Background/Needs Assessments: Students in secondary school often have to travel far from their homes daily to attend class. Often there are primary schools within the villages or in a neighboring village. However secondary schools are often in the provincial or regional capital, which means the students have to travel sometimes 8 miles or more to attend middle and high school. it is most efficient for the student’s time, as most of them walk or bike to and from school, to be able to stay in the town for the school year. This way they can actually study after school instead of walking 3 hours and then getting home to do chores, eat and sleep. Finding housing for boys is pretty easy. A family friend or distant relative will let boys stay. Or even sometimes a group of boys will get a small house together. From what I hear they often can’t cook very well, but they learn quickly (that was a joke).
Community Need: The same is not always true for young girls. There are several concerns that occur with girls staying far away from home. Because of the cultural norms of girls being the housekeepers, when girls stay with distant relatives, they are, at times, expected to cook, and clean…which makes it hard for them to actually get the studying done they need to be doing. If a bunch of girls stay in a house together, with little supervision, they are vulnerable to undesired pregnancies, exposure to STI’s, etc. As people here often say, “they spoiled the girl”…meaning so got pregnant. Obviously girls are not having sex by themselves to get pregnant, but the consequences are easily seen when their stomachs grow. The community’s desire for a place to lodge girls in a secure area where they can be protected from outside vulnerabilities, learn good decision making skills, and self-confidence birthed the community house, where I will be working. Through the efforts of UNICEF, the local government, and other organizations, the Community House for Girls was created.
Action Plan and Implementation: The community house can house up to 100 girls, they are 2 large dorms with beds, showers, a cafeteria, study rooms, a location to house a female director, and infirmary. The space is enclosed by large walls surrounding the campus pretty close to the center of the town so girls can easily walk (or bike) to the different schools within 20 minutes. A Peace Corps Response Volunteer was requested to work alongside the organizations involved to ensure sustainability. In a nutshell, I will be engaged in the activities of the community house as well as helping to build the capacity of the community to continue to provide a safe and supportive environment for the girls. Some of the activities to be done with the director include training in decision-making and life skills, study skills, organizing extracurricular activities. Within the community, the intention is to be able to leave a set of tools that can be implemented to ensure the sustainability of the project, so connecting administration, teachers, parents, and community organizations to work together to provide a supportive education for girls is critical. I will likely work with some boys in the surrounding schools as well, so they too will learn these critical skills, as it is all so interconnected. Interesting enough, the hope is that this community house can be a model for other districts to replicate.
So why did I set this blog up with background, community need, and finally an action plan? You guessed it! Community development comes from within the community and will only be sustainable if you know the scope and continuously check the loop to make sure it is still working. It is an ongoing cycle. Since I just got to my post after training in the capital, I am currently in the background gathering phase of my project. I am beginning with an “Etude de Milieu” which is literally a study of the area, or better known as a community analysis. Based on the information gathered from the community, we can work together to identify the specific community needs within the project I am assigned to, and finally write an action plan on how to carry it out, evaluate, and then celebrate!
What is our philosophy of development? Development is any process that promotes the dignity of a people and their capacity to improve their own lives. My intention is not to tear down a culture, accuse, or do what I think is best. The solutions to the concerns within the community are grown from the ideas of the community members itself. I am here simply to support that process. Loa Tse said it best:
“Go to the people,
Learn from them,
Start with what they know,
Build on what they have…
But the best of leaders, when their work is done,
The task is finished,
The people will say,
‘We have done it ourselves’”
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