Handbook for Mobilizers - VCNcec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/hbmob.pdf · 2011. 8. 6. · This is a "how-to"...

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Hand Book for Mobilizers

ISBN: 92-1-131401-1 â€“ UN: HS/543/98

.How Nature loves the incomplete. She knowsIf She drew a conclusion it would finish Her.

Christopher Fry

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Preface:...

This handbook is the result of six years of mobilization and communitymanagement training in the Community Management Programme, executed byUN-HABITATand implemented by the Directorate of Community Development ofthe Government. (While originally designed for Uganda, it is now being used indozens of countries on five continents).

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Many lessons were learned over theseyears, some by success, some by failure.Through it all, we have seen the potentialstrength and amazing resilience of thecommunities.

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What we have come to realize is that allcommunities, no matter how poor, have resources(many that still need to be identified) that can betapped, so that they, and all of the society , candevelop. To release and best use this hugenational resource, mobilization and managementtraining are needed.

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This handbook (one of three companionhandbooks) is intended to show how thosepotential resources can be released forsustainable development.

.It is intended for Government, NGO,professional and voluntary mobilizerseverywhere. We pray that it is useful to you.

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Phil Bartle, Chief Technical Adviser Laban Mbulamuko, National Coordinator Community Management Programme

1992-1998 ...

Introduction:

Handbook for Mobilizers

file:///C|/0 Current Work/Current 2006 April/Handbook for Mobilizers.htm (1 of 32) [04/10/2006 12:29:00 AM]

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Community participation does not happen by itself.It must be stimulated and encouraged. .

This book is aimed at those whowish to initiate that stimulation.

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This is a "how-to" book, intended for communitymobilizers who want to stimulate social change ina community in the direction of moredevelopment, poverty eradication, bettergovernance, increased integrity and transparencyin the management of community affairs; inshort, empowerment of that community.

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There is therefore a minimum of history,theory, ideology and description here, andan emphasis on the needed skills andunderstanding of concepts useful tocommunity workers.

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Who should usethis book? .

While this book is primarily aimed at new mobilizers in the field, weencourage planners, administrators and managers to read it, if yourresponsibilities include those same goals of community strengthening.

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This is the first and core book in a seriesof three companion handbooks. .

The others, which complement this, are: "Handbookof Monitoring and Evaluation" and "Handbook ofWealth Generation."

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At the end of the document are a series of links to guides and notes for trainers using this handbook.

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....1. Getting Prepared:...

Before you can successfully stimulateself help development in a community,you must prepare yourself.

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You must be clear and knowledgeable about yourgoals; you must know about your target community;you must have the required skills; you mustunderstand the fundamental concepts of mobilization.

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The first thing to do now is to start a journal. Aninexpensive school notebook is OK. You mightwish to use four notebooks and title them: (1)Goals and Concepts; (2) The Target Community;(3) Mobilizing Skills, and (4) A Day-to-Day Journalrecord.

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However you choose to organize yourself,it is important to start making notes andrecords now. Write with your replacementin mind as your reader.

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This chapter informs you of the thingsthat you need to get prepared. Do notassume, however, that you can getprepared "once and for all."

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We mobilizers are continually learning more andmore about all the things mentioned in thischapter. It is a never ending process, and we willbe doomed to failure if we ever think we know it all.

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1.1. Know Your Goals:......

One of the slogans we use inmanagement training is, "If you do notknow where you are going, then anyroad will do." (See "Slogans.") Thisapplies to you, too, in preparing formobilizing.

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It is easy to run around, looking busy, arrangingmeetings, getting latrines constructed, talking tocommunity leaders, moving advocacy groups,stimulating action, without moving forward inaccomplishing genuine community strengthening. You need to clarify your goals, first to yourself, thenon paper, then to those around you.

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Here you should begin writing in your journal,or the section of it you have set aside for goalsand concepts.

.You must set them as your own goals, notthink of them merely as a list of someoneelse's ideals.

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The goals of mobilization to develop acommunity may vary from person toperson, community to community. Nevertheless, there are commonelements.

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These include: poverty eradication, good governance,change in social organization, communitycapacitydevelopment, empowering low income andmarginalized people, and gender balance.

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As you go along, reading this hand book, engaging inmobilization, you will see that each of these goals becomesmore interesting and challenging, the more you know.

.Go back to your journal often toupdate, refine, and add details toall these goals.

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Poverty reduction, for example, is morecomplex and challenging when you workwith it, in contrast to just listing it. We learnto avoid "poverty alleviation" because thatmerely temporarily alleviates the pain anddiscomfort, and does not lead to a durablesolution.

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Poverty is not merely the absence of money (asyou will see later in these handbooks) andattacking the causes of poverty means fightingapathy, ignorance, disease, and dishonesty. Thatis only one example where your understanding ofthe goal expands through experience.

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Similarly, good governance does not simplymean strong leadership and efficientadministration. It also means transparency,people's involvement, trust, honesty, and a visionfor the future.

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You will learn, also, that you can hardlyexpect community leaders to be (orbecome) transparent in their use ofcommunity resources if you yourself are nottransparent in your community activities.

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Look in the: Glossary of Key Terms, for introductorydiscussion about these goals (poverty reduction,community development).

.Compare them to your notes inyour journal.



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1.2. Know Your Target Community:...

Another proverb that we use in communitydevelopment is, "The potter must knowher/his clay." Your clay is the community. You want to mould it, develop it intosomething strong.

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To do so, you must know a lot about thecommunity (and about the nature ofcommunities in general). You must know asmuch as possible about its social organization,economy, languages, layout (map), problems,politics, and ecology.

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Your research should not be merely to get a list of unrelatedfacts; you need to analyse them to understand the nature ofcommunity as a social system. (See What is Community?)

.Think about how the differentelements are related.

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A good start is to make a map. Where dopeople live? What facilities are in thecommunity? (eg roads, paths, watersupply, clinic, school, sanitation, marketand other communal facilities andservices).

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Later, when you lead community membersthrough an assessment of the communitysituation (resources, needs, opportunities,problems); you will guide them in making acommunity map. Doing one now for yourself willhelp you to prepare for that participatory activitylater.

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Put your notes into your journal. Make observations aboutthe community's: Social organization, economy,language(s), politics, shared values, traditions, and itsrelationship to the physical environment (ecology).

.Continue to analyse how thedifferent elements relate to oneanother.

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You will learn that a community is not merely acollection of individuals, but a system that transcendsthose individuals. As a system it has variousdimensions, technological, economic, political,institutional, ideological and perceptual. People comein and go out of the community, by birth, death andmigration, yet the system persists. And it is alwayschanging.

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Your job is to understand that systemso you can nudge that ongoingchange in certain directions (asindicated in your goals we discussedearlier).

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There is a lot you can learn about your target community, and you should never stop.

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1.3. Know the Skills You Need:...

