Lessons from the Ilaw ng Buhay Program 444

Let me recall here the experiences and lessons learned under the UNICEF-assisted Ilaw ng Buhay program pilot-tested in several municipalities and cities in the 70s and 80s as part of efforts to seek more effective ways to work with local governments and communities in the planning, implementation and monitoring of service delivery from the center to the periphery of any municipality or city.

On packaging and delivery of core messages 

For each of the program areas (backyard food production or Green Revolution; nutrition; family planning; and environmental management) integrated in the umbrella program, a set of core messages had to be determined prior to the conduct of any training or orientation.

The core messages under backyard food production, for example, will include the following:

• Plant only those crops that are easy to take care of; will not require chemical fertilizer and pesticides; preferably perennial; and are known to prevent malnutrition and ensure good health as attested by our ancestors or old people in the village
• These crops, include malunggay, alugbati, patani, sequidillas, sweet potato, papaya, guava, etc. 
• Planting materials can easily be provided by neighbors or relatives 
• Plant now because tomorrow you may have malnourished and sick children 
• Planting these crops on the backyard will mean family savings 

 Prior to giving the training inputs or orientation, the trainer is expected to observe what the people are actually planting on their backayard, if they plant at all, and what they are buying or selling in the public market (or during market days in villages or towns). Pertinence is the key principle to follow in planning core messages. A message should be useful to the audience and the latter must confirm during the training that the inputs are truly useful to them.

In planning for the training inputs, the trainer has to determine what is called the EB (Emotional Basis) for his input. The EB is actually the emotional vehicle for the messages, something that is held dear by the participants around which the technical inputs are wrapped or pegged to ensure easy acceptance of the message. Examples of EBs are: people's innate love and concern for children; their being proud of their village or town; preference for peaceful and less complicated life; ability to keep the family intact, and so on.

Although there are training modules and detailed guide for each input, the trainer has to be flexible in actually delivering the inputs. What matters is to keep close to giving the core messages in whatever means or form as long as the people get and accept them as basis for action.

The test of a successful input on backyard food production is when those who have attended the training will ask questions on the subject matter covered or if they say they will get branches of malunggay and start planting the following day.

The last core message for an Ilaw training input always calls for putting to action whatever is learned.  Hence, there is a clear distinction between information giving and training, which is supposed to influence future action based on what has been learned.

This adherence to simple and actionable messages has been based on the observation that in most training activities, there is a disconnect between what is being learned and the actions that are expected from an increment in knowledge and/or skills.

Pertinence in the content, packaging and delivery of services is a key lesson we learned from the Ilaw ng Buhay Program years ago.

More next blog.