Latest ELD News
September 2011Recommended Resource: The Plain English Campaign's 'A-Z of Alternative Words'
This handy resource will help you keep your writing clear and simple, giving hundreds of alternatives to some of the pompous words that can litter our writing.
2012 Schedule Launched
Our schedule for the next 12 months is ready. Countries covered are Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines ...read more
Training for Save the Children (South and Central Asia) completed
A training on Developing Project Proposals concluded successfully in August for Save the Children on Project Proposal Writing ...read more
ELD in East Africa, July 2011
Two courses were run in Kenya in July 2011, as well as a customised training for Tearfund UK ... read more
New Distance Training Programmes Launched
Two new Distance Training Programmes have been launched on Case Study Writing and Project Proposal Writing ...
Training for Save the Children (Indonesia) completed
From 16 - 20 May, ELD Director Neil Kendick conducted an in-house training on Project Proposal Writing for the Save the Children Indoesia Country Team in Jakarta ... read more
Training for UNFPA, Sierra Leone completed
From 6 - 10 June, ELD Director Neil Kendick conducted an in-house training on Reporting Skills and Proposal Writing for the UNFPA Country Team in Sierra Leone ... read more
L'Art de Rédiger des Rapports
Our Reporting Skills Tookit is finally available in French / Notre Toolkit sur les techniques de reportage est enfin disponible en français ... read more / lire la suite
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LATEST ELD NEWS
Last updated September 12 20112012 Schedule Launched
Our schedule for the next 12 months is ready. Countries covered are Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. There are also significant discounts for early registration - up to 20% of the fee if registration is completed before the end of this year.
ELD Activities in Nepal
A training on Developing Project Proposals concluded successfully in August, as well as an in-house training (the third this year) for Save the Children on Project Proposal Writing. This training was held at Kathmandu from August 15 - 19 and was attended by Save the Childrenstaff from across South and Central Asia. Click here to see the report.
Training in Kenya July 2011
Two courses were conducted in Nairobi during July 2011. ELD Director Neil Kendrick led a course on Reporting Skills and Proposal Writing at the Fairview Hotel, while Uttam Uprety came to Kenya for the first time to conduct training on PM&E. Both courses ran from 18 - 22 July. Participants came from Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya and Nigeria, and response to both courses was extremely enthusiastic. As one participant said, "I came with very high expectations, and all my expectations have been exceeded." Click here to see the report.
Uttam stayed on in Kenya a further week to run a customised training for Tearfund UK's local partners on Monitoring and Evaluation. Click here to see the report.
Two New Distance Training Programmes Launched
Two new Distance Training Programmes have been launched on:
Training for Save the Children (Jakarta, Indonesia) and UNFPA (Sierra Leone) completed, May 2011
ELD Director recently completed two back-to-back assignments. The first was a training on Project Proposal Writing for the Save the Children Indonesia Country Team at Jakarta from 16 - 20 May. This was followed by a combined Reporting Skills and Proposal Writing training for UNFPA, Sierra Leone (June 6 - 10). You can see a report on this training here.
Upcoming Training Courses: Thailand 2011
The final round of training in Thailand in 2011 will be:
Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation Sept 5 - 9
Reporting Skills and Proposal Writing Sept 12 - 16
Facilitation and Presentation Skills Sept 12 - 16Training Courses Completed: Thailand 2011
Our Nepal team flew to Bangkok recently and conducted the following courses at RECOFTC in Bangkok:
Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation May 9 - 13
Reporting Skills and Professional Writing May 9 - 13
Facilitation and Presentation Skills May 16 - 20
Project Proposal Writing May 16 - 20
Distance Training Courses Resumed
Our Distance Training Programme on Reporting Skills and Professional Writing is now open for enrolment.
Training completed in Kenya
Two public courses for East Africa were conducted in January / February 2011. Both Reporting Skills and Professional Writing (January 24 - 28) and Project Proposal Writing (January 31 - February 4) were full, and response from participants was enthusiastic. The next round of courses is scheduled for July.
