Highlights 2011

A chronological review of the year featuring some of the key events, images and outcomes

 
 

THANK YOU for supporting GULL in 2011

GULL uses action learning to help communities and organizations to sustain learning and apply the outcomes. Our priority is the low paid, marginalized groups and in economic terms, the world’s poorest communities. For example, in Papua New Guinea an estimated 85 per cent of the population live in subsistence communities. Here, GULL’s affiliation with the ‘Personal Viability’ (PV) system enables us to recognize the efforts and outcomes of economically poor communities as they advance towards self-reliance and financial independence in a practical yet rigorous and systematic way.

I should like to thank GULL’s officers (all of whom are volunteers) and our many supporters for their achievements in 2011. I hope that these personal highlights will encourage and inspire you at the start of the New Year. - Richard Teare

 

 

 

World Vision International, Seattle
January and September

World Vision (WV) is the world’s largest non-governmental organization and serves close to 100 million people from all religions, races, ethnicity and gender in nearly 100 countries. The WV Education & Life Skills team met at the Global Center, Seattle, USA in January 2011 to discuss and plan how to internalize and cascade the GULL system.

 

The main objective is to cascade the GULL system to community volunteer level and to model development pathways for staff. (Above) Members of WV (left to right) Micael, Elinor, Fe, Pat and Patricia with their GULL level 2 certificates, 30 September 2011.

 

 

 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia & Hong Kong
March

Her Royal Highness Putri Aizian, Princess of the Royal House of Buayan, Philippines was inaugurated as a GULL Pro Chancellor in Kuala Lumpur on 22 March. Princess Aizian contributes to national and international foundations for education and humanitarian causes and has experience of humanitarian project management and micro-franchising.

(Left) GULL Ambassador Chantel Ng with Richard Teare and Dato’ Vincent Tang at the GULL graduation, Kuala Lumpur, 22 March. Chantel comments: “GULL’s process of action learning encourages a process of learning that is holistic, enjoyable, integrative and relational. There is no better way to learn about ourselves and to discover how to make the best possible contribution to our wider sphere of influence at work and in the community.”

(Right) Representatives from many community and workplace organizations in Hong Kong and China attended the GULL launch event on 24 March.

 

 

 

The Solomon Islands
April

The first Solomon Islands Personal Viability (PV) - GULL award ceremony took place in Honiara on 15 April. The Solomon Islands comprises of 900 tropical islands of which 350 are inhabited. There are nine provinces and 87 different languages are spoken by a population of 600,000 people. Around 80 per cent of working age people are engaged in non-monetary (or subsistence) living. Agriculture and fishing are key activities.

PV’s training for life programme and the team’s experience in facilitating entrepreneurship for subsistence people is making a valuable contribution to the Nation’s economic development.

 

(Above left) The Right Reverend Sir Samson Lowa, PV champion and GULL Elder at the graduation.

(Above right) Dr Alison Hitu and members of the PV leadership in the Solomon Islands with Dr Samuel Tam (far right)

 

 

 

Brisbane, Australia
April and November

Griffith University facilitates a community partnership programme, ‘Actioning Change’ with the Samoan community - represented by the ‘Voice of Samoan People’ (VOSP). The Pacific Island communities in Brisbane’s suburbs face many challenges and so Griffith and VOSP are cascading the GULL action learning system throughout these communities to help build confidence and self-reliance.

 

(Left) A meeting at Griffith University on 20 April: Left to right: Lesley (Griffith); Ortrun (Griffith & GULL); Richard (GULL); Judith (Griffith); Vaaaoao (VOSP); and John (GULL).

(Right) Members of VOSP with the local Member of Parliament and representatives from local schools, colleges, Griffith and GULL met on 3 November.

 

 

 

Bourgainville, Papua New Guinea
May

The purpose of the visit was to provide a second GULL training session in support of World Vision Pacific Development Group’s (PDG) four year education project in the autonomous region of Bougainville. The project aims to improve the literacy, numeracy and essential life skills of vulnerable children in the 6-18 year age range, utilizing community-based learning with the support of local community teachers.

The forty-strong workshop group of staff and volunteers developed an action plan that will enable local communities to embed the GULL action learning system in WV’s technical training and wider community work.

 

(Left) The stunning views from Buka, Bougainville.

(Above) The WV staff team in Bougainville supported by Curt von Boguslawski, WV PDG National Director and Trihandi Saptoadi WV Regional Director, South Asia & Pacific.

 

 

 

India and Sri Lanka
May

The South Asian Academy for Good Governance (SAAGG) in affiliation with GULL is facilitating community-based learning in the rural areas of Sri Lanka.

(Left) 21 May: Richard Teare outlined the case for an inclusive global framework for lifelong learning and GULL’s response at the 5th International Conference on Services Management in New Delhi, India.

(Right) 24 May: The annual SAAGG-GULL award ceremony held in Anuradhapura was attended by many of Sri Lanka’s community leaders and some 750 people.

