Company Profile - Positive Vibes Trust

Company Details

Positive Vibes Trust

Positive Vibes (PV) is an organisation working primarily in Africa, expanding into The Middle East & South-East Asia. We are connected to global partners and international movements.

Profile Overview

Website

https://positivevibes.org/about-us/

Contact

Working Days

Monday9AM - 5PM
Tuesday9AM - 5PM
Wednesday9AM - 5PM
Thursday9AM - 5PM
Friday9AM - 5PM
Saturday9AM - 5PM
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About Company

Terms of Reference | Call for Proposals

DEVELOPING A NEW METHODOLOGY:

Participatory storytelling & documentation for healing, community building & influence

We Lead Programme | Positive Vibes | Cape Town

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: 12:00 (SAST) on Thursday, 2 November 2023

Positive Vibes seeks a consultant/consultants/a company to lead on the development of a new methodology for use with groups of rightsholders – in particular, people affected by displacement ( e.g. refugees, deportees, returnees, etc.).

The methodology should enable a trained but non-expert facilitator to lead rightsholders in working therapeutically and flexibly with their own narratives in ways that:

are affirming and supportive,
help people to connect with and learn from each other (i.e., build mutual understanding and a sense of community), and simultaneously
produce a product (or products, i.e., poems, stories, brief video documentaries, etc.) that can be used to inform and influence other stakeholders.

This contract includes:

designing and developing a draft methodology
revising the draft methodology based on feedback from Positive Vibes and selected partners/associates
facilitating a pilot of the draft methodology with a group of rightsholders and Positive Vibes programme personnel

finalising the methodology guide/manual for use by Positive Vibes and partners

Ongoing support with roll-out and implementation of the methodology may be required in future but is not part of this contract. The remainder of this document provides additional background and specifications.

BACKGROUND

We Lead is an inspiring, innovative and powerful 5-year program that aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRH-R) of young women. It is currently at its mid-point. We Lead focuses on four specific groups of young women: those living with HIV, those with disabilities, those who identify as lesbian, bisexual, trans or intersex gender minorities, and those affected by displacement. The program puts these young women as rightsholders in the driver's seat while supporting them to make sustainable changes for their SRH-R. We Lead operates in nine countries in Africa, the Middle East and Central America: Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Niger, Mozambique, Lebanon, Jordan, Guatemala and Honduras.

Positive Vibes (PV) is a member of the consortium leading and implementing We Lead in all nine countries. PV is an African, queer, human rights organisation. We contribute to realising human rights, health and social change at global level. We believe that equity and justice for all is possible. Every day we work with rightsholders from marginalised or minority communities in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Central America

to support them as agents of change,

to address stigma and discrimination in their contexts, and
to enable increased access to rights.

Conscientisation is at the heart of our approach: supporting rightsholders, allies and duty-bearers, and ourselves to be awake to self, increasingly aware of the systems within which we work, and applying agency to act in ways that produce positive change and impact.

PURPOSE OF THIS CONSULTANCY

The purpose of this work is to augment PV and We Lead’s capacity by developing a new, effective, facilitated methodology that enables groups of people affected by displacement (and potentially other rightsholders) to explore their own lived experiences and stories in therapeutic and creative ways.

The methodology should also support participants (if they choose) to use their own material to create narrative products that can be used for education and advocacy around issues that matter to them, with stakeholders (members of host communities, duty bearers, policy makers, etc.) who might help improve their lives and experiences.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE, COMPETENCIES, CAPACITY

The successful applicant will :

understand participatory, facilitated processes and be skilled in their design and implementation

have experience in designing processes that are cross-culturally robust and easily transferable to other facilitators (including non-professionals/laypeople)
have an understanding and experience of working with marginalised and traumatised people
have experience in effectively using creative/arts-based interventions with marginalised groups
have experience in working with movements and activist groups
be able to produce clear, concise and easy-to-use manuals, in English, that enable the replication and transfer of their designs and processes

be an experienced facilitator (this is of relevance for the piloting phase of this work)

Evidence of this capacity (in the form of links, references, examples of other work) should accompany your proposal.