The skills that you need as a mobilizer are notexceptionally difficult to learn, but can be verypowerful tools. They can be misused. As ananalogy, think of the skills of a lock smith. Alocksmith performs many useful and valuableservices, but they can be misused for breaking,entering, and theft.

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As you learn mobilization skills, usethem for the benefit of the community,not to benefit yourself at the expenseof the community.

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Since your target group is the community as awhole, most of your needed skills belong tocommunication abilities. You need to learn howto be a public speaker, but not just any kind ofpublic speaker. The kind of public speaking youneed to know is the kind needed for leadershipand facilitation.

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You must learn how to draw information anddecisions out of a group, which requires afull understanding of your goals and arelaxed confidence in front of people. Youmust be able to recognize preaching,lecturing, and making speeches, and avoidthose styles.

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The technical skills you need as mobilizerinclude: public speaking, planning, managing,observing, analysing, and writing. The bestway to learn these is through being self taught.

.You also need to develop a personal characterthat is honest, enthusiastic, positive, tolerant,patient and motivated.

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You have to know how to listen andunderstand when people talk. You have toknow how to ensure that information isaccurate. You have to know how to illustratea point and make it interesting to a listener. You do not preach like a preacher; you do notmake speeches like a politician; you do notlecture like a professor.

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You need to learn how to remain confidentwhile sensitive to others while standing amongor in front of many people. You need to knowhow to know and to like people. You need toknow how to avoid being self centred, vain, orarrogant. You need to know how to lead adiscussion without being bossy, dictatorial orsarcastic. Teach these to yourself.

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You learn these skills bydoing (not by just reading atext book).

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If you went to classes in community development, and only satand took notes, you did not get the best training. You shouldpractice, first in front of your classmates, then in front of acommunity group.

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Since you must organize community groups andform executive committees, you need someorganizational skills. Since you also strengthen bygiving management skills, you need managementskills yourself. Since you guide community groupsthrough their own planning, you need someplanning skills yourself.

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Since you advise and guide groups tokeep honest and accurate financialrecords and accounts, you need someaccounting skills yourself. Since youguide groups in writing reports and needto write your own reports, you needwriting skills. Learn by doing.

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You need to know how to learn a language fast, (see An Aural Method to Learn anOral Language) and to become familiar with several languages in a community.

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More than just technical skills, you need tohave some personality characteristics thatare necessary for success as a mobilizer.(Look at the training handout: To Be aMobilizer).

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Your reputation is your strongest asset. If youare known to be honest, diplomatic, fair,hardworking, moral, clean living, tolerant,enthusiastic, humble, and forthright, yourreputation will assist your mobilization efforts. If you are not, seek a different calling orvocation.

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1.4. Know the Basic Concepts:...

What is development? Communitydevelopment? Community participation?Poverty? Community?

.Empowerment? Transparency? Sustainability?(These words are discussed in the "Keywords.")

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To be a successful mobilizer, you need more thana few technical skills in public dialogue andorganizing groups for action.

.You need to know why to use those skills.You need to know principles.

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If your target is a community, then you should know somesociological concepts about the nature of communitiesand the nature of social change (including development)of communities. This means that you need someunderstanding of social organization, the subject matterof sociology, anthropology, economics, politics, and theforces and processes that belong to those disciplines.(See "Culture.")

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Right now it is not necessary tohave a university degree, but youshould teach yourself theprinciples and knowledge of thosesubjects.

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If you want to strengthen (empower) a low income community, you must understandthe enemy, which is the dependency syndrome. (See: "Dependency").

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If your aim is the removal or eradication ofpoverty, you need to know more than thesymptoms and results of poverty. You alsoneed to understand the causes of poverty, inorder to support and promote changes thatwill counteract those causes.

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You must see that poverty alleviation merelyreduces the pain, temporarily, but does notcontribute to poverty eradication. Poverty is notmerely a question of money, and money alonewill not eradicate poverty. (See the companionto this: "Handbook of Wealth Generation").



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If you look in "Key Words," you will find a fairlycomprehensive list of basic concepts for thecommunity worker. (Hyper links to all the appendicesare listed below).

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With each you will not find a dictionarydefinition; you will find a few notesrelevant to the purposes of this handbook: how to be a mobilizer.

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Do not memorize those notes. Think about eachconcept. Write about them in your journal. Discuss them with colleagues at meetings,conferences, workshops.

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During your relaxing times, after work withfriends, take a little time away fromdiscussing football scores to talk aboutone or two of these concepts.

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Trying to learn "once and for all," Islike trying to eat, "once and for all." .

Learning, like community development, should neverend. When you stop learning, you are dead.

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1.5. Outside Resources:...

As a mobilizer, you will find that it is difficultto find a balance between resources thatoriginate outside the community, and thosefrom within. You and the communityexecutive will be under considerable pressureto bring outside resources into thecommunity.

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Donor agencies want to help, while communitymembers want to receive. You know, however,that bringing in outside resources contributesto the dependency syndrome and reduces thechances of sustainability and self reliance.

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Yet there are ways to maximize the strengthening ability ofusing outside resources as illustrated by the story ofMohammed and the rope. (see Telling Stories). If you canconvince an outside donor to provide some costs of skilltraining, management training, and mobilization, and assistthe community in obtaining most of its own constructionresources, you can contribute to self reliance andsustainability.

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If the Prophet had merely givenfood to the beggar, he would havebeen training the beggar to be abeggar; by giving him someadvice and capital instead, heassisted the beggar to becomeself reliant.

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This handbook does help you in obtainingoutside resources, as in Project Design, whichcan be used for preparing effective proposals.

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Like any powerful tool (eg fire), these skills canbe misused, and may contribute to poverty inthe long run. Use them well, and for the correctends.

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2. Getting Started:



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In the previous chapter you read aboutsome of the things you need (as a mobilizer)to do and learn in order to get prepared. Inthis chapter you will read about gettingstarted, yourself.

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You do not get the community into action untilyou take action to prepare it for action. Yourgetting started phase is the community's gettingprepared phase.

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After raising awareness among the authorities,and getting any necessary permissions for youto do your work, your next task is to raiseawareness among the target community orcommunities that you want to mobilize andstrengthen.

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Raising awareness among the authoritiesmainly means (1) explaining your goals and(2) methods, and (3) convincing them thatthey can benefit from your success. Remember that you will find resistance tosocial change, and often those with the mostvested interests are among this target group.

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Raising awareness among the target communitiesmeans explaining your goals and methods, andalso means taking positive steps to prevent theraising of unrealistic expectations.

.Ensuring accurate information andinterpretation will be your biggest concernhere.

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This chapter shows you how to get started.

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2.1. The Mobilization Cycle:...

There is a logical and functional social process ofstrengthening a community. .

It varies in length and some details, butthe pattern remains basic. Your role is toinitiate the process and follow it through.

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The Mobilization Cycle here is just oneexample, borrowed from the UgandaCommunity Management Programme, ofthe process.

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Yours will vary from community to community,from time to time, and according to your resourcesavailable, your employer's policy, or othercircumstances.