Training for Save the Children Alliance Child Protection Initiative
This was followed by an in-house training for the CPI on Project Proposal Writing. A small group of senior SC staff came from far and wide for the event, and this will be followed by further assignments for country offices in 2011.
Training completed in Thailand
Three courses were completed in Bangkok in February this year: Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, Reporting Skills and Professional Writing and Project Proposal Writing.
Training completed in Nepal
Two courses were conducted in Nepal in early 2011:
Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation January 17 - 21
The Project Manager's Toolkit January 25 - February 3
Human Resources Management Training for RDRS Bangladesh
A team of RDRS staff had joined ELD's Project manager's Toolkit training in Nepal earlier in 2010. They were so impressed, they came back in December, this time for a custom-designed training on HRM. Although just 3 days, the course covered a range of areas such as change management, getting the best out of diverse teams, handling grievances and measuring performance. Depsite time pressure, we even managed to include (by popular request) some work on presentation skills.
"The depth of knowledge of the trainer is really remarkable. He is versatile and meticulous … (and) very talented."
Training Participant
Distance Training
The next intake for the Distance Training Programme on Reporting Skills and Professional Writing starts on 5 January.
Professional Writing Training for the International Finance Corporation (Kenya)
In October 2010, ELD director Neil deisgned and delivered a four-day training plus coaching for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Nairobi, Kenya. The participating IFC Advisors were a multicultural group - African, European and American - and used the training as a platform not just to develop their writing skills but to also to develop case studies, brochures, reports and concept papers.
"Very practical - the skills learnt are very relevant to IFC's work."
Training Participant
Facilitation and Presentation Skills Training for SNV (Bhutan)
ELD Nepal Training Manager Uttam Uprety visited Thimpu, Bhutan, in October 2010 to run a customised five-day training on Facilitation and Presentation Skills for nine SNV Advisors. Combining both essential theory as well as opportunities for frequent hands-on practice, participants described the training as "excellent" and "useful for my work".
In October we conducted training courses in Nepal on Training of Trainers (TOT) as well as three training courses in Bangkok, Thailand, on Reporting Skills and Professional Writing, Facilitation andPresentation Skills and Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation. Participants came from far and wide - Ireland, East Timor, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos Bhutan and Bangladesh - and represented organisations such as UNICEF, IDRC, UNMIT, Room to Read, Save the Children, UNDP and Oxfam. While no training is ever perfect, feedback was positive - "I'm not trying to please you with my positive evaluation! This training is an important foundation for my career. I am looking forward to the next course!" was a typical of many of the comments received.
Training in Nepal in September
The Kathmandu centre concluded an 8-day Project Manager's Toolkit training for project managers in early September covering a range of key tools and skills. Participants developed a project based on Logical Framework Approach, made project plan with Microsoft 2007, designed and delivered presentations based on their plans, ran structured meetings and developed action plans. Unusually, the majority of participants were Bangladeshi, with just a few local participants present. Feedback was positive, with comments such as "satisfied and developed my confidence", "enjoyed all sessions and learned many new things" and "very useful for our organisation". Just finished, also, is a 5-day training on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation.
ELD Support to SNV Asia
(August 2010)
ELD Trainer Paul Reitman made a trip to Bangkok at the end of August to support the SNV Asia regional office's communication managers in Case Study Writing. This follows up from an extended Case Study Writing assignment conducted in 2008 / 2009 for communication officers from Laos and Cambodia.
Nepal Update
(August 2010)Our Nepal office had a busy month, with an advanced level in-house training on Training of Trainers for Business Sevice Centre (BSC) Nepal. "The feedback from the trainers was highly useful for me in improving my skills," one participant said. "The advanced TOT was enjoyable and worth attending. And I feel I have improved in all aspects of training management."
Also conducted was a course on The Project Manager's Toolkit in early August for 21 participants. Unusually, the majority of participants came from RDRS Bangladesh, with Nepal participants represented by just UNHCR and Planete Enfants. The PM Toolkit has been in such demand that a fresh course is running from 28 August to accommodate those who could not find place on the first one. As one participant described, "this type of training is essential for development workers."
