Vision
The CHART Project aims to overcome barriers to social development in Cambodia. Our vision is that “Social development organisations in Cambodia have more empowering relationships with their clients.”
CHART stands for “Creative, Holistic Action-learning for Relationship Transformation”. It was initially developed as a response to the issues presented in the study “Learning for Transformation” conducted in 2001 by Moira O’Leary and Meas Nee. Learning for Transformation showed that significant barriers (conscious and unconscious) for relationships needed for empowerment and change in the lives of Cambodia’s poor do still exist.
VBNK initiated the action-learning project CHART in 2002 in order to explore possible answers to the questions raised in Learning for Transformation. The approach taken to develop CHART was to design capacity building methodologies and competencies that support empowering relationships in our own and our partners’ practice.
Principles
CHART assists NGO partners that want to transform their development practice. It considers itself an agent for creative, holistic and experiential learning practices based on the following beliefs and principles:
Transformational developments need to occur within the development practitioner before they can be effectively promoted in their communities.
In development practice, process competencies are more important than technical knowledge.
We need to help development practitioners explore and see the value of their creativity and learning and their relationships to development.
Learning is the responsibility of the learner.
We need to practice what we preach (“walk the talk”).
(CHART Training Course - VBNK Phnom Penh)
"With CHART we have a hard time in the beginning with the villagers, but later when the villagers understand, it is easy. Whereas in former style, we are easy in the beginning because we come with power, but later we face a lot of difficulties with the villagers as things are not going smoothly"
(Comment from CHART Round 1 participant)
If an NGO and VNBK agree to become partners in CHART, they jointly select a number of the NGO’s staff to participate in the programme, prefferably drawn from all areas of the organistaion. These participants are then expected to be more effective in bringing change to those they work with and their own organization because:
They become aware of personal blocks to development, clarifying values, developing self, building teams and developing trust and ways to give integrity to their development thinking. They use this base to explore how to do their work in a way that holds in balance and integrity Khmer culture, the practitioners’ values and development ideas.
They can become better listeners and learners from these they work with and more and more able to respect the different perspectives and priorities encountered.
Their work focuses on building relationships, understanding cultural responses that aid development and encouraging responses to the actual situations or issues of those they work with.
They have the safe and creative space to explore, innovate and experience different types of learning and letting go and to respond to issues of importance to those they work with.
Over time they gain a deeper understanding of development dynamics and can promote an empowerment that leads to those they work with having more ownership of their development, the social and material changes in their lives and greater networking or access to resources.
Over time the partner NGOs’ definitions and practice will become clearer and more specific and tend towards greater social empowerment and process orientation.
CHART to date has been / is being implemented in 3 programmes:
CHART Round 1 (2003 – 2005): a partnership of VBNK, World Vision Cambodia, Church World Service Cambodia and Wholistic Development Organisation (formerly know as FAITH). CHART Round 1 included 9 Modules with a total of 19 weeks training followed by a one year supported action learning implementation phase.
CHART Round 2-3 (2007 - 2008): A second round of CHART began in January 2006 with the NGOs Food for the Hungry International (FHI), Banteay Srey and Epic Arts as partners. It involves three central threads aimed at enhancing participants’ learning and application in their practice: i) a six module, year long course exploring seven key areas of practice; ii) inter-modular field coaching sessions which assist participants to explore and work on issues pertinent to their situation, and iii) regular workshops with the line manager and directors of the partner organisations which aim to promote understanding, acceptance and application of their staffs’ learning within the wider organisational culture.
CHART Leadership Development Programme: Since early 2006 VBNK has been delivering a customised leadership development programme based on the findings of ‘Learning for Transformation’, the experiences of the CHART Project (Creative Holistic Approach for Relationship Transformation) and the principles of Whole Person Learning.
