with Ms. Anami Canag of Mindanao Land Foundation (Minland) facilitated the discussions in this session with the workshops. Also being presented and explained is the topic on sub-project proposals (SPPs) including preparation, appraisal and approval, implementation, completion, and operation and maintenance.

Throughout the training, COs were also provided with basic information and technical capacity on construction management. It was Engr. Jandatu Salik, Rural Infrastructure Engineer (RIE) of BDA-CMO who explained the topic. The subject is seen important for COs to be equipped with this information for them to have the capacity to monitor sub-projects checking its quality even in the absence of the RIE.

Inputs on basic financial management are likewise contained in the training. This was discussed by BDA-CMO Finance Head, Mr. Hamodi Tiboron.

An orientation on gender sensitivity is also discussed through a short presentation of Ms. Tarhata Mastura, Training Officer of BDA-CMO.

This training on CO Refresher is also aimed on building strong commitment among COs on community works. Among the significant part of the training are words that inspires coming from key personalities of BDA.

In his message, Ustadz Mohammad S. Yacob, BDA Executive Director said to participants the importance of continuing process of learning. As he usually imparts to BDA staff, that being part of BDA requires strong commitment not only to the job post but moreover, in serving the Bangsamoro communities. Ustadz Yacob likewise shares that he appreciates and recognizes the works of community organizers in delivering services to the communities. Further he reminds of the mandate of BDA in the transition period of the Bangsamoro and said that BDA has high expectations from the COs.

Sharing also his appreciation of the COs is Engr. Nasser Sinarimbo, Organizational Program and Management Consultant (OPMC) of BDA. “I personally believe in the capacity of community organizers, especially here at BDA. CO works is very challenging and I realized that you are already doing it well even before this training”, said Engr. Nasser.

The CO Refresher Training is conducted in accordance with the recommendations drawn from the recent Implementation Support Mission (ISM) under the MTF-RDP of Bangsamoro Development Agency in strengthening the capacities and skills of community organizers towards effective and efficient implementation of the project.

PTT Head of Minland, Anami Canag, giving inputs on CDD Steps during the training.

Resource Person, Ms. Noraida Abdullah-Karim, giving inputs during the CO Refresher Training.

PMO, Engr. Windel Diangcalan, giving inspirational message to the participants

Community Organizers doing one of the workshops conducted during the CO Refresher Training.

Resource Person, Ms. Noraida Abdullah-Karim, giving inputs during the CO Refresher Training.

Community Organizer from Davao Region sharing his memorable experiences being a community organizer.

CO from Midsayap sharing the challenges he encountered during his work as community organizer.

Community Organizers doing a role play of the best practices they had as a Community Organizer.

IDO, Engr. Tohami Ibrahim, giving inputs on community driven development steps (CDD) during the training.

OPMC, Engr. Nasser Sinarimbo, giving message to the participants during the CO Refresher Training.

Executive Director, Ustadz Mohammad S. Yacob, giving inspirational message during the closing program of the training session.

Group photo of training participants during the closing program of the training session.