Metz Grant

Visiting Susan’s Center in June, we were happy to find the kitchen already constructed and several Moi undergrads ready to work on the compost toilet. Unfortunately, though, our month here revealed that Susan didn’t spend the funds per our agreed-upon budget and she was not very forth coming with explanations. I’m disappointed about that experience.

We’d obtained funding for a gas stove to alleviate the firewood burden – they built a wood-burning stove with only one burner. Not very practical to cook for the number of guests they’ll have. When we first visited in July, the wonderful ladies made our dinner using the one burner inside plus a number of pots over small, open fires outside. So… still using lots of firewood and unprotected open fires. And the women hinted that they’re more likely to continue cooking outside because that’s what they’re used to. Plus, I would understand that it doesn’t make sense to cook some food (one pot’s worth) in the kitchen and then the rest outside. Too much walking back and forth.

The budget covered the kitchen sink, bunk beds, mattresses and a rain tank. All of those were purchased and within budget. Great.

Too much of the money was spent on transport & labor for the compost toilet. I don’t think Susan really understood the point of the “community contribution,” and to me that’s the biggest let-down of all. We probably weren’t clear about what we meant by community contribution, and I guess we could’ve explained not only what it was (recruiting supporters willing to volunteer their time to help the center), but also why we think it’s important (community buy-in & ownership & all that fluffy MPA stuff). Susan said that community members wouldn’t provide free labor, which I half understand – of course people’s time is valuable. I get that and do want to see people compensated for their work. But I doubt she tried very hard to get those time contributions. Plus Susan doesn’t seem to really care about the toilet. Her skepticism about it is very apparent, and that doesn’t bode well for promoting the toilet among community members.

Overall, I feel let down by the experience. I wish we’d held Susan more accountable for the funds. I hate the idea that we should spend the money ourselves, but apparently there needs to be better oversight of how funds are spent. In giving Susan the entire $5k upfront, we asked her to spend it according to the budget and get receipts. Although I know she spent it on good things for the center, she didn’t spend it as required. That not only puts us in an awkward position with our report back to IU, but it makes me feel that we were used, in a way.

I did say this to Susan when we had a brief meeting last night at the Center. I told her that she and all of us needed to be careful about how grant funds are spent. I told her that we are responsible to IU to spend the money a certain way and she carried that same responsibility. I called this a learning experience for all of us, especially her as she intends to seek bigger grants in the future. She agreed with me and said that yes, she saw this as a lesson for future grants. But I’m still not confident that she’ll change her habits.