|
METHODS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: THE WORK OF THE INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
by Stuart A. Umpleby Department of Management Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 umpleby@gwu.edu
Prepared for the Project on Interactive Interfaces between Collective Support Systems and their Users, Sponsored by the Support, Survival and Culture Program of The University of Amsterdam
August 7, 1989 Revised January, 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF FIGURES
Organizations engaged in development efforts have recognized the need not only for economic development but also for human development. Efforts have shifted from separate projects for transportation, education, nutrition, agriculture, etc. to community development projects that include, in addition, institution building and citizen involvement. The newer point of view sees development not only as a matter of increasing capital stocks but also focuses on patterns of behavior, mental images, organizational skills, appropriate technology, and local self-reliance. Development then becomes something that a community does to itself rather than something that is done to it by others. In the 1970s and 1980s the Institute of Cultural Affairs established several thousand model villages in countries on all continents and conducted over 100 Human Development Training Schools lasting from 3 to 6 weeks. The purpose of the model villages is to demonstrate what is possible when people work together. To facilitate communication and decision-making in communities, the Institute has developed a set of group process methods that form the core of the curriculum in the training schools. In order to continually improve its methods and activities, the members of the Institute meet in Chicago each summer to review what was learned in the previous year and to plan the programs of the coming year. Since the Institute has been invited to set up model villages and to expand its programs in more than twenty countries, its methods may be of interest to other organizations engaged in development activities. The methods employed by the Institute constitute a communication and planning technology in much the same way that computer modeling and simulation are a technology. However, their interactive planning methods are more easily understood by people who do not have advanced technical training and hence are more appropriate at the village level. Four communities are described in this report -- one in the United States, one in Africa, and two in Latin America. The methods of the Institute are presented in the context of the planning conferences that began these four community development projects. IVY CITY, WASHINGTON, DC, USAI first became aware of the Institute of Cultural Affairs when a friend of mine, Bill Moore, showed me a report on a community development project in Maliwada, India. I was quite impressed by the report. For several years I had been interested in using computers to facilitate citizen participation in planning (Umpleby, 1970 and 1972). As part of this research I had become familiar with most of the literature on citizen involvement methods. I thought that the report on the project in Maliwada used methods that were at least as insightful and thorough as any I had previously seen. Bill said that the Institute of Cultural Affairs was about to begin a project in Ivy City, a poor black neighborhood in Washington, DC. He invited me to attend as an observer. I did and was even more impressed by seeing the methods in practice. After the planning conference for Ivy City, I expressed interest in seeing how the methods worked in a Third World country. The people from the Institute invited me to go to a planning conference in Zambia. I was able to go due to financial support from my University and relatives. The "consultants" who take part in the Institute's programs pay their own way, since the "clients, the residents of poor communities," are not in a position to pay international airfares. The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) is a private, non-profit organization that is engaged in community development activities both domestically and internationally. The full-time staff of the Institute was originally a group of Americans, but now the largest group is Indians, because there are a large number of projects in India. The Institute conducts several programs: 1. Human Development Projects are begun with a planning conference that lasts a week. Then they write a report on the planning conference during the subsequent week. Hence, the start-up activity takes about two weeks. They then leave a group of five to ten people in the community for a period of about two years to implement the plans that were created during the planning conference. Every six months they evaluate the progress they have made and then conduct another planning conference. Each time they do a planning conference, the people in the community take on more responsibility for designing and leading the conference. 2. A Town Meeting is a one-day event with follow-up only in the form of occasional visits. The intention of the Town Meeting program is to give the people in the community an opportunity to get together and to plan some new programs. The communities that have had a Town Meeting stay in touch with each other through newsletters in each region of a country. ICA also holds a regional conference about every six months to a year so that the people who have been working on the programs initiated at the Town Meetings can get together and exchange ideas. 3. LENS, which stands for Leadership Effectiveness and New Strategies, is a two or three day conference for business corporations and government agencies. LENS uses methods very similar to those used in communities. It is an activity that helps a group redefine what its goals are and decide how they can be implemented. SHANTUMBU, ZAMBIASantumbu, Zambia, is a community about an hour by car from the capital city of Lusaka. Zambia is located in southern Africa. Formerly it was called Northern Rhodesia (Figure 1). The planning conference for this Human Development Project took place in November, 1976. Shantumbu is actually a set of about six villages located near each other. The planning conference was preceded by several weeks of preparatory activity during which the facilities for the conference were obtained and set up. Since there were no hotels or rooming houses, the people who came in from overseas were housed in tents, two people to a tent (Figure 2). The tents and beds were loaned by the Zambian army (Figure 3). The assembly tent, where we had our meals and where the plenary meetings were held, was a very large tent constructed out of large pieces of canvas (Figure 4). It took one afternoon just to construct this large tent (Figure 5). The bathroom facilities were grass huts (Figure 6). The huts with grass roofs were the latrines. The huts without roofs were the baths. In each bath enclosure there was a large barrel of water and some concrete blocks to stand on. The procedure was to take a splash bath by dipping a cup into the barrel of water. There was a table nearby where the men could shave and where people washed their faces and hands. One advantage of these facilities was that one could work on one's tan while taking a "shower." The day's activities were arranged so that the consultants and the community people ate all three meals together (Figure 7). We would get together in the morning for breakfast, and there would be an explanation of the day's activities. Then we would divide into five teams. The teams were a business team, an education team, an agriculture team, a cultural events team, and a housing and public services team. The people who participated from the local community were selected by the local people. The consultants emphasized that they wanted a cross section of sexes, ages, professions, and religions. In this community the authority figures were headmen. Each village had a headman and the older men made up a council that governed the village. Social status increased with age. Men could have more than one wife. Frequently a man would take one wife when he was young and then another, younger wife when he became older. It was not unusual for a woman to have seven children.
