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| Key
words in the "Organizing the Community" module |
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| The
word, "democracy," comes from ancient classic languages, where "demo" means
the people (as in demography) and "cracy" means power (as in bureaucracy
or aristocracy). |
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|
The
word democracy, then, means power to the people. Ironically, ancient Greece
was not very democratic in that the economy was based upon the labour of
slaves. |
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| There
are different kinds of democracy: eg representational democracy where the
people elect representatives (eg Members of Parliament) to make decisions
for them, and participatory democracy where the people are involved in
making decisions. |
... |
As
a mobilizer, you are urged to promote democracy, ie in the community project,
but you are not obligated to imitate the British parliamentary system.
Look for what is socially appropriate. |
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| The
dependency syndrome is an attitude and belief that a group can not solve
its own problems without outside help. |
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It
is a weakness that is made worse by charity. See: The
Dependency Syndrome. |
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| Of
all the ways of learning (reading, listening, watching), the most effective
is by "doing." See Training Methods. |
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Learning
by doing can include doing directly such as doing a task in the field under
supervision by a trainer, or doing indirectly such as participating in
a role playing session or simulation game. |
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| Monitoring
is the regular observation, recording, analysing and reporting of activities
and the results of those activities, in a project or similar activity.
(See Monitoring). |
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| Participatory
Appraisal or Assessment: |
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| Before
a project is planned, the situation must be assessed. PAR
or PRA |
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For
a project to be "community-based," the
whole community must participate in observing and analysing, looking for
problems, potentials, resources and constraints. |
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| A
community and its members do not participate in its own assessment automatically.
A decree, law, project design phrase or statement of intent will not ensure
that the whole community participates. |
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Community
members need encouragement, skills, stimulation and guidance in order to
participate in appraisal or assessment. Among the various tasks of the
community worker, mobilizer or facilitator, providing those are among the
most important. |
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|
Providing that
stimulation and training is variously called by the acronyms,
PRA or PAR.
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| Planning
means thinking about and working out what to do in the future. A good plan
has a series of steps leading from the current situation up to the desired
end. See Work Plan. |
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One
effective method is "reverse time thinking," where you start with what
you want to achieve in the end, and look at the immediately prior step
to that, then the one before that, and so on until you get to the present
situation. |
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| A
"situation analysis" is a procedure during which the overall characteristics
and priority problems of a community are identified.
See
PAR. |
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Your
job as a mobilizer is to ensure that all, or as many community members
as possible, participate in the observation and analysis of the community
situation. |
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| Transparency
is a very important element of strengthening a community (see elements
of empowerment).
The word "transparent" here means the ability to see through something. |
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When
civil servants try to do things (ie make decisions, allocate resources)
in secrecy, hiding their activities from the people, they are not being
transparent. They are giving the people the "mushroom
treatment." |
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| This
promotes mistrust, apathy, and marginalization (important factors of poverty
and community weakness). Your job as a mobilizer is to promote transparency.
You do it by explaining what it is, and that the people have a right and
a responsibility to know what is going on (awareness raising). |
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You
also do it by ensuring that it is a key element of the community organizations
that you form or re-organize. Laws, such as the "Freedom of Information
Act," or similar laws which ensure that details of government spending
must be of public record, available to the people, are intended to promote
governmental transparency, although some officials will attempt to subvert
the spirit of such laws. |
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| If
you hide a problem, cover it up or deny that it is there; you surely hinder
its solution. |
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If,
instead, you uncover it, admit it, and honestly examine it, you are well
on the way to solving the problem. Transparency strengthens. |
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