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Community Organization (CO)

The session started with a brainstorming on the definition of Community Organizing.

The following were some of the questions and topics raised by the participants:

· How to face the challenges, how to overcome the struggles

· Theory, history and idealist ideas and to start with the practical

· How to promote Ecumenical Movement

· How and why Empowerment

· How to deal with conflict

· How to negotiate with Church / government

· How to integrate and to get involved in the people's contexts

· Critique of our movement

· Give some means and tools to Analyze

The concept of Community Organizing is not far from the Mission of the Church. It is trying to keep in touch with the poor by focusing on the issues of the marginalized / poor context in order to empower them and the church.

Who are the Poor?

The facilitators provided question to analyze the issues of the poor from their own country and by discussing in small groups the following questions.

· Who are the poor? (politically, socially, culturally, religiously and economically their identity)

· What is your basis on stating that they are poor?

· Where are they? (spectrum)

· Trace out their issues and needs

· How do you address their issues? (actions taken)

The following are concepts of who are "the poor" that the participants have identified:

· Displaced / homeless people: Internally displacing due to development.

· Unemployed: structural and due to the economical policy of the government

· Refugees: due to militarization and war.

· Farmers / peasants: lack of proper education and no agricultural assistance from governments.

· Indigenous people: politically oppressed, socially alienated, culturally exploited, economically discriminated. Their identity and land are being taken away by the government.

· Migrant laborers: lack of labour protection

· Urban poor who are struggling with property rights, employment, health, etc.

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The group found it difficult to discuss the questions. Some observations of the process were as followings:

· Different opinions: Individuals have different opinions with regard to their issues and it was hard to put into a unified and concrete word.

· Communication problem: usage of terms and language barriers and expressions sometimes vary from individual to individual.

· Different issues: countries have their own issues and time was limited to discuss into the whole aspect.

· Different contexts: Experiences with different contexts are so diverse but it was interesting to know and to learn.

This session concluded with the facilitators recognizing the diversity among the participants and the difficulties in the discussion. However, the facilitators encouraged the participants by explaining that the process was an exercise to build a common understanding of CO.

My vision of the community

The facilitators asked the participants to go into group work to share their vision of the community that I/they want to be.

The group would discuss the following questions:

· Steps on how to reach that vision?

· Who will be responsible?

· What is your role?

The participants presented their aspirations for a community in the form of drawings or role-play

Group 1:

Enough food Harmony No weapons of mass destruction

Peace everywhere

No more violence No war, patriarchy, hierarchy, class,

Racism, sexism/sexual violence

And oppression

Sharing with each other:

Food and house No beggars

Everyone has a home and job

Humility

All children are happy, No borderline

Healthy and educated.

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Group 2:

Love

Peace

Justice

Group 3:

· A community that talks and shares for people's concern, those identified problems and analyze their situation.

· Communication that breaks boundaries and misunderstanding

· A welcoming community

· Sharing

· Forgiveness

· Love

· Listening

· Learning

· Tolerance

· Honesty

· Respect.

Group 4:

· No economic and international boundaries

· No Formal institutional and educational system.

· Sustainable environment, economy and technologies.

· No war and violence

· Full participation of people in the society

· No racial, class, caste, gender discrimination.

· Sharing of resources equally.

Steps on how to reach that vision:

· Provide solidarity for the oppressed and help them network with other organizations.

· Encourage active groups.

· Build tactics and strategy in details to reach the goal

· Be self-critical, know more our community and world affairs.

· Unmask the hidden agenda of the government.

· Educating people --- especially within the church.

· Act: not only think but become agents of change.

· Live our vision as much as possible in our lives.

· Do not be afraid to engage in politics!

· Identify the root cause of issues and problems

· Identify those who can help

· Mobilizing key people

· Consensus about which/whose utopia we are aiming for

· Multi-national union and networking

· Genuine love and compassion for others.

· Work Against present injustices and realities!

· Partnership!

· Stand up!

· Commitment!

· Swim through liberating and progressive culture.

· Courage

· Hope

· Solidarity

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· Analysis of issues through dialogue, interaction, informative communication

· Reconstruction of history

· People's alliance

Who will be responsible?

· Individuals

· Community

· Government

· Those who are oppressed

· Activists

· Theologians

· Religious leaders

· All leaders (by definiton are responsible for the people / community)

· Middle classes

· Everybody

What is your role?

· As servant to people

· Organizer

· Act and live

· Leader

· Coordinator

· Facilitator

· Animator

· To spread awareness and participation.

The facilitators helped the participants to process the two exercises. We recognized there is a huge gap between our vision of the community and what we want to be and the reality of the existence of poor and marginalized in our society. It is this gap that CO wants to work with.

What is Community Organizing

CO in its strictest definition refers to organising which takes place in a geographically define living area, such as, in urban poor community or a rural village. However, principles have been widely used for organising sectional group's not necessary living in a distinct location. For example, like factory or school.