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The essential process is something like this: First you get permission and authorization todo your work. Then you start raising awareness in the community that there are problems. You caution against people assuming that you will solve the problems but point out that thecommunity has the potential resources to solve its own problems. All it needs is the will,and perhaps some management skills which you can help them get. You facilitate theircommunity unification, assessment and agreeing on a priority goal. You help them toorganize an executive committee, or revitalize an existing one. You help them prepare anaction plan and project design. You cheer them on as they, not you, implement it, ensuringthat there is transparency, monitoring, reporting. You help them celebrate its completion,then evaluate the results.

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The second assessment starts the process all over again,which is why we call it a cycle. The second time they arestronger and more self reliant, and perhaps you haveidentified local mobilizers who will help sustain the cycleas you slowly withdraw.

. You repeat the cycle as appropriate.

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2.2. Clearing the Pathway:...

Before you begin working in your target community (or communities), you must have obtainedboth the needed permissions, and also the active co-operation, of the authorities and leadersresponsible for the area.

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Remember that you really have two targets(beneficiaries), not only (1) the communitybut also (2) the authorities who areresponsible for the area that thecommunity is in.

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Your goal for each community is to strengthen itby promoting self-help actions. Your goal for theauthorities is to work towards sustainability bymoving towards an enabling context orenvironment (political and administrative) aroundand above the community.

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Your goal for leaders (political and informal),administrators ("bureaucrats"), and technicalexperts ("technocrats") is to persuade them frombeing "providers" to becoming "facilitators ofself help by the communities." This is no smalljob. When politicians can claim they "provide"(eg to provide any communal facility), then theyobtain popularity and votes. They are likely,therefore, to have a vested interest in the"provision approach."

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Likewise, when administrators andtechnocrats can claim they "provide," thenthey believe (often rightly) that they willenhance their careers and obtainpromotions. They may have a vestedinterest in not changing to "facilitators." Your strategy is to demonstrate andconvince them that they will benefit byabandoning the "provision" approach andmoving to a "facilitating" approach.

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The truth is that, if they shift from a"provision" approach to an "enabling"approach, in time, they will benefit. Thatis because every community has hiddenresources that will not be identified andused so long as outside authorities areexpected to provide all the resources.

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If the community gets the responsibility to provideits own facilities and services, and givenmanagement training to do so, many hiddenresources are revealed and used. If leaders andresponsible authorities shift to an enablingapproach, the resulting strengthening of thecommunities can become the bases from whichthey can obtain their popularity, votes, careeradvances and promotions.

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It is your duty to demonstrate that the"provision" approach may benefit leadersand authorities in the short run, but is notsustainable, whereas the "enabling"approach contributes to genuinedevelopment and growth which benefitthem in the long run.

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To the extent to which you can convince theauthorities of their benefits from strengtheningcommunities, you will more easily obtainpermission to work, obtain their activeco-operation, and counteract vested intereststhat would seek to hinder the strengthening andself reliance of the communities.

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To obtain clearance or permission from theauthorities, it is useful to provide them with somedocumentation, referring to official policy,agreements and memoranda of understanding(MOU), that you might have. (This depends uponyour circumstances).

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As you do, explain to them how they willbenefit from having stronger, self reliantcommunities in their areas ofresponsibility.

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If your budget and work plan allow, this is the time to organize a workshop for sensitizingauthorities.

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2.3. Awareness Raising:...

After you have prepared yourself, andobtained clearance from the authorities, it istime to encourage the community to takeaction.

.You begin this by calling for a public meetingwith all members of the community. This startsthe "awareness raising" phase of the cycle.

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You may find a tendency for onlysome persons to show interest inattending a meeting. Maybe men willcome and assume women shouldnot.

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Your job is to ensure that women attend. The same withother people who need to be encouraged: the youth, thedisabled, the ethnic minorities, the shy people, thereligious minorities, the illiterates, the very poor, andthe marginalized.

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When you start talking about communityproblems, and asking what their priorityproblems are, there will be a tendency to assumethat you are there to solve their problems forthem. You must counteract this assumption andexplain that they have to solve their ownproblems; you can only assist and guide them,not do it for them.

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Similarly, they may assume that you willprovide resources. Quickly and firmlysquash that assumption, explaining thatthey must identify and provide their ownresources; you can only assist and guidethem in doing so.

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You will learn to use stories, proverbsand analogies to illustrate your points. One of those is: "Do not ask a cow togive you eggs; do not ask a chicken togive you milk."

.You are there to provide management training andencouragement; you are not there to provide money,pipes or roofing material.

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You can not expect people to avoid makingassumptions. They will. You must activelyand publicly contradict those assumptionsthat will falsely raise their expectation (thatyou provide resources).

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If you do not, then you will find destructivedisappointment later that will undo all the workyou have done. People will claim that youpromised them resources but that you failed tokeep your promise.

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So if you want to raise awareness, then awareness about what?

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Remember that your goals differ from thegoals of the community. They may want awater supply, clinic, school or road. You wantthe community to become strong and selfreliant, reducing poverty, increasing genderbalance, improving governance.

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The awareness you want to raise is that, nomatter how poor the community is, it has thepotential to solve its problems, to becomestronger. All it needs is the willingness to doso, and the management training that you canprovide.

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Providing accurate information is important (avoid raising false expectations).

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2.4. Unity Organizing:...

I mentioned above that you should ensurethat women attend the communitymeetings you call (exception: conservativeIslamic communities).

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Also: the disabled, the youth, the aged, the verypoor, the disenfranchised, the marginalized, theshy and retiring. This is part of your strategy ofunity organizing the community.

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See Unity Organizing. Everycommunity has forces pulling itapart.

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These may be based in differences in clan, ethnic group,religion, class, gender, age, education, physical and mentalabilities, occupation, income, wealth, land access (owner,tenant, squatter, other) and other characteristics that dividepeople.

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It is important that, as a mobilizer, you areseen as neutral (like a referee), not allied toor favouring any faction.

.This means you must know the community verywell. If you spend much time with some people,others may feel you are biassed.

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Do not be afraid in public to mentionthe differences and factions in thecommunity, but then quickly point outthat you are not aligned with anyfaction or factions.

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Remember, too, that you are not aiming at making thecommunity homogenous (all the same), but unity ofthe community means all factions are loyal to thecommunity as a whole and, in an atmosphere oftolerance, all people understand and respect allothers, irrespective of religion, class, clan, gender,ability, wealth, ethnicity, language, or age.

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A unified community is a pre-requisite to identifying a single community priority problem andgoal.

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2.5. Public Dialogue:...

For both raising awareness and community organizing, your maintool is a public meeting in which discussion is the central feature.

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Here it is very important that you are thoroughlyinformed and conversant with your mobilizers'goals, as indicated above in chapter one, andthe key concepts, as in Key Words.

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And more. Do not memorize definitions;reinterpret all those concepts as youunderstand them, and debate them in yourjournal and with colleagues.

