Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
11 May 2022
Post No. 247
The Week’s Contents
• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 2: Stories of Recovering from the Coronavirus Disaster and its Variants (From Wednesday 11/05/2022)
• Africa-based Sister Organisations and Data-based Stories of Post-COVID-19 Recovery
• Goal for the Month: Reduction of the Lack of Storytelling Communication Skills
… And much more!
Key Messages
• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 2: Stories of Recovering from the Coronavirus Disaster and its Variants (From Wednesday 11/05/2022)
Our Story Month continues with Serial 2, which is devoted to people-centred stories of regaining a former and better condition in the process of building forward better from the coronavirus and its variants. These stories are those of setting again or returning to a previous stage or fixing what the coronavirus has destroyed, mostly from people in need.
Recovery is a process. Like in any process, there are phases or stages. In every stage or phase, there could be stories to tell and share. Recovery can be economic, social, environmental, etc. It can be in conservation, in disaster management, waste management, mineral processing, etc.
In the context of this Serial 2 of our May Month, we are interested in the storylines from disaster management; that is from the management of COVID-19 as a socio-economic and health disaster. Disaster management is understood in Chris Park’s Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation (1) as
“A comprehensive approach to reducing the adverse impacts of particular *disasters [natural or otherwise] that brings together in a *disaster plan all of the actions that need to be taken before, during, immediately after, and well after the disaster event” (p. 122)
One of the actions to be taken is recovery. In the same dictionary, recovery is defined in disaster management as
“The coordinated process of supporting communities that have been affected by disaster in reconstruction of the physical infrastructure and restoration of emotional, social, economic, and physical well-being” (p. 373)
Because the coronavirus has been a disaster, a recovery action can be taken at the individual and community levels. When recovery starts to happen, there are stories about it.
We are calling for submission of the stories of a coordinated process of self-support and /or supporting communities and people who have been affected by the coronavirus and trying to first return to their original state.
However, the recovery that we are dealing here is the one in the process of building forward rather than of building back. In the building back situation, recovery is a process designed to get people back where they were in the pre-pandemic period. Recovery in this situation is a static concept.
On the other hand, recovery in the building forward scenario is about looking forward to a better life rather than focussing on how lives and things were before disaster happened. Recovery in the building forward context is dynamic.
Thus, the stories in which we are interested will be those of building/looking forward; that is lives and things that happened or are happening that will help to look or build forward in the future.
Since we are working within the framework of a recovery that is green, clean and safer; we are therefore looking for stories of recovery that include green, clean and safe elements in them.
Under the Main Development section of this post, there is more about this Serial 2 of our May Month 2022.
• Africa-based Sister Organisations and Data-based Stories of Post-COVID-19 Recovery
Our All in Development Stories Telling Programme includes the stories or experiences that our Africa-based Sister Organisations (ASOs) are having with local people regarding their recovery from the COVID-19 and its variants.
Like in many parts of the world, the post-COVID-19 recovery has been hampered by many factors such as the impact of Russian invasion of Ukraine, the cost of living crisis, rising energy prices and interest rates. These factors do not make the post-COVID-19 recovery easy. This is let alone other variables like armed conflicts and climate change in Africa.
We continue to have reports of local people struggling to access basic life-sustaining needs (such as food, water, electricity, sanitation and financial support) in order to recover from COVID-19. We had also reports of those who have successfully recovered from the health and economic impacts from the same coronavirus and its variants.
As we are in CENFACS’ Stories Month, we would like to include their tales or experiences of the post-coronavirus recovery. We would like them to tell us their stories with data (i.e. textual, numerical, infographic and visual data). There are advantages deriving from telling and sharing stories of post-COVID-19 recovery.
• • Advantages of sharing recovery stories
Stories can help their local people to get back on their feet and move forward. They can accompany them in their recovery to build forward better. They can as well assist in mobilising resources, capacities and other types of support to help deal with the issue of poverty at this challenging time.
