Charis Around the World

Tidbits from Ebony
Elizabeth Carmichael

The Anatomy and Physiology of a Community Development Project
PART II

Girls or ladies usually signify that they are students by wearing white head covers to their classes. In some parts of Ebony, the education of females is not accepted. Communities may be put in fear when attacks occur against female students. Sometimes schools or training centers are targeted for bombings. Other times, even very young girls are beaten on the street or have acid thrown on their clothes and in their faces. Remember to pray for protection over any females seeking to learn in the country of Ebony.

As promised last month, I am going to share with you a hypothetical story about how a community development project might work in Ebony. The narrative portions are completely fictional, but informed by experience, observation and the input of experienced community development workers, both ex-patriot and local.

Before we dive into the story, however, I wanted to thank all of you for your petitions on my behalf as I headed back overseas again after three months in the States. I am so grateful to be back here in Ebony! The Father blessed me greatly in my travel. I am still in the capital, sorting through my belongings and making them ready to ship to my new city, "Glory Land." Please continue remembering me and my co-workers as we begin a new work!

If you haven't read the article from last month's newsletter, you might want to go back and review.  Link to it here  As you will recall, I shared with you that my work here in Ebony is that of a community development worker. Last month, we discovered that "the purpose of community based development work is to facilitate a given community so that they can meet their own needs in a sustainable way. We are in Ebony to meet and honor our host communities, to learn from them, to help them help themselves, and to offer what we have for their good."

We also discussed some given qualities of a well done, community based project:

--IT WILL TAKE TIME

--IT WILL TAKE PATIENCE

--IT WILL TAKE TRUST

--IT WILL TAKE CROSS CULTURAL EFFORT

--EVERYONE WILL LEARN SOMETHING

--THE OUTCOME BELONGS TO THE LORD

OK! I think we are officially ready to dive into a picture of what this whole process might look like for a little, 'ole community development worker like myself. Let's name our development worker "Lizzie."

Foreigners as well as local community development workers must make sure they are appropriately dressed and sensitive to community values as they proceed with their work. In Ebony, women must cover themselves and act appropriately quiet in public. These efforts are necessary when a worker values being respected and accepted within the community.

Lizzie has arrived to her new country. Her head is spinning from the past two weeks filled with "last" visits with family and friends, phone calls, and spending hours packing all she might need for three years into two suitcases that weigh less than 50 pounds. Whew! She spends her first week in country unpacking and looking for a new language tutor. The first week assigned to this task turns into two weeks. Finally, a young woman agrees to teach Lizzie 10-12 hours each week. The other 20 hours of language study each week need to be spent listening to and reviewing her lessons, practicing the alphabet and memorizing vocabulary.

Lizzie wonders if she will be ever be able to have a conversation in this new language. As she glances at her childbirth books, she wonders how she will ever be able to communicate well enough to make a difference in the lives of families within her host culture. Lizzie's team leader asks her to write up a set of goals to guide her personal development, team participation and project work over the next few months. Pouring over the ideas and the impossibility of it all, Lizzie dissolves into tears before ever finishing this task. The next morning is a fresh start. She attends her language class, finishes her assignment and starts all over again.

Several months later, Lizzie begins to set up meetings with other community development workers in the area, with government officials and with provincial leaders. Sometimes the meetings yield a little bit of helpful information. Other meetings are filled with tea, complaints about the current situation in the country, and frustrating fumblings in Lizzie's new language. Lizzie feels like she is getting nowhere fast. But, she is becoming known in the community. And people are beginning to trust her enough to introduce her to their wives and to other officials. Another month has come and gone.

Lizzie happily hires three development workers from the local culture. She will be able to learn even more language in her interactions with them, but she will also be able to train them in a small group setting and teach them to help implement the project she continues dream about. Unfortunately, before beginning their training, Lizzie gets sick. She is completely unable to work for over a week. After a round of worm killer, she starts feeling much better. It would be nice for the training of her development workers to begin right away, but she has to leave the country for some important meetings. She wonders if this project will ever get off the ground..

Remember, a community development project WILL TAKE TIME.

Even though the first step in a community development project should involve going to the community to assess their needs and offer help, this is nearly impossible to do in Ebony without funding for a project that has already been proposed formally to donors. So, our Lizzie locks herself in her office and spends two weeks writing and revising a project proposal that will hopefully result in a funded project. Her vision for the proposed project includes all the important elements of community development:

1. Contact with local community

2. Needs assessment/resource assessment

3. Spreading the word

4. Equipping the community to meet their needs

5. Evaluation of project/next steps

One of the first priorities of a community development project is to gather local leaders and representatives
from the community to discuss the needs and concerns prevalent within the society.

Meanwhile, the trainees that Lizzie already hired are busy within the community, building relationships, interviewing families about their individual needs, gathering quantitative demographic data, and planning a meeting of local community leaders who need to approve the project in order to move forward with the next step--a community wide needs assessment forum.

As Lizzie waits for her project proposal to be approved, her trainees wait for the community to allow them to meet together and discuss possibilities. Lizzie also spends much of her time building and praying for team relationships, working on communication with team members, and meeting with the team to develop strategies for engaging at a deeper level within the community. Sometimes it can seem that there is little or no time left for Lizzie's own personal development.

After a few weeks of waiting, Lizzie comes up against another obstacle. The materials for her community development project are available in a local language, but it is NOT the language of her trainees or her target community. The materials need to be translated!!

What else did we say a community development project will take? That's right, PATIENCE!

Read Tidbits From Ebony next month to hear about the second half of Lizzie's project! I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles.

Thanks for reading.
Love,
Elizabeth Carmichael

It's hard work being a kid in Ebony. It'll wear you out by the end of the day!