L'Art de Rédiger des Rapports Released
(July 2010)Our Reporting Skills Tookit is finally available in French / Notre Toolkit sur les techniques de reportage est enfin disponible en français ... read more / lire la suite
ELD Toolkits Revised
(July 2010)The 'five-minute job' that took 6 months to complete is finally finished. Along with upgrading our web site, we decided we would bring our Toolkits up-to-date at the same time. This turned out to be a lot more than just changing the covers! All the toolkits received an extensive upgrade, with some parts added, others developed and redundant parts removed. Graphics have been revised, and we have made the layout more reader-friendly. We have redone all the PowerPoint slides, handouts and trainer guides to make them even easier to use.
The Case Study Writing Toolkit got a huge make-over, and is double the size, with much more depth on the actual writing skill. We have also added a Trainer Edition so that you can now conduct your own workshops on Case Study Writing without the expense of sending participants on external training courses or hiring consultants.
Learn more about our Toolkits here.
(July 2010)In July we launched our Distance Training Programme on Reporting Skills and Professional Writing. Immediately all 20 available places were snapped up, and our tutors have already started receiving the first batch of assignments. As soon as we can, we will take on another group of 20. To find out more about distance training and to reserve a place, click here.
Training Workshops Conducted in Thailand
(May 2010)Despite serious unrest as protestors blockaded the downtown area of Bangkok, we successfully conducted four training courses in May 2010 on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation, Reporting Skills and Professional Writing, Project Proposal Writing and Facilitation and Presentation Skills. Around 50 participants from 20 nationalities attended.
Training for Inter-American Development Bank
(March 2010)ELD Director Neil spent February 2010 in Washington training IDB's Grants and Co-Financing Management Unit on Reporting Skills. All participants on the training were involved in developing donor fund reports for regional projects.
"A great course that definitely helped me become a better writer."
Training Participant
Coaching for Bioversity International / CGIAR
(Oct 2009)
A senior staff flew in from Bioversity International in Rome to get some coaching in laid-back Southern Turkey. A specialist in underutilised species, Paul Bordoni joined ELD Director Neil Kendrick for three days intensive coaching in communication skills. A major tool covered was Mind Mapping, a method of turning very complex data into a manageable structure, and skills addressed included professional writing and making killer presentations. Along the way we developed a concept paper on "Local solutions to address global challenges facing farmers and indigenous peoples" for the IAALD XIIIth World Congress organised by Agropolis International - a big challenge as we had just 24 hours to develop and draft the concept in under 300 words!In Paul's own words, "that training with you has been really good, that the mindmapping stuff is getting clearer to me day after day."
ELD conducted a 6-day Reporting Skills and Professional Writing training for various World Vison International country programmes at Kigali, Rwanda. More than 20 participants from various World Vision International country programmes attended, as well as observers from Canada. The training was held at the Akagera Game Lodge in Akagera Park, Rwanda and relocated on the final day to Kigali after a one-day field trip, between 7 and 12 September 2009.
The purpose of the training was for participants to learn the process of reporting and develop their abilities to:
- Set evaluation goals
- Select data gathering methods
- Analyse qualitative and quantitative data
- Plan the report
- Write more clearly and organise ideas and analysis effectively
The training was conducted by ELD Director Mr Neil Kendrick. For the first time ever, ELD training materials were translated into French, which was managed and supported by the WVI Canada office.
Participants rated the course extremely positively in all aspects. They felt that their expected objectives had been met and, although a workshop environment can only provided limited opportunities for applying skills, that they had become more professional writers.
Some comments from trainees included:
"I am very satisfied and hope to improve my documents in the future."
"This workshop opened my eyes. I used to be afraid of reports, but now everything is clear."
"This training came at a good time as we have to edit our annual report."
"I have filled many gaps I used to have in writing, and I have gained more confidence."
"Everything was good: I feel ready to revise my way of writing."
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