For any of ASOs that would like to submit or donate their data-based stories of post-COVID-19 recovery, they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Goal for the Month: Reduction of the Lack of Storytelling Communication Skills
All human beings have the skills to communicate. However, are those in need effectively communicating their needs in order to achieve the poverty reduction goals they want or wish?
The lack of adequate storytelling skills to effectively communicate and express one’s feelings about poverty and hardships could be a barrier to reduce many forms of poverty. Addressing this lack through the development of storytelling communication skills could be one of the vehicles to better empower those in need to better tell and share their stories. It can also help in bridging the gap skills in this area of poverty. Storytelling communication skills matter in the process of exploring or advocating solutions to their problems, as well.
For example, if you are a food poor or deprived, what are the things you need to say and the communication skills you need to deploy in your storyline so that you can win the minds and hearts of someone to support you in your journey to come out of food poverty and hardships?
So, this month we would like to deploy our efforts with our supporters to work with those suffering from the lack of relevant storytelling communication skills so that they can find the supportive skills they need to better tell their stories and effectively communicate in volunteering the types of solutions/responses they expect or may require.
The above is our poverty reduction goal for this month, which we are asking to our audiences and supporters to help or promote.
Extra Messages
• Triple Value Initiatives (TVIs)/All Year-round Projects (AYRPs) Activity: Tell and Share your TVI/AYRP Story
You can tell and share what you are doing as TVI/AYRP user or beneficiary. Telling and sharing your TVI/AYRP (that is Play, Run and Vote) story can have benefits.
• • Benefits of story telling and sharing
We can list the following benefits:
√ To interact via words and actions to reveal the elements and infographics of what you are doing as TVI/AYRP
√ To track progress made so far and improvements you may need about what you are doing as TVI/AYRP
√ To learn and develop on what you are doing as TVI/AYRP
√ To motivate others who are working on similar or complementary TVI/AYRP
√ To make your story positively impact deprived lives and reach out to the needy communities
√ To record and celebrate achievements made so far of what you are doing as TVI/AYRP
√ To develop strengths and better practices to solve problems encountered in implementing what you are doing as TVI/AYRP
√ To inspire and motivate others on the road of change for better change via TVI/AYRP
√ To encourage others take up roles and positions as well as engage with your TVI/AYRP.
Briefly, telling and sharing your TVI/AYRP story will enable assess the value of your engagement with TVI/AYRP while helping you to know what has worked and not worked so far before its deadline in December 2022.
To tell and share your TVI/AYRP story, please contact CENFACS.
• Zero Income Deficit Campaign
How to Mitigate Rising Interest Rates on your Household Budget Equilibrium
The recent rise in interest rates which followed rising prices of other goods and services (like food, energy, shelter, transport, etc.) can only negatively impact household budgets, especially of those already struggling to make ends meet.
As part of CENFACS’ Zero Income Deficit Campaign, we are working with those of our users who may be interested in finding ways to mitigate or reduce the impact of rising interest rates on their household budgets.
Those members of our community who may be interested in this activity, they can contact CENFACS. Also, for those ones who have stories to share on how they are coping in mitigating the rise in interest rates on their budget balances, they can share them.
• Fundraising your Run to Reduce Poverty in Africa during this Event Season
For those who are running events in the context of Triple Value Initiative of Run to Reduce Poverty in Africa in 2022, they can use the opportunity of the event season to introduce a giving feature in their Run activity. They can ask those who are involved in the run with them to support good causes, including CENFACS‘ noble causes. This asking people to support concerns both in-person and virtual runs.
In this way, they can help revolutionise the Run activity with a fundraising element while running with or without others. They can as well journal and develop a story about their Run activity. They can share the contents of their journal and story of run with us and others.
However, they must remember that the aim of the CENFACS’ Run to Reduce Poverty in Africa is to select or find the African best runner of poverty reduction in 2022, rather than raising money.
