In the middle of February, when I thought my language skills were finally good enough, we did PACA. PACA, Participatory Analysis for Community Action, is a tool we use to discover a community’s assets, accomplishments, needs and wants. It is a good way to become familiar with a community’s motivation and also to find out which projects would be good for your service.
We set aside a Saturday morning to meet as a community. In attendance were some very key members of my community; my homologue (counterpart), my host dad, our dugutigi (village chief), the matrone (midwife) for my CSCOM (health center), the director of the first cycle(elementary) school, women from our women’s group, the older men from our men’s group, a representative from our youth group, and various other village members.
We started by identifying what our village had done already, what they were proud of. The list was awesome. They talked about their schools, their respective men’s and women’s group, their children, their market, and their gardens. The next two activities were done with the meeting members split into a group of men and a group of women. We did a village map, where they drew out a map of the village as they saw it. Next, we made daily calendars to show what the men and women did each day, from waking up to going to bed.
We compared these maps and lists, focusing on the differences and similarities. We talked about why certain places in town were on one map and not the other, why they might be bigger or more central on one map, and how the duties that men and women perform through the day are different, yet complimentary.
From here we began a list of the things that the community wanted to accomplish. The list was about twelve items long, with ideas coming from both the men and women. After we came up with our list, we prioritized the items. When we had agreed on the final list, we talked about who would want to work on which projects. Some of the projects could be done sooner than others, so we identified people that might work together at a later date to accomplish projects that would need to happen in the rainy season or that would be secondary to more important projects.
What was on the list, you ask? The first item was help with food security. Other items included school supplies, first aid supplies for the school, and a school garden. The women want a well in their garden and the whole town agreed that pump repair, at both the school and the CSCOM were very important. Less important, but still on the list were items like solar panels for the school so that adult literacy classes held there after dark would have light and building a new maternity.
I learned that although my language was getting better, it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of times when I was trying to explain something and just ran myself into a wall. That said, I was working with some of the most patient and understanding people I’ve ever met. If I was stuck, I had support from numerous people who helped me say what needed saying. I also learned that my purpose seems to be understood very well. A lot of volunteers seem to have issues in their villages with people expecting them to be a money source. While there were definitely things on our list that will require money, they were not things on the top of the list, and the people suggesting them were open to talk about ideas for fundraising. The whole process was less painful than I had anticipated and was so very helpful.
We set aside a Saturday morning to meet as a community. In attendance were some very key members of my community; my homologue (counterpart), my host dad, our dugutigi (village chief), the matrone (midwife) for my CSCOM (health center), the director of the first cycle(elementary) school, women from our women’s group, the older men from our men’s group, a representative from our youth group, and various other village members.
We started by identifying what our village had done already, what they were proud of. The list was awesome. They talked about their schools, their respective men’s and women’s group, their children, their market, and their gardens. The next two activities were done with the meeting members split into a group of men and a group of women. We did a village map, where they drew out a map of the village as they saw it. Next, we made daily calendars to show what the men and women did each day, from waking up to going to bed.
We compared these maps and lists, focusing on the differences and similarities. We talked about why certain places in town were on one map and not the other, why they might be bigger or more central on one map, and how the duties that men and women perform through the day are different, yet complimentary.
From here we began a list of the things that the community wanted to accomplish. The list was about twelve items long, with ideas coming from both the men and women. After we came up with our list, we prioritized the items. When we had agreed on the final list, we talked about who would want to work on which projects. Some of the projects could be done sooner than others, so we identified people that might work together at a later date to accomplish projects that would need to happen in the rainy season or that would be secondary to more important projects.
What was on the list, you ask? The first item was help with food security. Other items included school supplies, first aid supplies for the school, and a school garden. The women want a well in their garden and the whole town agreed that pump repair, at both the school and the CSCOM were very important. Less important, but still on the list were items like solar panels for the school so that adult literacy classes held there after dark would have light and building a new maternity.
I learned that although my language was getting better, it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of times when I was trying to explain something and just ran myself into a wall. That said, I was working with some of the most patient and understanding people I’ve ever met. If I was stuck, I had support from numerous people who helped me say what needed saying. I also learned that my purpose seems to be understood very well. A lot of volunteers seem to have issues in their villages with people expecting them to be a money source. While there were definitely things on our list that will require money, they were not things on the top of the list, and the people suggesting them were open to talk about ideas for fundraising. The whole process was less painful than I had anticipated and was so very helpful.
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