Download - Key elements: Vision Community Leadership Generosity Community Transformation

Key elements:VisionCommunity LeadershipGenerosity

Community Transformation

Untouchable - Dalit people :20% of India’s populationbelow the bottom rung of the caste systemtwo-thirds illiterate and landless discriminated against

- denied legal rights, beaten up

Community Transformation- Southern India

Untouchable Occupations:wood gatherersquarry workersscavengershandle dead bodiesnight cart operatorsbonded labour


Womens Development Resource Centre:works with women, families & communitiessupports communities to take actionsupports communities learning from

experience, and leading change themselves


Impact:access to the system - housing, water,

schools, electricity, roading

building wealth - micro-credit, and credit union - Women Labourers Bank for enterprise development

participating in society - 300 women stood for local government at the end of 2006, literacy levels increased

“Now We Are Fearless”


Key elements:visionauthentic voices – at the heart of

communitywhole community - landlords, local government

collaborationsystems change for lasting impact


To achieve sustainable change communities have:• partnered with land owners, city

and state government, businesses, trade unions

• built a movement for change


Funder : has been supporting for ten years supported and resourced communities to

work at their own pace and with own priorities

supported sytems change for lasting impact

helped make connections with others on a similar path

shared the vision


Community - Southern New Zealand

The people of the Waiau Valley

2001 census – 1,326 people 1996 census – 1,550 people 1996 census – 11% Mäori

Voluntary work in Waiau Valley (source: MAF 1998)

82% of population involved in voluntary work

An average of 533 hours voluntary work per person per year

93 community groups to be sustained by fewer than 1,550 people

The legacy of the 1980s -1990s

The demise of the forestry industry The centralisation of government services The closure of post offices, banks, schools

etc The removal of managers & professionals,

and their skills The increase in farm size The increase in off-farm employment (esp. for

farm women) A declining population Means fewer people with less time each

Waiau Valley community groups

Voluntary work in this community is responsible for: The local schools, via BOTs, PTA, etc Provision of a medical and hospital trust Emergency services such as Fire, Ambulance,

Search and Rescue, Community First Response Community facilities such as halls and

playgrounds Community Board decisions on rates and other

Council issues Sports, arts and recreation and their social and

health benefits Economic initiatives such as scenic routes and the

Hump Ridge Track

And what of the Waiau community’s future?

Failing community infrastructure Closure of services Increasing social fragmentation People living in disconnected isolation ‘Ghetto’ phenomenon of poverty and

disenfranchisement in rural towns Continuing depopulation Young people seen as a problem and ‘at

risk’

Or…

Resilient vibrant community Sound community infrastructure Social cohesion and connectedness New enterprises contributing to healthy

economy Opportunities for young people to achieve

their potential

The role of philanthropy?

Philanthropy can support community by: Taking care to build rather than

undermine the social capital in a community

Making things easier (not harder) Contributing vision and generosity Offering advocacy and support Listening to the ‘Authentic Voices’ Fostering collaboration Facilitating useful links to the wider

picture

In the absence of concrete support for the complex human process of engaging with, and mobilising communities, the new philanthropists may find that the lofty goals they have set themselves are beyond their reach.

New York Review

February 15,2007

Parachuting cats into Borneo!In the early 1950s, the Dayak people of Borneo suffered an

outbreak of malaria. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had a solution: to spray large amounts of DDT to kill the mosquitoes that carried the malaria. The mosquitoes died. The malaria declined; so far so good. But there were unexpected side effects. Early on people’s roofs began to fall down on their heads. It seems the DDT had also killed a parasitic wasp which controlled thatch-eating caterpillars. Worse, the DDT-poisoned insects were eaten by geckoes. The gekoes were eaten by cats. The cats started to die, the rats flourished, and the people were threatened by outbreaks of typhus and plague. To cope with these problems, which it had itself created, the WHO was obliged to parachute 14,000 live cats into Borneo. Operation Cat Drop, now almost forgotten at the WHO, is a graphic illustration of the interconnectedness of life, the importance of starting with community knowledge and creating collaborative solutions … and what happens if you don’t.

www.cdra.org.za

Download - Key elements: Vision Community Leadership Generosity Community Transformation

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