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Do not preach sermons like a priest; do notmake speeches like a politician; do not lecturelike a professor, avoid pontificating,haranguing, or dictating. Facilitate. Askquestions. Guide.

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Your best role model should be that renowneducator of ancient Greece, Socrates, whotaught by always asking questions, nevergiving answers. He was a great facilitator,guiding people to think (analyse, observe) forthemselves.

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Appear relaxed, confident and informed. Draw questions out of the participants. .

Especially ask the quiet and shy ones for theiropinions. Do not allow the over confident anddominating ones to take over or control thediscussion.

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In the public meetings you also introduce the"brainstorm" session, which you will useagain in planning sessions of the executivecommittee. Explain that different kinds ofsessions have different ground rules. Theopen dialogue, where you guide by facilitatingand questioning, allows for debate and crosstalk; the "brainstorm" does not.

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In a brainstorm you emphasize that there is nodebate, no criticism, no cross talk. You willcall for suggestions and write them on theboard, all of them, even the silly ones, andlater prioritize the list of suggestions. The"brainstorm" is very structured and focussedand the participants must learn and practicethe ground rules.

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Never tell a community group what to think orwhat to do. You may want to, for you have yourgoals of empowering them, fighting apathy,ignorance, dependency, disease and dishonesty(the causes of poverty).

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But you have to facilitate them in coming totheir own realization, and their owndecision. You must take this facilitationapproach if you want to empower orstrengthen them. (Avoid lecturing andpreaching).

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2.6. Challenging the Community:...

While you want the community to develop strength, you do not passively andautomatically accept at first what appears to be the community's priority goal.

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Resistance produces strength; your armmuscles become strong when you dopush-ups. If your muscles never meetresistance, they will grow weak. If you do toomuch for a community, it will not becomestronger.

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The first suggestion of a priority by thecommunity might not be well thought out,and if you challenge it, they may think morecarefully about what action they would take.

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Let us look at a hypothetical example. Perhaps the community members saythat their priority goal is to build a clinic.

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"Fair enough," you reply, "But what is yourreasoning behind that choice of goal?" "Does thecommunity have the capacity to build and maintaina clinic?" "What problems will the clinic solve? And what problems will it cause?" Strengthen themby letting them defend their choice.

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If it turns out that community members wanta clinic because a rival community down theroad has one, that their main motivation ispride, then you can clarify that.

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"Remember that it is your own resources thatwill go into building it; is that really how youwant to spend your money?" you say. Perhaps itthen comes out that babies are dying, and that istheir primary concern.

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Here is your opportunity to point out animportant principle of PHC(primaryhealth); that prevention is much betterthan cure. Children are dying mainly fromdiarrhoea caused by water borne diseases.

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A clinic may help in curing disease, but it is morehumane, cheaper, and less risky to reduce waterborne disease by a combination of three things: (1)hygiene education leading to behaviour change,(2) a clean potable water supply, and (3) effectivesanitation that keeps human wastes away from thedrinking water.

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By being challenged to analyse its problems and search forpractical and feasible solutions, the community mayrespond by re-examining its priority problems andre-defining its priority goals.

.Do not passively accept their firstchoice of goal.

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2.7. Community Chooses Its Action:...

The focus of your public dialogue andawareness raising will be the communitychoice of action to take.

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It is very important to your success that the finaldecision is that of the whole community, notmerely the desire of one or two factions within thecommunity.

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There will be a great eagerness, andpressure, to complete the action, be itconstruction of a latrine, clinic or watersupply, new legislation protecting tenantsrights, or some social work service. Do notbe diverted by the eagerness and pressure.

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The community has its goal (eg latrine) whileyou have your goal (community empowerment).They are not the same. You assist and guide thecommunity in obtaining its objectives, the rightway, however long it takes.

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Politicians, journalists, and administrators willtry to judge you by the community goals (egbuilding the latrine). Do not be deceived bythat. The latrine construction is your "means"not your goal.

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If it is constructed without empowering thecommunity, without increased gender balance,without increased transparency, withoutincreased self reliance, then you have failed toreach your objective.

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It is relatively more easy to pump resourcesinto a community (eg money, pipes, roofingmaterials) to build the physical structure, but itis not likely to be sustainable; the communitymembers will not feel they own it, and not feelresponsible for maintaining it.

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You may reach the short term objective of thepolitician or journalist to provide a latrine forthe community, but you will fail to reach yourown long term mobilizer's goal ofstrengthening that community.

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If it is not done correctly, it is not worth doing at all. The "provision" approach weakensthe community and contributes to the socially debilitating "dependency syndrome."

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Once the community has been prepared (awareness raised,unity improved, information accurate, priority actionchosen), it is now ready to go into action.

.The next chapter shows you yourrole in that.

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2.8. Organizing for Strength:...

While there are many factors that contribute tostrength, capacity, or empowerment, the onethat most concerns a mobilizer is"organization."

.Other factors being equal, the level andeffectiveness of organization determines thestrength of a group, agency or community.

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Let us use a foot ball team as an example. If youhave two football teams, with the same numberof individuals, the same range of skills, physicalcondition, and technology (eg quality of shoes),they would be equal. Let us say one team is notorganized; there is no division of labour, noco-ordination, no recognizable social structure. The other team is organized, has a coach withauthority, has different roles for goalie, defence,left and right wings, centre forward, and otherdivision of labour.

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Different team members have different rolesand practice playing in an integrated manner(eg passing the football). In this case it iseasy to see that the second team is morepowerful, has more strength and capacitythan the first one, even though their othercharacteristics are equal. Betterorganization makes better capacity.

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So, too, with whole societies. Takethis example (not for the history itcontains, but for the sociologicalprinciple). The Akan of West Africaexpanded rapidly during thesixteenth and seventeenthcenturies, and rapidly conqueredthe Guans who preceded them.

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The level of technology (including weapons) was aboutthe same, as were most other characteristics. But theGuan were patrilineal and lived in dispersed lineages,while the Akan were matrilineal in a way that organizedthe different clans into functional alliances, lived innucleated settlements, each clan having a different role inwarfare (forward, left, right, rear, domestic, andparamount) and a state organization. Like in theorganizing of a football team, other factors being equal(technology, skills), the more organized system (Akan,the epitome of whom were the Ashanti) conquered theless organized.

...

The point, for you as a mobilizer, is that your goal instrengthening a low income community, is to helpyour target group consciously organize for moreeffectiveness. You do not form a CBO executive forits own sake, or help them choose chair, vice,secretary, and treasurer, just to have pretty titles.

.

You help them get organized, get betterorganized, or reorganized for effectiveaction, to empower them. Betterorganization results in better power.

...

The following chapter guides you in organizing. Be conscious of why you organize (to what end?)and let your target group participate as partners in this noble endeavour (the empowerment of lowincome communities).

..

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....3. Organizing the Community:...

