The Power of Starting with Action: RAFT & Its Practical Application in the Field! (Part 4) — By Julie Craig-Lautens
On my trip to visit the Face-to-Face team in Pursat Province, Cambodia, in April, I learned F2F facilitators and assistants work as a team to help each beneficiary start and maintain a victory garden. At the beneficiary’s home, they help the beneficiary prepare a plot of land and install a fence from wooden poles and fabric walls to discourage the roaming cattle. They share some seeds and cuttings from the facilitators’ and assistants’ own gardens. Over time, they add know-how, such as the use of plastic sacks, creating organic compost and liquid fertilizer, the use of overhead structures to shade a garden, and preparing biochar to lighten the soil and trap nutrients. Beneficiaries learn by doing and by seeing good gardens in their area.
As we toured, I reflected on the Corentus model RAFT (Results, Actions, Feeling, Thinking), which helps organizations plan and deliver change. Looking through the lens of RAFT, the F2F approach introduces new ideas through Actions (make a new garden), which bring the Results of good organic vegetables and fruit to the beneficiary’s home. Adding good produce to the family’s meals reduces the cost of food versus buying vegetables and fruit at the market or from a mobile vendor and increases the family’s nutrition. These Results give rise to positive Feelings and ultimately change Thinking, e.g., increased autonomy, self-sufficiency, healthier meals, and collaboration. Contrast this with change initiatives that start with trying to shift Thinking first, e.g. through speeches, online learning, and persuasion, which may or may not lead to positive Actions and Results. This tool deepened my appreciation for the team’s strategy – Action and Results before changing Thinking and Feeling – in facilitating the organization’s important mission.
The F2F team are creating a new path to feeding a family and building stronger communities. They help people learn by doing, creating sustainable change with no dependency on donor-funded farm supplies. Their efforts primarily help women and the elderly, as well as the children in their care. On my trip, I heard the victory gardens also give people purpose and a small income that eases their poverty.
I’ve come home even more inspired by F2F and with new things to try in my vegetable garden. Reflecting on RAFT, there is almost always something we can try in this present moment that may lead to surprising results and insights. I’m immensely grateful to the F2F team for their generous welcome and the opportunity to continue working together!