Figure 1. Map of Southern Africa
Figure 2. Tents in Shantumbu, Zambia
Figure 3. Children helping to set up camp
Figure 4. Building the assembly tent
Figure 5. A man attaching canvas to a pole
Figure 6. The bathroom facilities How Villages are Selected People often ask how the Institute finds a community to work with. Many of the members of ICA, at least the Americans, were originally trained in the ministry. They graduated from seminary schools. The Institute is closely connected with the World Council of Churches. Hence, their contacts with communities are often made through local ministers or active church members. The Institute does not go into a community that they have not been invited into. Usually the first contact with a community is through a one-day event like a Town Meeting. The Institute has conducted a very large number of Town Meetings. For example, in 1976, the two hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, they arranged a Town Meeting in every county in the United States. They have conducted thousands of Town Meetings around the world. In contrast to Town Meetings, Human Development Projects are only done in poor communities. In order to be chosen as a site for a Human Development Project, the community must meet several criteria. 1. The community must be known in the surrounding area as being very poor. The idea is that if that community can change its circumstances, then surely other communities can as well. 2. The local people must want their community to be a human development project. 3. The village must be the right size. Two to four thousand people works well. If the community is too small, there are not enough people to work with. If the community is too large, efforts become diffuse and less visible. 4. The boundaries of the community need to be clearly defined so that there is no ambiguity about whether some people are in the project or not. A clear boundary prevents confusion over who is included and prevents diffusion of efforts. 5. The community should be easily accessible to a major international airport so that consultants and visitors can be brought in easily. A location that is not too remote also ensures access to medical facilities for the ICA staff. Although many of the permanent members of the ICA staff are quite religious, they do not try to win converts to their religious views. Perhaps the most overtly religious thing they do is that they describe themselves as "those who care." They encourage other people to care about their communities by doing volunteer work. Mainly, they teach skills -- primarily planning and organizing skills, but also skills related to agriculture, business, health, and housing and skills in obtaining services and resources through liaison with government and the private sector and non-profit service organizations.
Figure 7. Beginning the day's activities over breakfast
Figure 8. Henry Tambo, a community leader Learning about the Community After breakfast and a plenary meeting to explain the day's events, people divide into groups to take field trips in the local area. On these trips the local people are the experts and the consultants are the learners (Figures 8 and 9). Shantumbu is an agricultural community. Tomatoes are a major cash crop (Figure 10). In this part of Africa there are two seasons -- the rainy season and the dry season. In the past crops were only grown in the rainy season. But with irrigation the people have learned to grow crops year around. In fact the crops grown in the dry season are better than the crops grown in the rainy season because there is less fungus and mildew in the dry season. In addition to tomatoes the people grow bananas, oranges, and corn (Figure 11). The plots of land in the foreground are small, whereas those in the background are larger. The land in the foreground is farmed by the native people with oxen. The land in the background is worked by a white farmer who has a tractor. After the morning field trip we came back to camp, ate lunch and talked about what we had seen. During the first day we asked people what they would like to have happen in the community (Figure 12). They said that they wanted a local health center, a better water supply, better roads, and better schools (Figure 13). At these brain-storming activities in the afternoon, we frequently had some observers -- the children seemed to be fascinated by this unusual activity (Figure 14). We made notes of what people said on a blackboard and then at night we typed reports on mimeograph stencils. We also wrote the results on large sheets of butcher paper which could be displayed at the plenary meeting the next morning. In this way each group could find out what the other groups had learned the previous day. The next day there would be another field trip. Traditionally the houses were made of mud bricks with thatched roofs (Figure 15). The advantage of such houses is that they are biodegradable. If someone abandons a house, in time it collapses, forms a mound in the soil and then is eventually plowed over. In these small villages there is no private property. All the land is owned by the community. When a couple marries and decides where they want to live, they ask the headman and his council for permission to build a house in that village. If a family decides that they cannot get along with the people in one village, they move to another village.
Some of the newer houses have walls made of concrete blocks, concrete
floors, corrugated iron roofs, and steel window and door frames (Figure
16). The materials are purchased with money obtained from selling
agricultural products. The contrast between the newer and older style of
construction makes it clear who the more prosperous people in the villages
are.