Most educators and trainers know that learningin the classroom, listening to lectures orpresentations, reading text books, are all lesseffective than letting the trainees learn bydoing.

.

You want the executive of the communityorganization to become stronger by beingorganized effectively and trained in thenecessary skills. This chapter shows you howto combine action and training.

...

With the whole community, you organize anexecutive. (See Organizing by Training). It mayhave different names, eg CBO Executive, CIC(Community Implementing Committee), ProjectCommittee, or Development Committee. Then,with this executive, you make a detailedparticipatory assessment of conditions(including problems and resources) in thecommunity.

.

Using brainstorming techniques, you showthe committee how to prepare an actionplan. You then guide the executive inpresenting their findings to the communityas a whole. Then, using brainstormingtechniques again, the community modifies (ifnecessary) and approves the action plan.

...



You also explain about requesting outsideresources (the skills of writing proposals),warning them of the danger of the dependencysyndrome.

.

You also train them in the importance ofmonitoring and have them decide on how itshould be done. Finally, you help them toorganize for action; their action.

......

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3.1. Action Training:...

The actions the community will now undertake are to:form an executive committee;1. assess community conditions;2. prepare a plan of action;3. obtain needed resources;4. ensure that all community activities will be monitored, and5. organize most effectively for action.6.

...

Action by itself will not necessarilystrengthen a community, nor will training. .

Your task is to integrate community action withtraining and guidance of community members.

...

At all times you are guiding thecommunity, show them that this is anopportunity to learn.

.

Preparing an action plan may at first seem to themto be an unnecessary nuisance; you must beenthusiastic in showing them its importance andusefulness.

...

The community gets stronger when its members learn by doing and when you facilitate their selflearning.

...

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3.2. Forming the Executive (CIC):...

The executive committee must be chosen bythe whole community not just a faction or afew factions. (That is why unity organizingremains important, see Unity Organizing).The executive must be part of thecommunity, and be responsible to thecommunity. CIC.

.

You, as mobilizer must make this clear to thecommunity members, using whatevercommunication skills you have. It is advisable torepeat yourself in different ways, and to differentgroups in different circumstances.

...



You also need to break down assumptions in thisphase. The choice of treasurer, for example, maybe fraught with assumptions. Many people,especially in rural communities with manyilliterates, may assume that they must select themost educated member of the community astreasurer.

.

This may have been a school teacher. Ithas often been our experience that theschool teacher is from a far off district,has a low salary, has no roots in or loyaltyto the community, and absconds with thecommunity resources he has beenentrusted to handle.

...

Why does the treasurer have to be educated?That is an assumption. One does not need toread and write in order to count. If an olderwoman, a grandmother, deeply rooted in thecommunity and well trusted, is chosen, thenshe can be the treasurer, even if illiterate.

.

As she gets her school-going neighbours andrelatives to set up the books, the accounts aremore likely to be transparent, as eachexpenditure is explained and discussed. Beingtreasurer means being responsible for themoney; it does not necessarily mean physicallykeeping the books.

...

Your job is to help the executive get formedby the whole community. (See "Training asOrganizing"). Forming the executive shouldbe a transparent and democratic process (seeboth those in the key words).

.

The process must be culturally appropriate andacceptable to community members (that iswhy, explained in chapter one, you must learnabout the community characteristics as muchas possible).

...

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3.3. Assessing Conditions:...

A community should undertake itsactivity from an informed base. See:PAR.

.The executive committee should make an on-siteassessment, analyse it, then present their findings to thecommunity as a whole. This is a "situation analysis."

...

Although you have already made your own assessment,including a map, as part of your preparation phase, it isimportant that the executive committee make its ownassessment.

.Do not do it for them. They shouldnot delegate this to anyone else.

...

Set a convenient date for you and theexecutive committee to walk around thecommunity. Set aside as much time aspossible. Walk around all or as much of thecommunity area as you can, looking, talkingto people, making notes, drawing sketches.

.

Meet afterwards to compare observations anddraw up a combined assessment report. Askone member of the executive (not you, themobilizer) to write up the combined findings ofthe assessment, to be presented to thecommunity as a whole. Their write-up, or report,is called the "situation analysis."

...

If you can make a few copies of the report (at least maps) to pass around, very good.



...

In your assessment walk, look for problems andsolutions, resources and constraints. Indicate brokenwater stand pipes and other communal facilities. Showroads that need repair. If you (including the executive)identify an old retired carpenter, determine if he couldgive some training to some young people; if he issupported by his family would he donate his energyand advice, or need a small honorarium?

.Look for other potential resources,human and physical. Note them in theassessment.

...

After the executive meets to agree upon acombined assessment and after the report iswritten (copied if possible) they shouldpresent their findings to the community as awhole. This requires calling another wholecommunity meeting at a convenient time.

.

If you, as mobilizer, have a flip chart and newsprint for their presentation, to loan them, or canborrow some, all the better. You should notpresent their findings. You facilitate themeeting and let them present their findings totheir whole community.

...

The assessment is a prerequisite tothe community plan of action (CAP;see Acronyms).

.

Ensure that there is complete understanding among thecommunity members what the executive observed, andthat there is consensus about the nature and extent ofproblems and potentials.

...

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3.4. Preparing a Community Action Plan (CAP):...

In training and encouraging the community and its executive to become stronger (moreself reliant), you must impress upon them the necessity of management and planning.

...

In planning, it is first necessary to have a vision,"Where do you want to go?" To illustrate that, weoften quote Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice inWonderland: "If you do not know where you are going,then any road will do."

.It is important that the community isunified in sharing its vision. Your jobas mobilizer is to ensure that.

...

The essence of management planning (detailed in Management Training). is condensed into four questions:

"What do we want?"1. "What do we have?"2. "How do we use what we have to get what we want?" and3. "What will happen when we do?"4.

The community assessment should answer question two.

...



To answer questions three and four, thecommunity should prepare a CommunityAction Plan (CAP).

.This can be a one year plan, a five year plan,or some other time period, consistent inlength with district plans.

...

The action plan should indicate:how the community is now;1. how it wants to be by the end of the period; and2. how it intends to get from 1 to 2.3.

It can make reference to any planned community projects;those are described below.

...

The action plan should be drafted by the executivecommittee, based on community feedback from thepresented assessment. The draft action planshould then be presented to the community as awhole for refinement and approval.

.

Again you, as mobilizer, should notpresent it, but facilitate so that theexecutive can present it. Its acceptancemust be by the whole unified community.

...

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3.5. Project Design, Proposals, Outside Resources:...

Remember that your job is to fight dependency, wherecommunity members come to rely on outsideassistance for community improvements. Youremphasis should be on community self reliance(where the community relies mainly on its ownresources).

...

If the community chooses anexpensive project, and cannot expectto raise enough money, you mustcaution them to be more realistic (notto depend upon outside charity).

...

A proposal is a request for funds from apotential donor. The best proposal isdesigned like a project action plan, whichserves to justify to the donor why it shoulddonate funds.