In the contexts of globalization, community should not be minimize into a geographical boundaries or location but can be collective groups, concern scholars or movement groups. Different countries differ according to their own contexts and needs. However globalization process has similar effect in every country. Therefore in order to have a relevant CO, one should start

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from where people are by considering from all aspects like cultural, social, economical, political and religious perspective

CO is for empowering people. Its primary aim is to transform a situation of societal injustice, inequality and poverty. Therefore, CO is both a process and an orientation for genuine and liberating social transformation.

Objectives:

Long Range Goal:

A vision: a dream a society where there is an opportunity for effective participation and integration of all members (citizen) in all institutions of that society with the consequent sharing of wealth and power.

Immediate or Ongoing Goals:

· To eradicate the culture of poverty: the sense of hopelessness and helplessness, of inferiority and dependence, of being marginal and lacking integration and effective participation in the major institution of society.

· By eliciting people's effective participation in decision making: By Creating, building up people's power through people's organisations and people's leadership.

The facilitators by analysing why poor are always the victims for the unjust social structure, to clarify some concepts that are important in CO:

Culture of silence:

This culture develops out of the influence of factors like media, educational, the socialization that has been transfer from one generation to another. Those who are under this stream feeling themselves as powerless and discouraged to take actions.

Concept of power:

Ability to do something /feeling that they are unable to do anything due to powerless. We need to aware the different faces of power and the fact of imbalance of power in our society.

Concept of conflict confrontation:

Differences of interests for example between farmers and landowner/ church elders and congregation. Through non-violent approach it is suggested to negotiate their interest from their view points.

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Dialogical process:

Opening of minds between two parities to achieve a consensus term. It addresses the culture of silence to awaken the people especially for the grass root level, by meaningful and ongoing participation.

Active reflection:

In CO action alone is not fulfilling, reflection is needed to raise awareness for more of people's creativity.

Concept of Empowerment:

Empowering people to able to identify / analyze their issues from the grassroots level to problem solution. Invite people to participate. Here dialogical process is very important. Marginalization is due to disempowerment. Once the people's mind is empowered, injustices will overcome which is the main essence. The core concept is to throw out the best from the people's capacity.

Issues and Target analyses

There is the element of two conflicting ideas and if there are 10 up people who are affected and affected people are willing to act on the issues. The issue is winnable and clear targets, such as people or institutions for mobilization.

Strategies and Tactics:

We need strategies and tactics to tackle the issues that identified. Tactics means the day to day activities for the target to give in.

Tools of Analysis

There are several commonly used Tools of Analysis of the society in CO:

Class analysis: Rich, 15 % middle class, 75% Poor. Who has the resources? Who has the control?

Confunctural analysis: UES--who support/alliance? Who is our opponent? Opportunities? Trend.

Shareholder analysis: Sustainable development framework

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Principles of applying tools in CO:

The main principle of applying any tools or steps in CO is to serve as an empowering process, which serves as a tool. It is always advisable not just to mobilize people but to organize from simple process to complex one.

· Start where the people are but do not end where they are.

· People act on the basis of self-interest.

· Throughout the organizing work, the people must decide

· The establishment itself carries within it the conditions that politicize the people.

· Tactics against the target should be within the experience of the people but outside the experience of the target.

· Organizing work moves from simple to complex.

· People's participation at all level should be the goal of organizing.

· People power must continuously be built up during the organizing process.

Steps of Community Organizing

1. Integration

This refers to the process wherein the community organiser tries to establish rapport and communication with the members of the community by learning and participating in their everyday life. Thus, living in the community is a basic requirement for organisers, particularly at the start of the training to ensure that he / she imbibes the culture, expressions, and nuances of community life.

2. Social Investigation

Social investigation is the process of systematical learning and analysing the various structures and forces in the community-economic, political and socio cultural. It results in a community portrait, which is a scientific collation and synthesis data gathered. It provides a clear picture of the community.

3. Tentative planing and strategizing

Planning is the process of identifying goals and translating them into specific activities to meet community needs or solve community problem. The final plans and decisions have to be done the people in the community. But the organiser can begin the process.

4. Ground Work

This process provides the rigor to organising as a transformative and dialogical process. This refers to the one on one or at times in small group's dialogue where the organiser engages the people in evoking their views, analysis, attitudes, and beliefs around the issues. This process

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aims at securing the people's participation from the analysis, planning of solutions and actions.

5. The Community Meeting

The community meeting is the step in organisation where as many people as possible in the community are gathered to formally discuss the issues raised during the groundwork to plan the actions to address the issues.

6. Role Play

This refers to the process wherein the people act out the forthcoming dialogue, negotiation (or Confrontation, as the case maybe) that will take place between the leaders of the people and the authority (target) mandate to act on the community problem. Various scenarios are played out to develop strategies and tactics to manage the possible ways in which the event will unfold. Thus the formulation of plans A, B, C, etc.

7. Mobilisation

Mobilisation refers to the community action undertaken to address and resolve to identify' community issues and concerns. For the issue based organisers. This can be in the form of negotiation or dialogue coupled with pressure tactics. For the socio-economic based organiser this refers to the mobilisation of people to start and run a socio-economic project.