Figure 9. Taking notes
Figure 10. Tomatoes were a cash crop
Figure 11. Examining agricultural methods
Figure 12. Lunch back at the camp
Figure 13. Discussing the morning field trip
Figure 14. Children watching the discussions
Figure 15. Traditional style mud houses
Figure 16. A newer house made of concrete blocks
In the early days of the planning conference, we worked at night by candlelight (Figure 18). However, during the conference, a businessperson in town donated a generator and we had electricity. Typing outdoors in Africa by candlelight is a unique experience. Insects attracted to the light fly into the candles. In Africa, the insects can be quite large relative to North American insects. The dragonflies were awesome creatures. During the day, we encountered rhinoceros beetles and black and white striped millipedes about two inches long. One woman left her briefcase on the ground under her bed in the morning and returned in the evening to find that an ant colony was building a nest in it. As we worked at night, we could hear hyenas and other large animals in the distance. The structures for housing domesticated animals were quite primitive (Figure 19). The animals were poorly fed and some of the children had open sores due to vitamin deficiencies. The sores could be cured simply by eating the tomatoes grown in the villages, but the tomatoes were regarded as a cash crop to be sold in the city. The doctor, who was one of the consultants brought in for the planning conference, organized an evening meal of tomato sandwiches for all of the children in the community. The event began well, but there were so many enthusiastic children that the event quickly became chaotic with children grabbing for sandwiches and not waiting their turn. Most of the children found at least something to eat, though some of the food ended up on the ground. The doctor told the adults that each child should have tomatoes or some other vegetables every day. The local diet consists mostly of corn with an occasional tomato, onion, or pumpkin. Only rarely do the people eat meat or fish. Meat is eaten immediately after it is slaughtered. The people say that there is no way to preserve meat in the village because there is no electricity to run refrigerators. They know about refrigerators, because they have seen them in the city. The people I talked to had never heard of preserving meat by drying it, salting it, or smoking it. Water for irrigation is
taken from springs, is trapped behind rudimentary dams, or is stored in
tanks built of concrete blocks (Figure 20). On the field trips we found
that many of the local people had not seen a concrete block tank before.
Simply touring in their local community was an eye-opening experience for
some of them.
Figure 17. A village consisting of several houses
Figure 18. Writing reports at night by candlelight
Figure 19. Farm structures for pigs and chickens
Figure 20. A tank for holding irrigation water
When we visited a low earthen dam (Figure 21), one of the young men suggested that if the dam were raised to make the water deeper, fish could be grown in the lake behind the dam. The older village people in the group were unimpressed by the suggestion, but the consultants thought it was a fine idea. The consultants pointed out the need for protein in the diet. After this conversation, the standing of this young man seemed to rise somewhat in the community. The consultants did not intend to disturb the social structure of the villages. Indeed, in the beginning we did not know what the social structure was. Nevertheless, as the week progressed, it was clear that the patterns of communication within the community were changing. Those people who felt comfortable talking about change, innovation, and technology became more vocal and received more attention. In this community there were three occupations in order by descending status -- shopkeepers, farmers, and charcoal burners. The shopkeepers had the highest status, even if their shops were nearly empty and they had few if any customers (Figure 22). Next, there were the wealthy farmers, then the less prosperous farmers. The charcoal burners seemed to hold the least respect. The charcoal burners would chop down the small, scrubby trees, partly burn the wood in a covered ditch, and then take the charcoal into town in large sacks precariously balanced on bicycles. The charcoal was used for cooking by the people in Lusaka. One shy, middle-aged charcoal burner attached himself to me and carefully watched everything I did. During the more boring parts of the meetings, I taught him the alphabet and a few English words. On the last day of the conference, he began speaking in complete English sentences. I was amazed. Since Zambia is a former British colony, the children are taught English in school, but most of the people in this community had had only a few years of schooling at most. Nevertheless, the translations back and forth between the tribal languages and English during the conference seemed to revive the English that this man had learned. In our field trips in the community we saw how the people store their grain (Figure 23) and the depot where fertilizer and seed are brought in and harvested grain is picked up (Figure 24). Clean water was a major problem (Figure 25). The people dug their waterholes by hand, so the holes were large. They were large enough for a man to go in and come out. They were often 15 to 25 feet deep. The holes were large enough for cows, children, and small animals to fall into. Large animals could be kept out by laying logs across the holes, but small animals often fell in and polluted the water. What the people wanted was what they called "bore holes" or small holes drilled by machines mounted on the back of a truck (Figure 26). These holes were usually topped with a slab of concrete and a hand pump. Small animals could not fall into these wells, and the pump made it easier to raise the water. Such a pump was installed before the planning conference to insure a clean supply of water. It immediately became a community-gathering place.
Figure 21. A dam built to hold water for irrigation
Figure 22. A local store owner and the sign for his store
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