.The same project action plan should be thebasis for submitting to higher levels ofGovernment to access ceded funds.

...

Do not do the work of the committee,however tempted you are. The executivemust learn by doing.

.Illiterates on the committee must be fullyinvolved in its preparation, verbally, line by line.

...

A project design can be used as a proposal forobtaining outside funds. It must be used forgetting the approval of the whole community forundertaking the project.

.In that sense it is still a kind of proposal. Itmight be required by district authorities; itsurely is advisable to give them a copy.



...

The essence of the project design, like thebrainstorm, is to systematically answer The FourKey Questions, (what do we want, what do wehave, how can we use what we have to get whatwe want, and what will happen if we do).

.

It is your duty, as mobilizer, to go throughthese four key questions in detail with theexecutive, putting them into the relevantcontext, and systematize the answers intoan appropriate document to be written bythe executive.

...

When discussing resources, you will oftenhear executive members saying that thecommunity does not have enough funds.There is a tendency to rely on one outsidedonor only.

.

Relying on only one source increasesvulnerability, thus decreases the strength of thecommunity. With some effort, communitymembers can pull in resources from many andvaried sources. See Resource Acquisition.

...

The mobilizer does not dictate to thecommunity that all these must be provided bythe community.

..Instead, you can mention all of these, and askthe community members to identify thosewhich the community can provide.

...

Sources of support can include:Donations: cash, land, buildings, supplies and equipment, donated by individualswho want to support their community. (Acknowledged and thanked in publicmeetings);

●

Commercial: gifts from firms and businesses that want to advertise their goodwill and support of the community. (Acknowledged and thanked in publicmeetings);

●

Communal Labour: time and labour donated by community members, someunskilled (clearing grass, laying bricks), some skilled (carpentry, masonry),meetings, planning, supervision;

●

Agricultural: farmers may donate food for the project:to communal workers who are working on the project, or❍

to the executive committee to sell to raise cash for the project;❍

●

Food: people who donate the preparing of food and refreshments to thecommunity members on communal working days;

●

Contributions and fees: for credit club and similar financial projects,contributions from all members; service fees, such as for obtaining water;

●

Governmental: partial funding from central, district or local governmentalsources. Sources may include district development committee participation;

●

Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs): local community based organizations,churches, outside NGOs working locally; and

●

Anonymous Donors: benefactors who remain unknown.●

...

This list is not complete. Seek suggestions inbrain storming sessions with communitymembers (not only leaders).

.See Resource Acquisition for more detailsabout obtaining resources for communityprojects.

...



When discussing resources, you will oftenhear executive members saying that thecommunity does not have enough funds. There is a tendency to rely on one outsidedonor only.

.

Relying on only one source increasesvulnerability, thus decreases the strength of thecommunity. With some effort, communitymembers can pull in resources from many andvaried sources.

..

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....

3.6. Monitoring Arrangements:...

The word "monitoring" sounds a bit liketechnical jargon, and some of yourcommunity members might feel a littlethreatened by your talking about it. Neverfear; the idea of monitoring is very simple.

.

It is also important for community strengthening,and serves many purposes so long as it is anessential integrated element, not somethingseparate which was tacked on like an afterthought. (See the companion to this document,"Handbook of Monitoring and Evaluation").

...

Again, to get your point across, use a metaphor.The "bicycle" analogy can be useful here. Ask thegroup, "How many of you here know how to ride abicycle?" We hope and expect at least one saysyes. (If not, you will have to be hypothetical, or askabout any other activity that requires sight). "Yes"? Good!

.

"Have you ever tried shutting your eyeswhile riding a bicycle?" "If not, can youimagine what will happen?" You candraw out a number of answers, whichshould indicate disaster, like running intoa tree or person, going off the track, fallingdown. Laugh.

...

Now say that the community is the rider;the bicycle is the project design; the ride orjourney is the community project.

.The project design (bicycle) will get you to whereyou want to go (objectives), but you must keepyour eyes open (monitor your progress).

...

Every project, large or small, can easily go a little offtrack, and usually does. If it is not closely andcontinuously monitored (watched), then it will soongo off the road, hit something, and fall down.

.If it is constantly monitored, then smalldeviations can be quickly and easilycorrected, and failure avoided.

...

The community must be in the driver's seat.

...

Others will also want to monitor. Anyexternal donors will want to know if theirdonated resources are being well used.

.District officials will want to monitor for their ownpurposes. You will want to monitor to see how wellyou are strengthening the community.

...



The community has the greatestreasons for monitoring. .

Your job as mobilizer to impress upon the communitymembers the importance and simplicity of monitoring.(Simple does not always mean easy).

...

Your job is also to guide the executive in ensuring:that how monitoring is to be done by them is included in the project design;1. that the monitoring is seen as important as the action itself;2. the executive is committed to monitoring;3. that the executive carries out monitoring, and4. that the executive reports its observations to the whole community,and asks for the same back from all/any community members.

5.

...

How the community project is to be monitored should be agreed upon andunderstood by the executive and community, and carefully spelled out in its

planning documents.

...

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3.7. Organizing for Action:...

Many people do not realize the different kinds of organizing done by a mobilizer, for differentpurposes.

...

The two most important kinds in this hand book are:organizing for decision making; and1. organizing for action.2.

Of course these two are closely related.

...

When you assisted the community to formthe executive committee, you wereorganizing for community decision making.

.

Now, when you work with the community todecide who does what (eg in the project), youare organizing for action.See Organizing byTraining.

...

Although there will be overlap, actionorganizing should also identify certainindividuals to carry out specific tasks.This is essential.

.

If a task has been identified (eg transport roofingsheets to the project site), it should not be left up tothe group as a whole. That way it may never get doneas everyone thinks it is someone else's responsibility.

...



A large number of tasks should not fall on oneperson, eg the chairperson of the executive. Itis important that as many tasks andresponsibilities be delegated to as many othercommunity members (especially those not onthe executive) as possible.

.

Emphasize the value of as much andwidespread participation and contribution aspossible. Make sure that when a task orresponsibility is delegated to an individual,that it is well known by everyone, and if it isnot completed on time, that individual can becalled to account by the community.

...

Community action should not be spontaneous and ad hoc. It should be organized.

..

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....

4. Into Action:...

You, as mobilizer, have already been inaction (ie preparing the community). Nowit is time for the community to go intoaction.

..

The whole community has participated in decisionmaking, it has formed an executive, created acommunity plan of action, designed a project, andan organization for acting. Time for it to startmoving.

...

As an example, let us say the action isbuilding a latrine. Plans are examined;resources collected, building begins.There are several areas where you, asthe mobilizer, have work to do. Do notorganize, supervise or work inconstructing the latrine.

.

Your role is to facilitate needed technical training(identified by the community and its executiveduring construction), ensure that the work ismonitored, that there is full and free informationabout all aspects (especially financialdisbursements) and that community members neverbecome complacent or slip into thinking that it isnot their own project.

...

