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Electricity at the Demo Farm in Ganja By Terje Holmedahl (17.11.2008) Fagan Agayev is in charge of AzNor Agro, a demo farm owned mainly by Norwegian investors in Ganja, Western Azerbaijan. The demo farm has recently got electric connection. Fagan says he has three priorities for AzNor Agro: 1. Transfer of the land documents to the legal owners; 2. Connection of electrical supplies; and 3. Purchase of more land. He was working on buying an additional piece of 2 ha. - It is a great satisfaction to know that we have got electricity, says Fagan. It was a difficult task. He had to work hard to find a suitable company who could do the job in a proper way. Now water supply is available over the entire property. |
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NorAz and AzNor |
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Celebrating Javid! By Jon Petter Feidal (06.01.2009) On the first Sunday of 2009 an important anniversary of one of NHE’s veteran employees was celebrated: Javid Nabiyev turned 50! Arriving at “Amar” restaurant and what he thought was going to be a “private family meal at a restaurant”, Javid was overwhelmed by the more than 40 birthday guests applauding his arrival and congratulating him on his BIG day. A big “thank you!” to a dear colleague, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAVID! |
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Top left to right: Ellada, Vusala, Jenny, Esmira, Jon Petter and Arifa with Javid and his family (Yusif had already left when the picture was taken). (Photo: Jon Petter Feidal |
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Knarvik Highschool in Norway donates 35,000 Manat! Terje Holmedahl 20.04.2009 -It is incredibly inspiring to receive such visitors, says Annelis Holmedahl (left) with a broad smile on her mouth.. For the 6th year running a delegation from Knarvik Highshool near Bergen, Norway, has visited Azerbaijan. And they brought yet another “fat” cheque!
Annelis Holmedahl is the programme advisor for NHE’s Children and Youth Programme. She received the cheque from the Knarvik students Marit Hellestveit (no. 3 from left in picture) and Martha Rolland Jacobsen (right), together with Liv Gjarde, who is the project manager for the Sheki Vocational Training Centre project. Knarvik principal Inge Alver and his wife accompanied the students this time. He has good reasons to be proud of the result of this year’s campaign at this public school in Hordaland county of Norway. Students at this school have collected similarly large sums of money for NHE’s work for and amongst children and youth of Azerbaijan over a total of 6 years now. Says Mr. Alver, “I have good reasons to believe that the total amount of support raised through this year’s campaign will be even higher than the cheque presented to you today, but this is as much as was raised by the time we got on the plane!”. The delegation from Knarvik Highschool has been taken on a round trip in Azerbaijan, with Liv Gjarde as their guide and interpreter, and have seen much of the work going on through the projects they are supporting. Yet again, a big THANK YOU for your valuable support! This brings the total support from Knarvik up to over 1 million Norwegian Kroner!
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Committed leaders in Azerbaijan Terje Holmedahl 13.06.09 One of the things that pleased Azad Rahimov most was the commitment shown in the discussions. He and Ruth Ingrid Boe have just led the first leadership training for employees of NHE and Viator in Azerbaijan. Both of them were a little anxious as to whether the materials would be appropriate for those participating because the materials were not prepared by Azeris. This first leadership training course was held 27 – 29 May with 24 people from Viator and NHE participating. Starting the ball rolling ”We hope this is just the first of many such events”, say Ruth Ingrid Boe and Azad Rahimov to NHEs website. Their aim in planning the course was to start the ball rolling “We hope that this kind of event for leaders of Viator and NHE can be a safe place for open and honest communication, sharing their experiences, both successes and failures, without loss of face” says Ruth Ingrid Boe. We would also like to see discussion on work ethics both in general and more specifically in relation to leadership roles. Another aim is to see leaders grow in maturity. This first leadership course aimed at giving the participants a common understanding of working definitions of leadership which can be developed later. Surprise at the level of commitment expressed - Did the course live up to your expectations? “What struck us most was the level of commitment shown by this group of people”. Mr Rahimov and Mrs Boe are delighted about the level of participation in both plenum and group sessions. “There was not much in the way of very personal communication, at least not in the plenum sessions, but we did not expect that this first time. However, lively participation from some members of the group pleasantly surprised us. In addition we think we have laid a good foundation as far as working definitions goes” they agree.
Lively Mr Rahimov comments that there was a good and happy atmosphere at the course with good communication between the two different organisations despite geographical differences and differences in background. “There was plenty of chat and laughter and time spent together outside the conference room contributed towards the friendly atmosphere. Rahimov is concerned about development in the direction of democracy and was very happy with the lively discussions during the teaching sessions. “We hope and believe that this was an indication of the good quality of the materials. In conversation with individuals it turned out that some participants have already put their fingers on things they would like to change or develop in their own leadership styles. This shows that we have accomplished what we set out to do!” Challenges Seen from a pedagogic point of view the most challenging aspect was the need to go deeper which they observed on occasion during discussions. Mrs Boe admits that language limitations were a challenge in this respect and Mr Rahimov found that the newness of the material and his lack of familiarity with it limited his ability to explain it well enough. “In addition we found that some of the participants were unwilling to change the soviet style of thinking and leadership they had been exposed to”, says Mr Rahimov. “Or perhaps they do want to change but are bogged down in their own conservatism. This is more of a problem for the older generation while the younger leaders seem to think differently”. Lessons to learn from this prototype course They see a need to go deeper at certain points. During the course they made notes at points where more detail is needed. “Terms such as ‘emotions’ and ‘intuition’ need to be defined better say the course leaders. We intend to add to our course-book based on shortcomings we have observed and will continue to go deeper next time we meet”. They also want to look carefully at the evaluations made by the participants and take into consideration their advice and suggestions for new themes for further sessions.
The evaluations showed that the participants want these courses to continue. Some even wrote that they would like sessions longer than 2 – 3 days. The next session is planned for end of September. ”As we only used 4 chapters of our 9 chapter course-book we have plenty to continue with”, smiles Mrs Boe. At the end of the session the participants were given practical advice as to how to apply what they had learnt. The course leaders see a need to add to their timetable opportunities for individual follow-up of participants who desire it between course sessions.
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