For those who may be having or are experienced some problems in installing or inserting a fundraising feature in their runs, they can speak to CENFACS.
To discuss your progress in the run, the fundraising feature in the run or any other issues relating to All Year Round Projects (Triple Value Initiatives), please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Message in French (Message en français)
Notre mois de l’histoire se poursuit avec le feuilleton 2 qui se compose d’histoires de rétablissement. Dans le contexte de ces histoires, nous recherchons des histoires qui peuvent entrer dans le cadre ou les exemples suivants.
• • Exemples d’expériences narratives de rétablissement
Les éléments suivants pourraient être admissibles en tant qu’histoires à raconter et à partager :
Histoires de…
√ Dépenses en biens et services de consommation en cours de développement
√ Gérer de manière optimale la crise du coût de la vie
√ Ne pas sombrer dans l’effondrement économique
√ Financement du recouvrement
√ Mobilisation du financement climatique
√ Bonne transition de la construction en arrière à la construction en avant
√ Commencer à faire un plan optimiste pour l’avenir
√ Confiance en tant que consommateur/consommatrice
√ Récupération du pouvoir d’achat
√ Revenu des gens qui revient au niveau d’avant la pandémie et même augmente
√ Se remettre sur pied de façon économique
√ Avoir une opportunité ou une ouverture pour aller de l’avant
√ Augmentation du revenu réel dans le parcours de rétablissement
√ Continuer à réduire considérablement la pauvreté induite par la COVID-19 et ses variantes
Etc.
Nous pouvons continuer la liste. Cependant, l’important est que ces récits et ces voix du rétablissement doivent être inspirants, engageants et fondés sur des données probantes.
Pour raconter et partager votre histoire de rétablissement, veuillez communiquer avec le CENFACS.
Main Development
• All in Development Stories Telling Serial 2: Stories of Recovering from the Coronavirus Disaster and its Variants (From Wednesday 11/05/2022)
The notes highlighting this Serial 2 will be developed under the following three headings:
1) Telling and sharing stories in the context of AiDS Telling Programme 2022
2) Advantages of telling and sharing recovery stories
3) Tracking tools for recovery stories.
Let us see what each of the headings contains as notes.
• • Telling and sharing stories in the context of AiDS Telling Programme 2022
Under this heading, we are going to successively deal with the following:
∝ The contextual and conceptual meaning of recovery
∝ The kinds of recovery we are talking about
∝ Selection criteria about recovery stories
∝ Story identification
∝ Types of recovery stories
∝ Indicative examples of narrative experiences of recovery.
Let us consider each of them.
• • • Meaning of recovery in the context of AiDS Telling Programme 2022
As part of this context, recovery is looked at as the process of regaining a former and better condition after the socio-economic and health disturbances and disruptions brought by the coronavirus and its variants. This recovery is part of a set of actions to be taken in the context of disaster management as defined by C. Parker (op. cit.).
It is also in line with what the United Nations (2) argued in their General Assembly in 2016 which is
“Recovery is the restoring or improving of livelihoods and health as well as economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets, systems and activities, of a disaster-affected community or society, aligning with the principles of sustainable development and build back better, to avoid or reduce future disaster risk”.
Although the United Nations speaks about alignment with build back better, our recovery goes further in resonating with build forward better. In other words, we are more interested in stories about how people and communities are building forward rather than on how they built back. This means that recovery has to be placed in the dynamic context of building forward better, with future in mind. The stories of recovery are of course those of building forward better.
• • • Kinds of recovery stories expected
They are those of a sustained cycle or stage of post-COVID-19 disaster or shock period in order to improve people’s socio-economic and health conditions.
They are the stories of what happened to people, especially those in need, at the flattening or declining phase of the epidemiological curves of the coronavirus pandemic when they already built back and are now building forward better.
• • • Eligible criteria about recovery stories
The stories to be given or donated will be more appealing to the AiDS assessment team if they meet the following criteria:
a) They should be of recovering from the socio-economic and health impacts of the coronavirus shock/disaster and its variants
b) They have some highlights of green, clean and safer aspects in them.
