Developmental change

Effective developmental work is premised on facilitating a community's desire for change. It is not fundamentally about external resources, structural improvement, education or training - although those can all be important components of a response.  Put another way:  Developmental work is... "facilitation of the growing capacity of people; the movement towards consciousness of who they are, what they want and what they can do about it - this is a much bigger task than just building wells, roads, skills, providing micro-credit. It is the way in which building wells, roads, skills, providing micro- credit are provided that enables real development to take place, ways for example which build pride and confidence to undertake further challenges, which do not reinforce but transform repressive power relations, ways which build cooperative relationships, which encourages responsibility and the emergence of new forms of leadership.  This is the stuff of development.  Roads, wells, skills and micro-credit are only the tools that can assist in their development.” Community Development Research Association statement.

The photos in this post reflect the efforts and energies of people in the Choma area in Zambia to transform their lives. MCC and the Brethrn in Christ church's role has been to facilitate and encourage the communities to discover that they can create the change they seek. All of the activities reflected in these pictures require collaboration, learning new possibilities and embracing risk. No work is done unless individuals in the community take ownership of their activity. Much time and energy is invested in building relationships, understanding what the underlying issues are and discovering how the community wants to address them.

 

Earthen dams reflect a desire for water for livestock and gardens. The 'lope' pump on a hand dug well (Zambians often replace the 'r' with an 'l' sound) will provide clean potable water for many homes. Capping of the well removes possibility of contamination. Innovative chicken roosts and hen boxes speak to growing confidence in the capacity to think outside the box and to improve egg collection utilizing local resources. 

Change does not always come easy, as any of us know, but when it happens in a way that enables people to define their own future - then there is always hope.