Martin Rasheed Musah, a pioneering member of the Sora Kaufman Fellowship Program, has been sharing his experiences since he joined the program in October 2024.
Rasheed Musah, who is based in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana and works with CommunityAID Integrated Ghana, says his association with SK Fellowship has provided a unique opportunity for him as an aspiring development practitioners based on the broad composition of activities designed to enhance his understanding and capacity for utilizing the CDD approaches to community development.
Below is Rasheed Musah’s personal account of how he has been impacted by the SK Fellowship Program.
I will categorize my experiences in two forms – personal and professional growth.
The SK fellowship training was a platform that enhanced my know-how in the CDD approach based on its similarity to Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) with additional knowledge from the training. Carefully studying its implementation approach revealed that it ensures mutual partnership (formal and informal) between the community and ACA before the implementation of a community project, this establishes a contract among parties. In this regard, it enhances participation, accountability, transparency, and project ownership by community beneficiaries.
Presentations on various professional topics related to community development had an impact on my capacity ensuring I learned more about the current trends in global development work. The presentations were more interactive and professional, allowing for rapid bonding among colleagues, staff of ACA, and facilitators.
The two-day community stay activity during our in-house training session was a very impactful experience. It was an opportunity to have firsthand experience of projects implemented using the CDD methodology. The intrinsic observation was the power of communication among stakeholders; thus, stakeholder engagements were collaborative and mutual thereby the adverse effect being a smooth project implementation. The community enhances its community leadership system by using the CDD approach this was observed.
Nonetheless, part of my experience was a wake-up call to more work yet to be done, a careful observation coupled with interactions with community members revealed challenges requiring collective action to mitigate them including low enrolment of young girls in the community in schools. Interestingly and not surprising is the high rate of teen mothers, hence, teenage pregnancies in the Addo-Nkwanta community. Additionally, there is a need to increase opportunities for women’s participation in the developmental affairs of the community despite the subtle involvement observed during our stay.
It is important to highlight the moments with our host families such are unforgettable and indelible in my life. The food, care, and concern from both host family members, and community members’ reception is one of the unique experiences compared to the numerous others. I established a bond within 48 hours of my stay in Addo-Nkwanta admittedly the beautiful people we encounter in the line of work have been my motivation for being in development work.
Cumulatively, my experiences have affected my knowledge base with a positive impact. First, I will consider the CDD methodology a vital tool in my line of practice or work. To ensure this workout, intensive community stakeholder engagements play a significant role in project implementation. Establishing a mutual formal partnership by way of a contract with the community will ensure effective and efficient project implementation as well as leverage available resources within and externally.
In a nutshell, I can’t conclude without acknowledging the network I have established throughout the in-house stay. In a twinkle of a while I got to build a network (may I say “community”) of practitioners with healthy bonds personally and professionally. I am humbly honored to be part of this great opportunity to be a fellow, especially among the first cohort and look forward to being a continued part of this program.
Thank you
Martin Rasheed Musah
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