You should also be willing and able to travel for the pilot (this may occur in Uganda or Kenya).

The following competencies and experiences would add value:

understanding and experience of working with people affected by displacement
understanding of, exposure to, and/or skill in narrative therapy and related practices
skill and experience in using multiple media forms for effective communication and/or advocacy: e.g., stories, poetry, photography, video, etc.

have a passion for supporting learning and development – in your clients (in this case, PV) and in the ultimate users of and participants in the new methodology

INPUTS | documents & contacts provided on contracting

To ensure alignment and congruence with PV’s approach, the successful applicant will have access to examples of existing PV methodologies and other processes that make use of narrative for developmental and advocacy purposes.

These will include:

copies of various LILO (Looking In, Looking Out) manuals,
reports from applications of our LifeWorlds process,
documentation from a recent “Art for Advocacy” pilot run in Guatemala and Kenya
documentation arising from recent “Design and Inspiration” meetings with people affected by displacement in Central America and East Africa,
a new video documentary development process currently being used with people affected by displacement across We Lead regions

We will also provide background material that speaks to PV’s overarching approach, theory of change and strategy. Together, these materials should inspire the development of this new product.

In addition, you will have access to a small reference group made up of members of the PV We Lead team and selected partners/associates with experience relevant to your task.

Beyond these resources we expect the successful applicant to consider other methodologies and approaches; innovation and new ideas are welcome.

OUTPUTS

A transferrable, replicable process, as already described. This would take the form of a manual (or similar product), supported by a guide for training/preparing facilitators of the new methodology to use it successfully.

The methodology should:

be time efficient (require a maximum of 3-days’ contact time)
be low cost; it might make use of resources at participants’ disposal (e.g., using cellphones to produce photo essays, video clips, sound files, etc.)
be robust and adaptable – useable in-person and/or online, with groups of 8-24 participants

maximise value for participants: therapeutic and community strengthening outcomes are a high priority AND
if participants wish 1 , the methodology should enable them (with some limited professional support from editors/designers/etc. 2 ) to produce an attractive, high quality product 3 – of their choosing – that communicates effectively to their chosen target groups/stakeholders

Notes:

1 The methodology should incorporate options that allow participants to make choices about what they wish to produce and why.

2 Positive Vibes and/or implementing partners will provide some support to the process of translating/transforming group-generated materials into a final product. The nature and degree of this support will vary depending on resources available.

3 The form of this product may vary depending on the participant group and on the stakeholders they wish to influence or communicate with. Examples could include: short video clips/documentaries; photo essays; poetry/stories in published form; etc.

PROCESS & TIMELINE

`1`	`Proposals received`	`By 2 November 2023` `(this deadline may be extended if a wider range of applications are needed to make the best possible selection)`
`2`	`Selection and contracting of consultant/service provider`	`November 2023` `(successful applicants will be notified by early November)`
`3`	`Orientation, review of ‘input’ documents, engagement with reference group members (as needed), development of concept note and detailed workplan`	`November/December 2023`
`4`	`Draft version of methodology developed`	`By 20 January 2023`
`5`	`Revisions to draft`	`February 2024`
`6`	`Piloting`	`March 2024`
`7`	`Submission of final methodology manual and facilitator training guide`	`By end-March 2024`

BUDGET

Fees: We expect the fees budget to be in the range of ZAR 200 000 to ZAR 250 000.

Expenses associated with travel and piloting will be borne by PV. Logistical support will be provided by PV.

PROPOSAL FORMAT | submission guidelines

Deadline: 12:00 (SAST), 23 October 2023

Send your proposal and supporting documents/links to:weleadsupport@positivevibes.org

Specifications of proposal

Maximum 4-pages including:

Brief biography explaining why you are well positioned to do this work effectively

Proposed approach and process (outline of workplan), well aligned with the desired output and timeline
Links to 1-3 examples of relevant work product (past assignments/proof of experience and skill)
Fees budget
3 relevant client references