Stichting Connect International

Connect International has developed an integral concept for its mission which is to alleviate poverty in developing countries. To establish our mission effectively, efficiently and structurally we have determined the main parties in the process we are involved with. These are:

1. Local implementing aid organizations (NGO's)
2. Local companies producing facilities and products imperative for the health of the final beneficiaries
3. Communities and their organizational and governance structures
4. Connect International

We have assessed for each of the above parties the main capacity building requirements in order to be able to assist communities effectively to develop themselves. Based on the findings we developed what we call "SMART modules". They are called SMART because they effectively address the capacity building needs of the involved parties, actors and beneficiaries within the given context, include methodologies that assist parties to assess their own needs and customize things to the local context, and they center around effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability. The modules mainly consist of manuals for specific actors and software packages.

The SMART Modules include:

SMART Partner
This module comprises a self-instructive manual describing how local implementing organizations can be capacitated. The process includes an intake, a management training, a self-assessment, and the development of an organization development plan. After this it is described how assistance can be provided to the organization to implement its plan and adapt it regularly to the circumstances and needs. SMART Partner centers around the idea of a learning organization.

SMART Dev
This module includes manuals, fact sheets and training and coaching capacities for community development, focusing on the standard activities executed in communities to assist them to improve their community organizations and governance, and the organization and awareness of individual households in the communities.

SMART Org
This module comprises manuals and software packages for the internal organization. Examples: a professional financial software package, including administration and custom made manual for local NGO's, a software package for the planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting of projects, a manual for managers of local NGO's based on Covey's '7 habits of highly effective leaders' and experiences of senior managers of local NGO's, a survey structure built in SPSS for storage, analysis and reporting of survey data, programmed in a flexible way enabling different organizations to develop their own surveys with customized questions and answers of which the results can still be compared with those of others, etc.

SMART Techs
This module includes manuals and training capacity to assist, often very small local companies, but also individual families, to produce facilities that are affordable, can be produced with locally available knowledge and materials, and that can easily and cheaply be operated and maintained in the local context.

SMART Project
This module comprises manuals explaining staff of local NGO's how to facilitate different types of projects, with references to the technical issues in SMART Tech manuals and descriptions of the process and the social and improvement issues involved at the beneficiary level.