Zebra is working with local residents, groups and businesses to develop the Time Bank. The project is supported by Plymouth City Council and launches in St Budeaux, Barne Barton and Honicknowle will follow soon.

Time banking can be a way of recession-proofing communities by releasing the abundance of resources, skills, talents and energy that exist and often go underused.  Simply put – for every hour that someone spends doing a task, they can get back an hour’s worth of work from someone else. Everyone’s skill, time and contribution is equally valued so it’s a way of exchanging time and talent where money is scarce.

Time Banking isn’t just for individuals – businesses, charities and other organisations can join too. For example a local service such as a gym or theatre could offer places at non-peak times in exchange for time credits. Community-based organisations can offer meeting space or computer facilities. In return they might want people to participate in market research, other engagement activities, or to contribute to local environmental improvements. There are lots of ways to participate and with a little imagination and creativity the possibilities are endless.

Zebra is offering a valuable package of training and support to community members who want to get involved in running the Time Banks, and there are still opportunities for new people to get involved. Contact us if you’d like to know more.

You can also keep up to date with the Stonehouse Time Bank on twitter @stonehousetime or by visiting the Stonehouse Timebank Facebook page

‘Voice’ is a framework which helps community groups and networks to assess and improve the influence they have on agencies and partnerships. The two axes in ‘Voice’ plot existing capacity to influence against how influential members of the group feel it is. It can be used to: assess and monitor community influence, prompt discussion and debate within groups and help plan how to become more influential.

It is usually delivered in three half-day workshops, but you can do just the introductory one and see if you want to continue to work in more depth, or Jacky can discuss with you the best way for your group to assess how to be more influential.

Contact Jacky on jacky@zebra.coop, or find out more by going to  information

The People’s Budget is running free half-day workshops in different locations and are looking for an existing community group or interested individuals to take part in Plymouth.

Alan Thornton comments:

“Are you annoyed about how your council or housing association is making cuts using of your taxes/rent badly?

Are you interested in winning the right for local people to have a say in local budgets?

Billions of pounds of our money is being used by public bodies without any involvement of local people. The People’s Budget campaign is about helping you understand how to persuade your local council, health organisation, police force or housing provider to give us a significant say.

When more people are involved in how public money is spent better decisions are made. That’s what Participatory Budgeting is all about. But so far we have only been trusted with pretty small amounts.

Over the coming months we will be working with community, residents and tenants groups to help you win:

(1) Any kind of Participatory Budgeting in my area
(2) Making sure it is repeated again
(3) Participatory Budgeting across the whole authority area
(4) 1% of the budget is decided using Participatory Budgeting”

Zebra Collective is helping to identify groups or individuals in Plymouth who would like to get involved and take part in the free workshop run by The People’s Budget. Please register your interest with Liza Packer: liza@zebra.coop or Tel: 01752 395131

Find out more at www.peoplesbudget.org.uk

Follow the campaign at www.twitter.com/peoplesbudgetuk

Join the conversation with other activists at www.facebook.com/peoplesbudget and www.nationalCAN.ning.com/group/thepeoplesbudget

For more information and to view the video……

GX volunteers discussing their cross-cultural learning at the mid-phase review in Kathmandu

Members of the UK team at an international volunteer rally in Kathmandu

Marc, on the roof of his host home in Surkhet

The first major event, a GCD organised by working counterparts Pawan and Berny turned out to be quite different from the previous ones. They had planned an efficient two tiered programme, one exclusively aimed at GX team’s learning and the second phase with an active participation from the students of their placement school. A skit on drug abuse and youth involvement produced and presented by the students was very lively. The witty, amusing dialogues were making it hard for the Nepali volunteers, interpreting for the UK volunteers and laughing at the same time.

In preparation for the first Community Action Day (CAD) of this phase, which was to be a litter pick in Bhairavsthan, a group of volunteers decided that a ‘litter-pick pig’ could be a very good symbol for a community litter pick. We found our way through the town to a scrap dump and started diving for scrap metal, bottle caps and anything that might resemble a pig’s body part. Soon, we got into the business of putting the scrap metal and plastic together to form a pig. Although at first a few of us were doubtful of our pig building skills, by Saturday, the scrap metal pig was complete and ready to be transferred to Kopila Valley School, the partner for our first CAD. Kopila Valley School is a charity founded by an American, Maggie Doyne.  On the morning of  26th GX Volunteers paired up with students of Kopila Valley School to collect litter in the community around the school. The collection was later separated and a mural was made out of vibrant and colorful rubbish. At the end of the program, the mural and the pig were handed over to the school, hoping that this will be a constant reminder to the community about the reusing and recycling of waste.

The following Sunday, some volunteers joined the supervisors for Marcus jee’s ‘river walk’ plan which soon evolved into a day-long hike to Jhupra khola. The hikers enjoyed the interesting landscape and tasted wild berries in the jungle. Upon reaching the khola (small river or stream), Navraj, our guide of the day, started a search for a swimming area, while the rest of us waded through the cool, clear water populated with small frogs and fish. The enthusiastic swimmers and water lovers of the group were having fun getting soaked whilst others enjoyed the view from the suspension bridge across the river. This day of destressing turned out to be a real blessing for us because the rest of the week was quite hectic for the team. On top of our activities at our placement schools, we had an added responsibility of planning and preparing for future Community Action Days and the nearly approaching Mid Phase Review.