 

(Left – left to right) At the ceremony: Dr Richard Teare, Dr Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Sri Lankan Minister for National Languages & Social Integration and Dr Chandra Bandara, Executive Director, SAAGG.

 

 

 

World Vision in Kenya
May-June

The WV Forum hosted in Nairobi (31 May–2 June) involved WV staff and representatives from organizations like UNICEF, Save the Children and GULL. The purpose was to clarify the role community-based NGOs can play in contributing to recognized and measurable learning outcomes. The Forum also explored partnering arrangements so as to enable WV and other NGOs to achieve advances – especially in the most remote ‘hard to reach’ communities - globally. The group also considered ways of building the capacity of communities so as to strengthen outcomes.

 

(Left) World Vision Forum participants from 22 WV Partnership offices and other organizations.

(Right) WV staff relax at the end of the Forum.

 

 

 

Kenya
June

GULL’s work in Kenya began in September 2009 with a pilot led by Dr Sarone Ole Sena, GULL’s Regional President. Thanks to Sarone and the leadership teams of the participating agencies (Compassion Kenya, Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya, Tearfund and World Vision Kenya) significant growth has occurred in Kenya and more widely in East Africa. On 25 June, 370 GULL participants received awards in recognition of the outcomes of their work in the community. As ever, the award ceremony featured joyful Maasai singing and dancing and a large number of community volunteers from different parts of the country. GULL is especially proud to be able to recognize the extraordinary efforts of this group.

 

(Left) The Compassion Kenya leadership team: (Left to right) Samwel, Justus, Catherine, Christine and Joel.

(Right) Maasai women lead the community singing at the GULL award ceremony.

 

 

 

United Kingdom
September

Located in Fulham Palace, West London, the Counselling and Pastoral Trust (CPT) is a charity dedicated to keeping families together. CPT provides high quality affordable professional counselling services to families and individuals in order to treat problems that lead to family breakdown. On 2 February, eleven members of the CPT lead team began their GULL journey, led by CPT’s Founder, Agnes Sullivan.

(Right) The CPT lead team led by Agnes Sullivan (from row, second from right) with their GULL Level 2 certificates.

The objective during the first phase was to determine individual learning needs and then to achieve at least one personal objective by working with a learning coach, sharing insights and experiences and by developing expertise in using GULL’s learning cycle method.

The CPT lead team are now continuing the journey to their respective GULL level 5 awards via an array of CPT projects. These include integrating GULL with the CPT appraisal system and ‘cascading’ GULL via CPT’s own programme content.

 

 

 

Mexico City
October

A Latin American Compassion staff team met in Mexico City from 8-15 October for a workshop on ‘Qavah’ - a resource for churches working in partnership with Compassion International. Qavah seeks to build the capacity of the church so that it is equipped to work with and respond to community needs. An action learning approach is used to engender confidence and self-directed development and the process is designed to awaken awareness of the role of the church in meeting the needs of the poor. Richard Teare (for GULL) was invited to participate in the workshop so as to explore the potential for linking Qavah to GULL.

 

The workshop included participants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, USA, Africa, Australia, the UK and Peru.

(Right) Some of the Qavah workshop participants - mainly from Mexico and Honduras.

 

 

 

Tijuana, Mexico
October

Tijuana is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and it is the most visited border city in the world; sharing an approximate 24-kilometre-long border (15 mi) with its sister city San Diego. At a start-up meeting in February, a group of World Vision (WV) volunteers in Tijuana began their GULL journey, integrated with WV’s early childhood development process. The objective during the first phase was to determine individual learning needs and then to achieve at least one personal objective by working with a learning coach, by sharing insights and experiences and by developing expertise in using GULL’s learning cycle method.

(Above) World Vision facilitates social enterprise in Tijuana via the community centre in Zapata where women and teenagers make handicrafts.

 

(Left) GULL participants at the Arca International church, Tijuana display their professional Bachelor level 2 certificates.

(Right) This group of WV volunteers is growing in confidence daily - they are now submitting grant applications for local government funding - this has never happened before!

 

 

 

Mt Hagen, Papua New Guinea
November

‘Personal Viability’ (PV) is a powerful holistic human development process that Founder Samuel Tam and his team use to help subsistence community participants – some 85 per cent of PNG’s population – to achieve self reliance and financial independence.

(Right) Some of the 98 PV-GULL participants proudly display their certificates at the Western Highlands ceremony on 11 November.

 

(Left) PV-GULL reception party – dancing with umbrellas!

(Right) PV Founder Dr Samuel Tam with recipients of the PV Founder’s Award for service to the needy.

 

GULL is a non-profit public benefit corporation registered in California, USA. GULL’s mandate to confer professional awards is based on a statement of recognition offered in perpetuity and signed by the Head of State and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea on 10 April 2007. GULL is also endorsed by other Governments, Leaders and Institutions.

 
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