This chapter tells you some of your tasks androles while the community is in action. You donot control their action; you encourage andassist them to do it. You provide praise,positive advice, public recognition.

.You assist in obtaining needed training, youpromote public knowledge, gender balance,transparency, and a high project profile.

...

Workshop Handout

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4.1. Implementing the Community Plan:...



In the community preparation phase, at least twodocuments should have been prepared (ie by theexecutive) and approved (ie by the whole community). These are: (1) the CAP(Community Action Plan) or Planof Action, and (2) the Project Design (which may ormay not have been used also as a proposal).

.

Unless these are changed by theexecutive and the community as awhole, they should be referred tooften, especially if a dispute, orquestion of what to do next, arises. The project design should be seen aslinked to, and part of, the communityaction plan.

...

Your job is not to implement the plan, but facilitate the community to do so.

...

Ensure that the people designated to dospecific tasks do so. Ensure that monitoringis carried out. Ensure that there are frequentmeetings of the executive (where progressreports are discussed) and meetings of thewhole community. Ensure that accuraterecords are kept, especially of all financialexpenditures.

.

Assist the executive in recording the monetaryvalue of their management contributions (howmany hours do they spend in meetings,planning, supervising, implementing, and what isthe monetary value of their donated time andenergy?). This means many meetings betweenyou and the executive, and a few publicmeetings with the whole community.

.....

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4.2. Monitoring:...

Earlier (Section 3.6) it was noted thatmonitoring is important, and needs to beincluded in the project design. Now that theproject is underway, you need to ensure thatit takes place.

.Monitoring is as important as the action beingmonitored. See the companion to thishandbook, "Monitoring."

...

Remember the analogy of riding a bicycle? Ifpressing the pedals is the action, then watchingwhere you are going (monitoring) is asimportant, if you do not want to go off track andfall down. You say that the people working onthe project at the time can see what is going on,but that is not enough.

.

The whole rider is riding the bicycle, not onlythe eyes. The eyes must send reports to thebrain which sends adjustment messages tothe rest of the body. Different people work onthe project in different ways and at differenttimes, but the whole community (and donors)must know what is going on overall.

...

Now that the project is underway, it is your job as mobilizer to remind the executivethat monitoring is part of the project design, is important, and must be carried out.

.....

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4.3. Community or CIC Generated Needs:...

While the project is underway, the community and its executive will become more aware ofneeded skills.

...

Some of those skills may be artisan, craft ortechnical skills, such as carpentry, masonry,electric wiring and others necessary forconstruction. Others may be financial,planning or management skills, such askeeping accounts, fund raising, report writing,conflict resolution, communication skills, andsupervising and managing the activity.

.

Training ranges from informal to formal, on thejob site showing skills by experienced toinexperienced, paid training (apprentice-style),through workshops you organize, to sendingparticipants to a commercial or Governmenttraining institute.

...

As much as possible, emphasize the informalskill training from resources inside thecommunity. Older and skilled artisans whodonate their labour to the community projectshould show younger unskilled youth how todo the work.

.

Where artisans have to be hired, try to hirewithin the community if feasible, and includetraining of unskilled community members (maleand female youth) as part of the hiringagreement contracts. Ensure that theexecutive records and reports all informaltraining.

...

Where informal training is not possible, youmight propose training workshops. You musthave a budget, a source of funds, to cover thetraining costs.

.

If such training needs are foreseen early by theexecutive it should be encouraged to include atraining proposal in its community projectdesign. See: Preparing a Workshop.

...

Depending upon your budget, and thepolicy of your agency or programme,you may have resources for sendingsome people for more formal, orinstitutional training.

.

Your task is to ensure that the training is approvedby the whole community, has an appropriate andneeded subject matter for the community project,and is not just a means for giving a perk to a crony.Ensuring that the choice of participants and choiceof topic is approved by the whole community willhelp avoid suspicions of favouritism by you or theexecutive.

...

Whatever the training, while the project is underway, ensure that the choice of participants andtopics or skills transferred, are needed by the community, approved by the community as awhole, monitored and recorded, and included in progress reports.

.....

Workshop Handout

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4.4. Needed Skills:...



Although you do not dictate the needed training topics to thecommunity or its executive, you should be prepared to assistit if they themselves identify training needs as they go along(See Preparing a Workshop about the importance ofjustification).

.Here is a short list of somepossible training topics thatmay arise.

...

Accounting; CBR; Group Dynamics; Monitoring; Project Design; Brick Making; Communication; . Management; Planning; Report Writing; or

Carpentry; Fund-raising; Mobilizing; Primary Health; Social Work.

...

You may not be skilled enough to train in someof these topics, so you need to identify otherspecialists and resource people who could dothe training with you.

.You may find it necessary to show specialistshow to engage in participatory and facilitativetraining.

.....

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4.5. Communication Between Executive and Public:...

Just as in your own work of mobilizing youneed to be transparent, facilitating, nondictatorial, and involving the community indecision making, so you should alsoencourage the executive to be the sametowards its community.

.

For maintaining good communications betweenthe community and its executive, if carried outfrequently, three useful methods are: meetings,reports, and inspections.

...

Public community meetings are the mostimportant means of ensuring a good flowof information between the executive andthe community as a whole. (Elaboratemeetings may include celebrations notedin the next section). At meetings youwant to encourage and train the executiveto take a "facilitating" role as you havebeen doing as a mobilizer.

.

They need to develop good public speaking skills,avoiding speeches, lectures, sermons orpronouncements, learning to draw responses outof the participants. That two-way flow ofinformation ("dialogue" means "two-way"), assistsin increasing transparency and promotes goodgovernance, participatory management anddemocracy.

...

Reports are important, too. They should bewell written in very simple language, andshould be verbally announced atcommunity meetings. Seek communityresponses.

.

Inspections, where the community members walkaround the project site with the executive, alsoencourage good communication andtransparency.

...



Posters and posted notices can assist in a good flowof communicating, but should not be used alone.They can complement public meetings but notsubstitute for them. They may be focussed onraising awareness, or on reporting the results ofproject activities.

.

A statement of accounts, includingincome and expenditures, posted on theclinic or school while underconstruction, improves transparency.

...

The important thing for you, as mobilizer, toemphasize is to encourage good governance,participatory management, integrity, transparency,by good communication between the executive andthe community as a whole.

.

The degree to which you have learnedfacilitation methods of leadershipcontributes to the degree to which youcan encourage and train the executiveand the community leaders to learn anduse them too.

.....

Workshop Handout

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4.6. Celebrations:...

Organizing and implementing communitycelebrations are hard work, and areimportant and vital parts of mobilization.

.

Once you might not have realized this; for pupilsand most workers, a celebration is an excitingbreak from the monotony of work or study. Foryou, the mobilizer, it is part of your jobdescription.

...

As well as the obvious time for a celebration(ie the completion of a community project),you should encourage other celebrationsthrough the process:

.

fund raising harambee, laying a foundationblock, cheque handing-over, finishing a keyphase (walls, roof, painting) and other keyturning points.