8. Evaluation

Evaluation is the process of discovering what the people accomplished, what was not achieved, the strengths and weaknesses of the action. Its causes and how these weaknesses can be prevented or minimised, while looking into how gains can be maximised.

9. Reflection

Based on the dialogical character of the community organising process, aimed at consciousness raising and transformative action, the reflection process evokes from the participants of the community action the following what they felt, thought, learned as individuals or as a groups from the process. In this dialogue, it is important to listen how the participants give the naming of their experiences.

10. Establishing the people's organisations

The aim of community's organisation is to develop independent people's organisation that will serve as representatives to the outside community in securing solutions towards improving the quality of life in the community.

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After some victorious in issues addressed by the community members, formal election of leaders, approval of by laws and constitutions, formation of committees constitute the consolidation of the initial organising process

The sustainable People's Organizations means

· Have vision and Mission

· Have operational systems in place

· Have stable membership

· Have sets of organizing bodies on a regular basis

· Have delivery services to its members. e.g. livelihood, counseling, health and sanitation, gender issues ,land tenure, value transformation, micro credit etc.

· Ability to mobilize resources, both internal and external.

In order to achieve these steps, there are some needed qualities for the CO workers and skills involved:

Qualities of CO workers:

· Genuine love for the cause of the poor

· Irreverence

· Tenacity

· Creativity

· Willingness to take risk

Skills related to Social Investigation and Integration

1. Ability to expand contact to get to know as many as possible in the community and develop quality contact.

Criteria for quality contacts

· Initial contacts whose influence could help the CO's expansion of contacts. The contacts may be credible traditional leaders or ordinary people following.

· Contact with, leadership potentials: those who understand or will be able to understand what organising is; people's participation, people's decision and people's power. Those with natural tendency to have the following because they are credible or possess leadership qualities like courage and patience.

· Contacts who sit early stage of organising are able to do some task related to organising work.

· One who is open to criticism and suggestions.

· One with whom the CO can be frank of with

· One with whom the CO can rely and put full trust

2. Ability to pick up local expressions. Local people are usually more comfortable talking to non-residents using their local expressions.

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3. Ability to make use of illustrations and analogy. Being able to use experiences of the listeners as a medium for conveying ideas or concepts.

Communication Skills necessary for CO:

Ability to listen: The ability to listen not just to words but also to nuances, choice of words, tone of expression, so as to comprehend the hidden and unconscious messages, as well as to know the thinking and personally of the speaker. A CO must be able to analyse non-verbal messages or know how to "read between the lines" It also means being able to use the particular jargon of people in the community.

Ability to evoke or draw out: The ability to bring out the thoughts, feelings or opinions of the other person. Asking the proper question or giving the correct stimuli does this. The basic assumptions underlying the needs for this skill is "people have hidden wisdom and they have vast experience". There are times when people can not give their responses right way: they need time to think, to phrase their answer. There is a need to wait for their responses. It is not good to plug in replies to fill in the silences. It also advisable to be on the lookout for the silence ones to be sensitive to them. A CO can get through to them by asking questions. Most likely, they have lots to say but are just waiting for invitations.

Ability to carry small talk: The ability to converse with anyone on almost any matter.

The importance of Networking

In people's movement, networking and alliances are needed in order to empower poor people.

Reasons:

· People's organization cannot be separated from the national movement

· Survival of the PO's in the long run will depend on the extend of support it will get from the various group in the developing community

· There is a limit to what PO can do.

· PO's need resources

· Need to educate the public about the poor.

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How do you organize Youth/Student Movement in Church?

Finally, the facilitators probed to some participants their experience in organizing students and youth movement in the Church.

In South Korea, to organize church youth exposure program to some specific places so that youth can see the injustice in the society.

For Indonesian SCM, member would give relevant information and to find out what is important to them and to analyze how to make a win-win solution. Later to evaluate and proceed for reflection and confirmation of their analysis.

In Sri Lanka, they will organize Peace making group for Dialogue, action, and reflection method in order to deal with issues and to demonstrate through Drama in public places e.g. market areas. Later on, group discussion to analyze how the issue is reflected in the drama.

The group affirmed that there is a need to organize students and youth as:

· They have new ideas, potential, being dynamic and creative

· They are the future leaders of the society / church

· They are majority as well as minority group

· Transmitting / share good value to young generation

· Youth have a role to play in society as well as Church

· To help them analyze critically

· Give better alternative options to existing social structure.

The workshop on CO finished with an evaluation whether it is useful for the participants or not. Participants shared that the main issues faced by the student and youth community is nowadays, youth and students no longer interested in movement and politics. Generally there is a lack of social awareness formation. Moreover, church youth groups have to face the bureaucratic structure and internal politics of the church, and there is also a lack of resources and financial support for youth activities.

These are the realities of student and youth groups and so the CO method might not be able to directly apply. Many participants found the workshop very interesting but with a note that the CO is more relevant for NGO rather than students and youth organizations. There is a need to develop more ideas to see students and youth as a community and therefore to develop relevant CO modules.