The next Friday, a GCD was held by our sole counterpart group of three (because we have 19 volunteers) – Anastasia, Surya and Nirajan – at Bangissima Primary School at the far end of the town. The theme of this GCD was Social Inclusion and Human Rights, and it was an informative day for all. The day began with a discussion on the negative effects of the caste system in Nepal and was accompanied with some inspirational quotes regarding equality, displayed on posters by the students. After some speeches from school officials and a representative of Dalit Women’s Associations, all participated in a group bonding activity. Caste and any other differences were thrown aside and we were divided into two groups depending on if we chose a green or orange ribbon. We were told to get into groups of two greens and one orange and then merge groups with another group and all hold hands. The activity ended with turning to one person and sharing with them what you admire, respect or like about them.

Mid-Phase Review is a time for reflection by the volunteers, halfway through the phase. It is also a time to assess our success and shortcomings in our placements and our roles inside the GX team. This phase’s MPR was held at Kathmandu on 4thDecember to coincide with the visa application of Nepali volunteers. We were looking forward to going to Kathmandu but a lot of UK volunteers were dreading the long bus ride from Surkhet. The distance is approximately 500km, which normally takes about 15 hours in a bus. We started out at 5:30 in the morning on 3rd December and reached our destination – Bhaktapur Guest House – 20 hours later. Even though the travelling party was able get just a few hours of sleep, the volunteers joined the MPR organising team early next morning with a lot of energy. The MPR itself was facilitated by the volunteers while the supervisors stayed as participants. We had a guest facilitator in Michelle Virgo from Zebra Collective who helped the facilitators run a ‘how well do you know your counterpart’ quiz and held a very animated session on consensus building on the topic of, “What are the key skills and personal qualities of the global citizen?”. The sessions on constructive feedback, best, worst, funny and ‘I don’t get it’ moments of the cross cultural experience were interactive for counterpart pairs. The most interactive and productive exercise for the working counterpart was the presentation on what worked at the schools, and the challenges and future plans for the placements. I think Izzy’s take on the MPR weekend best says about volunteers’ feeling on the whole experience, “It was a fantastic weekend, we really bonded, sympathised and supported each other and reflected on experiences thus far and discussed how to make the most of the time we have got”.

Mid-phase review workshop

The post MPR time was set aside for sightseeing. We had a lot of fun shopping in Thamel and dining afterwards in a restaurant called Tamas. Seeing the UK volunteers dancing in Hindi movie songs was the most entertaining part of the night. As much as we loved the time we had in Kathmandu, the journey back which is quoted by the UK volunteers as the ‘most unique experience’, was very disappointing. On 6th December, we headed back to Surkhet with a hurried breakfast and a resolution to complete the journey in 15 hours. We were told that we would take all possible measures and make as few stops as possible to reach our host homes on time. We were actually doing quite well with our schedule until at 10:40 AM, we found ourselves at the end of a long queue of trucks and buses in the middle of the forest area of Chitwan National Park. We soon realised that we were going to be stuck there for quite a long time because a Bandh was underway at the Chitwan district and some other neighbouring districts as well. A youth wing of a major Nepali party had enforced the Bandh as a protest. However, quite luckily for us, the presence of ‘the guests’ (UK volunteers) helped us get into their good graces and flee the jungle to a nearby town where we had our lunch and waited for the Bandh to be called off. We had time for a leisurely lunch and even managed to fit in a small CAD planning meeting before 5 pm when the Bandh was finally over. Fearful that the Bandh may go nationwide the following morning, we hurried out of Chitwan with another resolution to reach Surkhet in 12 hours. We finally pulled into the Surkhet Valley around 6am, falling into our beds at the end of this eventful week.

Bandh at the Chitwan district

Now we are beginning to plan for the closure of this phase and the move to Plymouth …

Kalpana Buddha-Chettri

Volunteer, Global Xchange

For the UK volunteers it has undoubtedly been a challenging experience adapting to the very different cultures and surroundings. What they firstly found to be quite a treat here is ‘dhaal bhaat’ (rice, lentil soup and veg), twice a day, everyday. Some of the families even provide it for lunch too! However, a few families have been more flexible and been cooking ‘roti’ (chapattis) with vegetables for dinner. It definitely eliminates the element of surprise which for some fussy eaters has definitely got to be a bonus.

Surprisingly, a lot of them have found eating with their right hand easier than they thought and are actually enjoying it – the left being for ‘other’ business though all the UK volunteers seem to have invested in toilet paper for the unfamiliar squatting toilets, don’t think you can blame them really!

Nepali volunteers have also had to adapt to a new family, but have definitely made the transition into the Nepali lifestyle for the UK volunteers so much easier by showing them the ropes of Surkhet.

