Southern PSO partners EASUN, CDRA and PRIA jazz up PSOs 25th anniversary celebrations

December 15, 2010  -  As a cherished birthday present, that was how PSO experienced the visit of its Southern colleagues from EASUN, PRIA and CDRA. They came with warmth (which we needed with the freezing outside temperatures), authenticity, inspiration and humor. They brightened up our party as friends, co-travelers and co-creators.

The days before the actual anniversary celebration were spend on working on mutual projects, as well as reconnecting, exchanging and leisure. PSO and CDRA (South Africa) joined in a two day planning session around the thematic learning programme on ‘Learning practices in social change’. And EASUN and PSO visited PSO member Connect International as a follow-up in a joint process with a partner of Connect in Tanzania.

Taking baby steps together
Atieno from EASUN (Tanzania) arrived just in time to join the Wednesday “walk to be inspired” (in the rain). The walk did not last and the group ended up in a pub in the harbor. Here, we talked about our relationships. We concluded that when we decided to engage with each other, we did not have a clear idea of what working collaboratively would mean.

This evolved along the way. And we learned along the way. We learned about how important it is to get to know each other well as organizations, before engaging in larger joint activities. The relationship starts with taking ‘baby steps’ together. Or using the anniversary metaphor of the Tango for ‘connecting, learning from each other and finding balance in the relation (and not stepping on each others toes)’: we agreed that we could not dance the Tango together at once, as a lot of joint practice is required.

No pressure to deliver
Nomvula noted that the financial investment of PSO for building this relationship had been courageous. This facilitated that the relationship between PSO and CDRA is not based on ‘power over’, but ‘power with’.

‘We took the time to really get to know each other, without pressure to deliver’, Nomvula added. And as relationship building starts with individuals, at a certain point we recognized the need of anchoring the relationship organization wide. This meant that other colleagues had to be involved and also leadership had to connect.

A trusting relationship
Rajesh Tandon from PRIA (India) arrived on Thursday and vividly contributed to the working session on PSO Thematic Learning Programmes and the anniversary event as key note speaker. He asserted that PRIA’s relationship with PSO is based on a shared perspective and belief in civil society. ‘It is a trusting relationship with room to actively intensify it’ he observed.

All organisations feel the need to remain connected, work together and support each other. But each from its own unique purpose and context. We recognize that there is commonality, but also enjoyable differences. Knowing this, we will continue working together towards a unique relationship that will prepare us for the future.

On behalf of PSO partner EASUN Atieno Olwal and Alando Anyona attended the PSO 25th Anniversary celebrations. They wrote an article with their impressions in the January 2011 edition of the EASUN newsletter. You can read this under the heading 'Exploring CSO activism in a world of business triumphalism'.