Posted on Tuesday 21st February 2012
Mary Duckett pictured during her stay in Cameroon
Dedication, generosity and sheer professionalism are qualities that Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s workforce has in abundance – and look no further than Mary Duckett to prove it.
For two months Mary has worked tirelessly in a remote area of Africa to help assist the developing country on its path to decentralisation.
Mary, a contract monitoring officer in the Community Care Service at Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, applied for the opportunity to travel to Cameroon to share her expertise and experience with the local Babessi Council.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council supported Mary with her eight-week placement, in a remote rural area where most of the population of 85,000 work in farming and have many basic needs, such as access to clean drinking water and electricity, to improve their livelihoods.
The Babessi Council has responsibility for development of infrastructure and services at local level, helping to maintain the peace and stability of the country. Communities can apply to Babessi Council for a small and limited budget to carry out vital projects, such as bridge building and piped water wells.
Mary was tasked with offering operational policy and advice to the Council, with the aim of helping it deliver adequate basic services to the communities it seeks to serve. Communication in the region is largely by word of mouth and traditional community leaders have a strong influence.
During her stay, Mary was involved in many Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) workshops and seminars, as well as her own community consultations with more than 700 people. She produced the first two formal policies Babessi Council has ever had - to assist operational management, transparency and increase productivity: communication and reporting, and participatory planning and budgeting.
The programme that Mary took part in contributes towards United Nations development aims and is run by the Welsh Government and managed via a company called Emerging World.
Her work helped promote citizens’ right to information. She also attended Council sessions, encouraged scrutiny of this year’s budget and action plans; agreed a new budget for a newsletter and drafted it for distribution.
In the past couple of years, the Babessi Council started some activities for the community including recruitment of primary teachers, participatory budgeting and work through community participation to address environmental issues.
Mary, who works in Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Community Care Service in Williamstown, Rhondda, said: "I saw a generic email about the placement and found out other Council employees had been on the programme. I got through the recruitment process and was really well-matched in my placement.
"All decisions on the Babessi Council were going through the Lord Mayor and that is why the communication document I produced was so important – to help him manage Council business through delegation and information sharing.
"While I was in Cameroon, I was also able to socialise at traditional events and with local families and travelled to other areas, in taxis with up to 11 people in a car, with a variety of luggage and chickens in baskets!
"It was an amazing and fun experience. I did not want to leave – there is so much I wanted to do. I am very grateful for the experience and thank Babessi Council for inviting my placement, my employer for agreeing to my assignment and the Welsh Government for the programme.
"Before I left, my colleagues generously raised £230, which was used to purchase a World globe for each of the 51 primary schools in the Babessi area. I saw inside a few of the schools, which were bare of equipment and class sizes average one teacher to every 60 pupils."
Cllr Mike Forey, Rhondda Cynon Taf’s Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing, said: "I am delighted that Mary enjoyed her time in the Cameroon and was able to help developing communities there. It is fascinating to hear how a local Council is run in a country where people have so many basic needs that we take for granted, such as having clean water.
"It is heartening to hear that the Babessi Council is making progress in communicating more closely with local communities, thanks to the important work that Mary has undertaken."
Another donation for Babessi communities is currently being collected. If you would like to contribute please email: mary.duckett@rctcbc.gov.uk|