The first week here with the whole team was spent training and moving into host homes. This was just in the middle of the second biggest Hindu festival which you will know as Dipawali. It is the festival of lights and on one of the days after training the Nepali volunteers engaged the UK volunteers in a traditional activity known as ‘Vaili’, where everyone sings and dances outside each others homes and are rewarded with money and traditional Nepali snacks. Everyone had a lot of fun and it was definitely a good opportunity for the English volunteers to bond with the Nepali culture.

The placements are all allocated in schools surrounding the communities that the volunteers live in. For the first couple of weeks the volunteers spent their time building relationships with the staff and community, and planning their final outcomes. Challenges that the volunteers have come across during their placements so far have included the language barrier (which was expected) but the Nepali volunteers have made it much easier by translating. Also, adapting to a completely different life style has meant adapting to new attitudes and priorities to what they would have been used to back in the UK.

All the volunteers have learnt so much already, not only from the placements and communities but from the host families and counterparts. Part of the learning has come from a couple of the volunteers hosting their GCD’s (global citizenship days) on different topics within health and sanitation depending on their placements needs. These have been incredibly successful so far, as they have managed to really engage the community as well as their fellow volunteers.

Two of the volunteers have also celebrated their birthdays, Anna from the UK was first up, and everyone shared a picnic up in the hills. It was a great day! Nirajan from Nepal was next, and the group got together for a picnic in Boupoule park. Another great day!

We’ll keep you updated with the outcomes of the mid phase review and the new experiences that are yet to come!

Anastasia Sivets, UK volunteer

(with contributions from 5 other volunteers)

November 20th, 2011

The Zebra Collective had a strong presence at this year’s Social Enterprise Fair, organised by Plymouth Social Enterprise Network and hosted by Plymouth University. Liza was on hand to let people know about current Zebra projects including Global Xchange and the Time Banks and Michelle chaired a panel discussion on The Future of Social Enterprise with speakers Julie Hawker from Cosmic, Hilary Duckett from Plymouth University Business School and Diana Moore from new Plymouth-based social enterprise, JustPower for Communities. The panel discussion also featured Judith Reynolds who introduced the University Enterprise Network for Social Enterprise, launched on the same day. You can find out more about the UEN launch here. For more photos of the day and further information about social enterprise in Plymouth visit the Plymouth Social Enterprise Network site.

Greetings from Surkhet. The Christmas carol “In the bleak midwinter” has been playing in my head these past few days as the people of Surkhet are really feeling the arrival of the cold season, wrapping up in jumpers and jackets (one school principal we met was wearing at least 4 layers) as the temperature has plummeted to 23 degrees C.

Meanwhile, the volunteers have all arrived and been through their week of pre-programme training, moved into their host homes, and they’ve now completed their first week in their placements. From the start there has been a good feel in the team of 19, and relationships are beginning to grow through the cross-cultural counterpart pairings for living and working (different for everyone for each) and through informal group activities such as a Saturday trip up into the beautiful mountains that stand over Surkhet for a picnic to celebrate the first birthday of the programme, Anna’s 22nd.

For the UK volunteers – and for many of the Nepalis – it’s been a tough challenge moving into an entirely new culture, and a place where the socio-economic realities are so different. We will send photographs of some of the host homes and schools, to give you a flavour of our new experiences here.

However, living here is a reminder that people are people. We notice much that is familiar in behaviour, body language, relations, attitudes – and, indeed, in the issues and impact of social exclusion.

We had the good fortune to be here throughout the major festival of Tihar (the festival of lights). This is Diwali in India, but whereas it’s a one-day festival there, here in Nepal it’s five days – Yogesh says the Nepalis know how to do festivals. This was evident in a week of brightly lit houses, loud music, groups going from house to house dancing and singing and drumming to encourage the goddess of wealth, Laxmi, into their homes, symbolised by the household giving money and food to the passing revellers. The Nepali volunteers took the UK volunteers out on this ritual, creating lots of interest from local people and households (see picture). Friday, the 5th day of the festival, is the day of the brother, when women give men “tika” (powder on the forehead), to protect them from their enemies. I received this from our host Kamala. The routines and atmosphere of this day were heavily reminiscent for me of Christmas Day.

The group picture is of the community welcome event at the Valley View Hotel, Birendranagar. Yogesh and I are on either side, and the volunteers, from left to right, are: Izzy, Ele, Pip, Beth, Raphaela, Nirajan, Navaraj, Berny, (Gopi Krishna Dhakal, Chair of SAC), Surya, Ryan, Sunita, Anna, Sharmila, Richa, Nirmala, Arati, Pawan, Anastasia, Kalpana.

I have discovered that the age range is different for the two national groups: whilst it’s 18-22 for the UK volunteers, for the Nepalis it’s 18-25, and in fact all are 22-25.

The next posting will be led by the volunteers. We had hoped they might produce this update, but they currently have enough on their hands concentrating on their initial work in their placements: conducting baselines studies of the schools and communities, assessing priority health and sanitation needs; building relationships with key school and community reps plus the schoolchildren and the wider community; and beginning to formulate their project plans.

Marcus Gardiner