Constraints of Exposure Visits - Information communication learning Exposure Visits_KnO 100044

Exposure visits

Practical Action

Constraints of Exposure Visits

 The cost of travel and other expenses can be prohibitive.

 Visits require time for detailed planning.

 In some countries cultural constraints may be encountered, for example women’s

freedom to travel outside their home communities.

Real Life Story

Learning from Experience in Western Kenya.

In May 2001 a team of 13 women from Valongi

Producer Group made an exposure visit to the Keyo

Group. The objective of the visit was to learn about

the Keyo group’s clay stove production project. The

visit started with Esther Ombima, the Keyo Group

Chair-lady, explaining how and when the group

started and the activities they were involved in.

The Keyo

women then

demonstrated

the entire

Trying out the stove moulding process

production

process from clay preparation to firing and all the

difficulties involved in the process. Members of the

Vaongi Group took the opportunity to have a go at the

production processes themselves. Advice on managing

the business and marketing the stoves was also

shared.

Unloading the pottery kiln

The Valongi Group asked questions about how the Keyo Group had been able to stay together

for several years without any conflicts or splits. The answer given by Esther Ombima was that

each member produced her own stoves and was responsible for her own production material;

this meant that they were working as individuals but supporting each other as a group. She

said each woman contributes 5 Kenyan Shillings per stove to the group account.

The Valongi Producer Group members were so impressed with what they saw, they became

determined to produce their own stoves for sale. They organised another visit for detailed

production training and went on to apply what they had learnt in their home community.

Real life stories and photographs by kind permission of Practical Action