Closing Ceremonies -- A student happily receives her certificate from Joe Hansen, senior advisor for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. He was an honourary lecturer sponsored by the National Democratic Institute. The VTC staff and students warmly thank NDI for their support and Joe Hansen for his lecture. (March 2005)
An interview with the visionary: Dorit Lehrack, VTC International Trainer
Dorit Lehrack is an international advisor for CANGO and has been working there since March 2001.
The Vision Training Center for Chinese Grassroots NGO (VTC) was her initiative and in this interview she offers her opinion on the project.
Q: What inspired you to start developing the CANGO Training Center?
We wanted to develop a project with long-lasting staying power. The VTC was something we could create and develop that helps people in a sustainable way. It is one concrete result from to benefit the grassroots Chinese community.
Q: Was it difficult to find supporters to financially contribute to the Vision Training Center?
No, it was not difficult because many donors thought a NGO training center was missing in China so they were attracted to the idea. We did approach a lot of donors but finally decided to work with the EED who are a long-term contributor to Chinese NGOs and CANGO.
Q: It is not too often that training is conducted free of charge? Why did VTC decide to operate its program this way?
Yes it’s probably true that most training have fees but that excludes a lot of people. Our target groups are exactly those people who do not have a big financial base. We want to support and enable the small underprivileged groups and target these people to get trained so they can do more in their communities
Q: What obstacles do you think you might encounter while training Chinese grassroots NGO leaders?
There may be some training content that is difficult to translate from English to Chinese. In order to have the best training program we need the trainees to improve our training programs. At the end of the day we will have a customer shaped training that will help Chinese trainers transfer their knowledge back to their community.
Q: What can participants expect from the training? What type of results?
I think besides theoretical basis of working within an NGO, we think the most important thing is to get in touch with their colleagues. A big part of the training is to network with their other colleagues to learn from each other and share their experiences.
Q: What is your favorite training session?
I like all the sessions but NGO basics is a cross-section of training issues, especially suited for people who want to start an NGO. NGO basics can be very inspiring and it is something that if we do it right we can encourage more people to get involved with this type of work.
Q: Can you picture the VTC 3 years from now? What do you hope for its future?
I hope it is not just a 4 year supported project from an international donor. It should be a permanent self-financed training center that should offer paid training for those who can afford it but keep free training for those who need it. I envision it to be a place where NGO people can discuss the importance of social and civil engagement. It can also be a vivid forum of discussion between NGO leaders, government authorities, business people and scientists - China needs all these people to develop in a sustainable way. In four years time I hope we will have many engaged Chinese NGO trainers to take over the job from us foreigners.
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