4th International Conference on Rain Water Cistern Systems
Manila , Philipines - August, 1989

Section B: Community Participation

Paper B.2

Replacing Community Participation With NGO Participation - A New Approach

Janet K. Lugonzo-Campbell
Canadian Hunger Foundation, Kenya

Abstract

Running the Canadian Hunger Foundation (CHF) programme in Kenya, the author has Learned that the `missionary` approach to village water projects by most development agencies in the past has been largely responsible for their very big failure rate. Most NGO's and agencies plan and implement a project, then wrestle with the problems of trying to encourage what they call 'community participation', which seldom succeeds.

The CHF begins by discussing. with the committee of a self-help water project,. group the possibility of their upgrading their embryo project to a business enterprise, in which CHF are temporary joint venture partners. The group registers itself as a Legal Society with enforceable obligations and responsibilities. The project becomes a financially self-sufficient enterprise run on business-like lines. The rules governing commissioning, operation and membership are established in a registered constitution. With both their contributions (in the form of share capital) , and the intergrity of the project safe-guarded by legal means, the willingness of even the poorest community to contribute their time and money is overwhelming. Protected and encourage. by sound business-like arrangements, the community provides acuity, all the labour, and significant material inputs. The CHF providas technical training and supervision of ccnstruction works, training in book-keeping, in project management, in recruitment, in the institution of checks and balances for the resolution of political problems, etc., and capital in the form of some of the expensive materials. The project is run entirely by full-time employees of the Society.

PDF of full document available to members (12pp, 260kb)