Anna Kotsonouris facilitates positive change for community development projects in West Africa through her work with an international development organization over the past 14 years. She feels her biggest contribution has been influencing donors and rural communities to engage in their own development. Her work has taught her empathy, patience, and to acknowledge what she doesn't know in order to truly understand the issues communities face. She shares her experience of initially misidentifying a community's problems to emphasize the importance of listening to understand local realities. She is moved by increased appreciation for healthcare workers during the pandemic and hopes it continues after the crisis ends.

1. Anna
Kotsonouris
Facilitating positive change
for community development projects
in West Africa.

2. Everything we transform, transforms us back
We live in an age of rapid change and transformation. With these short interviews I would like to introduce you to
inspirational people who initiate, cultivate and experience positive transformation on different levels and in different
areas. Rich insights and lessons learned that you might take forward into your own journey.
6 Questions to
Anna Kotsonouris

3. 1. Can you paint me a picture of how you bring change in the world? What do you personally see as your biggest
contribution?
For 14 Years I’ve helped run an international development organization working with rural
communities living in poverty in West Africa. We deliver community development projects,
including building schools, health clinics and crèches as well as providing clean water and
sanitation for both homes and schools. I feel that my biggest contribution has been my
ability to be influential and accurately convince donors to support our work as well as
facilitating rural communities to engage in aiding their own development.
Here’s a short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=29&v=qPkSqaGl9kQ&feature=emb_logo

4. 2. Many change pioneers and activists speak of external and internal transformation. When or how have you
noticed transformation within yourself, triggered by your work and actions?
This work has first and foremost made me understand my own capacity for empathy, it has
taught me patience and also given me the ability to acknowledge what I didn’t know and
taking the time to truly understand the issues facing people in developing countries. I don’t
have all the answers and that is how it should be. I now see myself as a facilitator, assisting
people to identify and solve their own problems. I am not and was never there to save
anyone.

5. 3. Which experiences or people have shaped your personal transformation (Who inspired or even mentored you)?
What would you share with others to help them shape their journey?
I’ve said this in my previous answer and it’s something I say to everyone I speak to who ask
me about getting involved in International Development- Figure out what you don’t’ know
and make your first priority to identify what the real issues are. It’s not what you think the
problem is and it’s not your job to find the solution. I learnt this the hard way early on we
thought it would be a great idea to collect loads of old reading glasses to distribute in the
community. It took quite some time for us to realise that most people couldn’t read. That
time and resources could have been spent, for example on supporting adult literacy
classes. Before arriving at the village we had decided what the problem was and what the
solution was. We were wrong.

6. 4. What changes do you find particularly moving at this moment?
During this time of global crisis and although we are definitely all not in the same boat, all
our boats are in the same ocean. It’s been inspiring how most people have come together
to look after and look out for one another. Using digital solutions we have managed to keep
in touch, make new friends and stay connected however remotely. As someone who has
worked in public health for over 15 years I am very moved by the great appreciation being
shown to all the healthcare workers around the world. It’s been a long time coming and I
hope it continues long after the crisis has passed.

7. 5. How can you or one of your projects be supported?
Due to Covid 19 we’ve lost donors and volunteers at a time of crisis for the communities we
serve, so we’ve set up a specific Covid 19 Children’s Emergency Response Appeal.
http://ow.ly/5k6P50zMjM9
You can find more information at www.villagebyvillage.org and when things improve we
hope to welcome back volunteers to our place in Ghana.

8. 6. Who would you recommend that could offer transformational experiences and inspirational thoughts?
A real game changer for me was watching a TED talk by Ernesto Sirolli-
https://www.ted.com/talks/ernesto_sirolli_want_to_help_someone_shut_up_and_listen?lang
uage=en
Anyone looking to get involved with International Development needs to watch this but it
can be summed up in the title “Shut up and listen”

9. Here you find more resources about Anna
Email - anna@villagebyvillage.org
Website - www.villagebyvillage.org
Youtube -
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEhtP
GuBcv1C17nQ-MI-B-Q
https://villagebyvillage.charitycheckout.co.uk/cf
/covid-19-children-s-emergency-response-app
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