Development Ratings

Charity staff, trustees and volunteers visit the field regularly to report on the progress of the people receiving the tools kits and training. Anecdotal surveys produce many examples of the results of TFSR’s work. An illustration is the Mabaale Metalwork Group in Uganda which has seen a 500% increase in income since it received tools in 2001. Three members of the group have established workshops in local towns, and the others have invested in their business through buying a generator for reliable power. A Ugandan man who received shoe repair tools in 2003 has been able to buy a plot of land to expand his business. He now pays for his children to go to secondary school. A small Ugandan joinery group that received carpentry tools in 2006 has started operating as a carpentry training centre in addition to its commercial activities. Training workshop participants are reported to have built houses, bought vehicles, and half are investing in their children’s schooling. Three Tanzanian artisans have improved their personal status and have been elected as representatives in the local government. The Blacksmith Artisan Network project in Tanzania has helped local artisans improve the range and quality of their products and increase sales. This allows them to pay school fees and make improvements to their homes and workplaces. The blacksmiths have taken on apprentices. They have formed an association to promote their products, to achieve better terms for purchasing supplies, and to lobby the government for support for blacksmithing as the driving force behind development and industrialisation. In Ghana, support for blacksmiths in the north and east, an area of rural agricultural communities, enables farming tools to be produced and repaired locally more cheaply. This benefits women as the main agricultural workers in the area.

In 2008, direct training will be provided to 2,253 people, 1,039 of them female. These people will train members of their artisan groups in what they have learnt to multiply the benefit.

The project basis of the work allows for clearly defined aims and objectives to be set which can be monitored and evaluated. Although it receives good anecdotal feedback on achievements through its visits and partners, TFSR is formalising its monitoring and evaluation of projects into a more analytical feedback system for programme improvement. Currently, baseline data is being harmonised across partners.