...

Drumming, dancing, plays or skits, parades, talentshows, and other entertainment or semi-entertainment,should be included in every celebration. Invite localamateur culture groups and school groups to perform.

.

Ensure some "big-shots" attend, tomake speeches of public praise (butnot to politically hi-jack thecelebration), and invite the press andmedia.

...

Why?

...

The celebration adds public recognition,validation and legitimacy to the whole

developmental process, not just the project... . ..

It is a good venue for raising awareness,improving

transparency, and making the communityproject a

more high profile activity.

...



With the executive, plan and organize well.Do not do everything for the executive. .

Encourage, praise and advise,â€“â€“ that they take charge.

...

Enjoy.

..

Workshop Handout

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5. Sustaining the Intervention:...

If you look again at the key words and basic conceptsmentioned in Chapter One as important for you to know,you will find the word "sustainability." (It is not found inmost dictionaries).

.How can something we put in placebe made sustainable so that it staysin place?

...

For the community, whose goal was improvedhealth, and objective was to construct a latrine,its concern with sustainability is in questions like,"How do we ensure the latrine will be kept clean,repaired, maintained and used?"

.

The answer is in ensuring communityresponsibility (by community participationin decision making and control) from thebeginning of the project.

...

For you, who has put in place a social process ofsocial change, strengthening the community,your concern with sustainability is more inquestions like, "How will the community continueto take charge of its improvements, making herassessments, choosing new priorities, seekingnew resources, undertaking new actions,increasing its self reliance?"

.

The goals of you and of the community aredifferent but complementary. You want yourintervention to be sustained. The questionof sustainability is answered in how you goabout your mobilization.

...

Your goal is not a once-and-for-all latrine, school, clinic or water supply. ...It is sustainabledevelopment.

...

This chapter looks at how you canmake your work sustainable. .

Part of the answer lies in repeating the mobilizationcycle itself; part of it lies in identifying and trainingmobilizers from within the target community.

.....

Workshop Handout

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5.1. The Development Mobilization Cycle:...



Earlier, your work â€“â€“ yourintervention â€“â€“ was described asstimulating a social process.

.

The series of activities, (assessment, awareness raising,unity organizing, planning and implementing action, andassessment again), stimulates communitystrengthening and increased self reliance.

...

The word "cycle" may be a bit misleading here. Surely at the end you go back and start at thebeginning again, but it is a changed you and achanged community.

.

An old Buddhist proverb says that, "Thesame man can not cross the same rivertwice," (both man and river becomedifferent; they are always changing).

...

Nevertheless, you want to repeat the essentialinterventions and stimulate the essential social process. .

Like a bicycle wheel that goes roundand round, each part meets the pathfarther along each time round.

...

Meanwhile, you must keep your inevitabledeparture in mind, right from the beginningof your work.

.If the community can not develop without you,then it has become dependent upon you. Yourenemy is dependency.

...

While you repeat the cycle,therefore, you aim for your ownpull-out, so that the cycle cancontinue without you.

.

If you are replaced, your notes in your journals, going backto those of Chapter 1, should be the basis for yourhand-over briefing to your replacement. If you are notreplaced by your agency, you must find and developpotential mobilizing resources from within the community.

.....

Workshop Handout

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5.2. Community Leadership and Internal Mobilization:...

The key to sustaining the intervention ofstimulating the community towards increasedself reliance, is in the community.

.Your agency may be willing and able to replaceyou, but your ultimate goal is to have thecommunity continue mobilizing on its own.

...

The way you do this is to identify persons living in thecommunity who have the potentials to become mobilizers,and the appropriate attitudes and values, and train them inyour skills, train them to take over from you.

.You want to work yourself outof a job.

...

Community development is a process ofsocial change. You do not develop acommunity; the community developsitself.

.

The most you can be is a catalyst and stimulant tothat social process. Here a famous quotation fromMwalimu Julius Nyerere is appropriate, "People cannot be developed; they can only developthemselves."

...



Remember also that the tools and skills youhave can act as very powerful catalysts ofsocial change. Like any tools, therefore, theycan be misused. When you identifycommunity members to train to replace you,it is vital that you examine their character toensure that they will use mobilization tools tobenefit the community, not to benefitthemselves at the expense of the community.

.

Know that some people have political andcareer objectives. With good participatory andfacilitating skills, a person can misusemobilization for personal benefit. See againChapter One (Section 1.3) and the "locksmith"analogy. When you identify potential mobilizersfrom within the community, carefully observethem over time. Do not be in a hurry to findyour replacement; take enough time to do inright.

...

When you tell a group they should take timeand do something right, you can tell this littlestory of two bulls from a cattle society in WestAfrica.

.

Two bulls were coming over a hill and sawover a hundred cows down in the valley beforethem. "Oh, uncle," said the young bull, "Let usrun down there and do a few." "No," said theolder bull, "Let us walk down there, and dothem all."

...

Take enough time to find and train your replacement.

...

When you identify one or a few persons whoappear to have potential to become mobilizers,having qualities of honesty, leadership, genuineconcern for development of the people, you needto train them. If they are interested, you can setthem up as something like "apprentices," takingtime to explain to them why you do what you do.

.

Cover all the topics in the first few chaptersof this hand book. Helping them learn theprinciples is as important as their learningthe skills. Let them try to lead a facilitationsession from time to time. More often astheir skills grow. After they have gonethrough two or more mobilization cycles,they should be ready to carry on in yourabsence.

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You are well on the way to make your mobilizing sustainable.

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5.3. Lessons Learned and Awareness of Possibilities:...

We humans can learn from both success andfailure, from achievements and mistakes. Remember that mistakes, failures anddisasters are not the same.

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A mistake is not a failure; to err is human. Afailure is not a disaster; failing to achievesomething does not mean you are a failure. Adisaster does not mean the end of life or theend of time. When we fall down we must pickourselves up and carry on. A day at a time.

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If you have been successful at guiding acommunity to build its own latrine, or completesome other objective, then you have gone one steptowards making it more self reliant.

.It will have not gone smoothly orperfectly. If you think it did, then you arenot being honest with yourself.

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Analyse the process and your role in it. Becourageously honest in admitting your mistakes. Write down your analysis of the mobilization cycle. Be objective and neutral about mistakes andfailures; do not use them as an excuse to paralyseyourself with depression.

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Use them as lessons to be learned; farmore useful and realistic than what youcan learn out of a text book or a handbook such as this one. Use your journal,use your analysis, use your lessonslearned, to grow stronger and moreskilled as a mobilizer.

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Do the same with, and for, the community.

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Handbook for Mobilizers - VCNcec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/hbmob.pdf · 2011. 8. 6. · This is a "how-to"...

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Transcript of Handbook for Mobilizers - VCNcec.vcn.bc.ca/cmp/hbmob.pdf · 2011. 8. 6. · This is a "how-to"...