we did, and the results had such depth and meaning that it made us question why we were going to task an external consultant with the job in the first place. When the eight selected team members returned from Krenek, they were clearly excited at the opportunity to teach us what they had learned, and to share what they felt were the genuine perceptions of people in Krenek about the general context and WCC’s activities in particular. We sat down with these researchers and the WCC staff responsible for implementing the project, and reflected on such questions as, ‘Is this the right project for Krenek?’ ‘Are these the right objectives for the community?’ ‘Can the objectives truly be achieved?’ Going back to these fundamental questions is not
the standard to take. Most formal project evaluations in development contexts—especially, it seems, those affected by conflict—take the assumptions that the project is based on for granted, and merely assess whether the project is achieving what it originally set out to do. By focusing on perceptions at the local level and having Darfurian staff lead discussions, we created an opportunity in which WCC could take a few steps back and re-consider the foundations of our intervention. Such conversations may perhaps seem
“ – Steve, Management Advisor, Rwanda.
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like something of a luxury in a place like Darfur, but I would argue that they are imperative. For myself, as someone who holds overall responsibility for WCC’s work in Sudan, if I did not encourage my staff to join me in asking these questions periodically I doubt we would be adhering to the ‘do no harm’ principles we all espouse so adamantly. In the end, the P-FIM exercise opened my eyes to
a different way of working in Darfur, and reinforced the centrality of the local community in our work here. Tools such as this are perhaps most valuable for the way in which they stop us from using words like ‘beneficiaries’ and help us see those whom we work with as what they were before, what they are now, and what they will be after we are long gone: people. Positioning their ideas and preferences at the forefront of peacebuilding and community development efforts in Darfur should not be so radical an idea. 1 © People First Impact Method 2010: Gerry Carthy and Paul O’Hagan.
www.p-fim.org
Rebecca Sutton is Country Director for War Child in Sudan.
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