• • • Identification of stories according to the phases of recovery process
As argued earlier, recovery can be a process or be done in different steps or phases. In each step or phase, there could be a story to tell or share.
For example, in the field of emotion or trauma management after the coronavirus shock or disaster, there could be five stages that people who suffered from COVID-19 emotion or trauma may take. These stages are: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance and termination.
Another example could be of a disaster-stricken community that can take three phases to recover, which are: post-impact relief, recovery and reconstruction, and transition.
In these above different phases or steps, there could be a story to tell and share from those who have been through any of them. There could be as well stories to tell and share between stages or steps whether it is about an individual or a community.
Those who have a story to tell and share on any of these steps or stages, they can contact CENFACS.
• • • Types of possible recovery stories
From what we have so far described, recovery stories can be of various types depending on each community’s or each person’s circumstances with the impacts of COVID-19 and its variants. These stories could include those of different stages of the recovery process as highlighted above.
To the above, one could also add stories of vision for recovery; recovery plan; recovery approach or methodology used; recovery funding; recovery of emotional, social, economic and physical well-being, etc.
• • • Indicative examples of narrative experiences of recovery
The following could be eligible as stories to tell and share:
Stories of…
√ Spending on consumer goods and services in the process of building forward
√ Optimally managing the cost-of-living crisis
√ Not going into economic or financial collapse because of COVID-19
√ Financing recovery
√ Mobilisation of climate financing
√ Good transition from build back to build forward
√ Starting to make an optimistic plan for the future
√ Building confidence as a poor consumer
√ Spending power recovery and financial wellness
√ People’s income returning to pre-pandemic level and even increasing
√ Economically and financially getting back to your feet
√ Having a bright opportunity or opening to move forward
√ Increase in real income in one’s recovery journey
√ Being able to cope with the recent interest rise
√ Continuing to substantially reduce poverty-induced by COVID-19 and its variants
Etc.
We can continue the list of indications or signs of eligible examples of recovery in the context of building forward better. However, the important thing is that these tales, voices and infographics of recovery need to be inspirational, engaging and evidence-based.
• • Advantages of telling and sharing recovery stories
The good thing in telling and sharing recovery stories is that these kinds of stories can bring four important outcomes to the community, which are:
√ Providing inspiration to others, particularly but not exclusively to the CENFACS Community members, suffering from the coronavirus induced poverty and hardships
√ Proofing that it is possible to recover from the adverse impacts of the coronavirus, particularly the types of poverty and unsustainable development it may lead to
√ Strengthening our infrastructure networks of protection and safeguarding from poverty and hardships through stories telling, sharing and stewardship
√ Stewarding CENFACS’ All in Development Stories Telling Programme and Stories Donor Development.
• • Recovery story tracking tools
To track the recovery stories you are or will be telling and sharing with us, we have developed a certain number of tracking tools for monitoring and evaluation purposes. One of these tools is our AiDS terms and conditions which we highlighted last week. We strongly recommend to those who would like to submit their recovery stories to consider this tracking tool.
Additionally, we may use other story trackers such as story focus, key message, contact person, contact information, etc. Since we are in a digital world, we can also refer to digital trackers.
The above notes are about recovery stories. If you have a story of green, clean and safer recovery from the COVID-19 disaster and associated adverse impacts, please do not hesitate to tell it to CENFACS.
To donate, tell and share your storying gift of recovery, please contact CENFACS.
________
• References
(1) Park, C. (2011), Oxford Dictionary of Environment and Conservation, Oxford University Press Inc., New York
(2) https://www.unisdr.org/files/53213_bbb.pdf (United Nations General Assembly, 2016)
_________
• Help CENFACS keep the Poverty Relief work going this year
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
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JUST GO TO :Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
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We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support throughout 2022 and beyond.
With many thanks.
