It was July 24, 2012 – my first day on the job. I sat next to my co-fellow in our supervisor’s office and listened carefully to our orientation to PSI Rwanda. We heard about PSI’s various donors, health interventions, products, and teams. We also learned that PSI Rwanda was going through the process of localization. I felt comfortable with the term at the time. I had spent my previous years in Washington, DC following the USAID Forward initiative – a plan to direct thirty percent of USAID funding to local organizations by 2015. There was a sense of urgency in DC, accompanied by an abundance of hope. Localization may have meant less direct funding and work for the international development community in DC, but it also meant reaching one of our top goals, to “work ourselves out of a job.” Localization meant increased local capacity and self reliance, bringing us a step closer to achieving true sustainability in our work.
In April 2012, PSI launched Society for Family Health (SFH), the first local social marketing organization in Rwanda. The process began with PSI ceasing employment of nearly all its staff members, giving them the opportunity to work for the new local organization, but there were over 100 employees and less than 50 positions available. I spent those months leading trainings to help staff build their resumes and prepare for interviews. At the end, with interviews taking place all day, every day for weeks, staff morale were at their lowest.
Once staffing decisions were complete, PSI began transferring its assets, product brands, and projects over to the new organization. When SFH received its first grant to implement a nation-wide social marketing project in Rwanda, with technical support from PSI, the new partnership was put to the test. It became quickly apparent that neither the partnership nor the organizations’ missions were clearly understood. Staff who once sat under the same roof were now at different organizations and unsure how to work together, beneficiaries who for years bought condoms from PSI did not understand why SFH is now selling the products. There was a need to better define the roles of both organizations: SFH as the main implementing agency and PSI’s advisory role. We held countless meetings to address such challenges and help everyone better understand the process and benefits of localization.
Six months later, SFH has established a clear presence in Rwanda and built a strong reputation for being a proud local organization of Rwandans improving the health and well-being of the people in Rwanda. Overall, both PSI and SFH have shown incredible resilience throughout the process and gracefully carved the path for others to follow. As for me, I am still an optimist and a believer in the value of local ownership, and after witnessing a year of localization in Rwanda, I have a far better understanding of the challenges all stakeholders face in such a transition.
