PPI Blog

At the close of our four-day training in Nairobi, Kenya, Stephen Makanga of KADET stands up and requests that the participants acknowledge in a Kenyan way the excellent job done by the facilitators. He instructs the group of Kenyans and Ugandans to rub their hands together (creating heat), and then to open them up a bit when he calls half-kilo, then wider at one kilo, even wider at kilo-and-a-half, and wider at two kilos, followed by the rotating of the wrist as though working flour and when he called “Pasha Moto,” they clapped in unison to acknowledge a job well-done. Absa, Donald, I wore huge smiles at this gesture of appreciation and to acknowledge the liveliness and engagement of the participants during the training, we too participated in demonstrating pasha moto!

My experiences for the past two days in Nairobi, Kenya have been eye-opening and hilarious, in many ways! After day two of an intensive training on the Progress out of Poverty Index™ (PPI™), I now better understand the PPI. This became clear during lunch time when I found myself comprehensively responding to questions about the PPI creation process, which l probably wouldn’t have done proficiently had it not been for my participation in the morning training sessions!

In June, three PUCA (PPI Users Collaborative in Africa) members– national association APSFD Senegal, along with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and Grameen Foundation – excited about the success of the dual country training events in Mali and Senegal, began to discuss the possibility of a unique opportunity for APSFD Senegal. The association is the flagship partner of CRS’ Mision II Afrique social performance management initiative and has primarily focused its attention on educating and supporting its in-country members interested in better understanding and managing their social performance. We jointly explored the feasibility of APSFD Senegal offering a PPI training of trainers outside of its borders using a retail pricing model where each participant paid a registration fee. This would be the first time that such an offering would be made in Africa, and we’ve learned that it is the first time in the world that a national association has hosted a training on the PPI using this retail pricing approach outside of its borders. Elsewhere in the world, national associations have sometimes been asked to consult for specific organizations and train on the PPI, but the initiative and pricing approach taken by APSFD Senegal in this case is unique.

Having escaped the stifling heat of New York City, it seemed strange to think about winter in August. I landed in Lima, Peru in the heart of the coldest winter in nearly 50 years. As could be expected, weather was a popular topic of conversation; though not everyone was worried about warm coats.