Community Development Challenges

Community Development Challenges 1. Introduction The concept of community development, an accepted and much lauded mechanism for interventionist and participative social development grew out of the many strange ironies of empire building. The British, after infiltrating and achieving political domination over the Indian sub continent and vast tracts of Africa, and thereafter ensuring the decimation of local trade, industry, handicrafts and self government initiatives, made its officers busy with action plans and initiatives to develop and empower communities in these nations at the local level. Nobody in the British establishment presumably thought of the need to find out from the benefiting (sic) community whether they wanted either the destruction and bondage, or the succeeding efforts to help in local development and empowerment. Notwithstanding the rather questionable beginnings of the community development effort, the concept has grown over the ages to become an established method for interventionist social development where external agencies, governmental or otherwise, initiate, encourage and help local community development efforts in numerous areas, including social and economic development, fostering a capacity for local co-operation and self-help, with the use of expertise and methods drawn from outside the local community. (Midgeley, 1995) Community development initiatives, while growing and adapting to the needs of local communities in the UK and the USA, and despite being adopted by voluntary organisations like Rotary International for world wide implementation, have also seen large scale failures in meeting its objectives, especially in the African countries. These failures, especially in areas where they were needed most, led to disillusionment, and a feeling that community development practices w ere ill founded, or based upon unworkable concepts, and should possibly be replaced with other modes of development. Nevertheless, community development efforts remain globally strong and attract many young and well-intentioned people, to work towards achievement of economic and social improvement of underprivileged or deprived communities. It becomes extremely important for community development initiators, practitioners, workers and volunteers, to understand the principles and values of community development, in order to understand its potential and limitations, the many constraints and challenges that crop up in the development process, and the likely chances of the success or failure of development initiatives. 2. Commentary Community development has been defined by an official publication of the UK government as â€Å" active participation, and if possible on the initiative of the community, but if this initiative is not forthcoming spontaneously, by the use of techniques for arousing and stimulating it in order to achieve its active and enthusiastic response to the movement. (Smith, 2006) This definition entails an inherent contradiction, namely that while community development works on the principles of local participation, initiative and self-help at the community level, it also calls for sponsorship by external, mostly governmental agencies, who see it as an avenue for implementing governmental policies at the local level. Development initiatives thus also involve a significant amount of social work, and sometimes, even activism, in regions characterised by illiteracy, backwardness, poverty, deprivation, inequality and oppression. Community development initiatives are characterised by the presence of two elements, one local, meaning the existing community, and the other, external, which is represented by governmental agencies, not for profit service organisations like the Rotary, and private foundations and corporations. British American Tobacco (BAT), for instance, sponsors significant community development programmes for tobacco growing communities in Asian and African countries, while Rotary International works on village extension and community development programmes in many nations, in which it has a presence. Non-governmental organisations, however, still need to operate with the help of the local government in many areas, thus making the involvement of the state in community development a fait accompli. The functioning of external agencies in community development involves a number of phases that commences with the localising of a community and ascertainment of its various deficiencies and needs. This initial assessment is followed by the agency entering the community, obtaining familiarity with the neighbourhood, ascertaining needs, objectives and roles, establishing contact with local people, influence makers and power centres, bringing people together, obtaining agreement on specific objectives, forming and building local organisations to improve local issues like health, education, economy and self empowerment, clarifying goals and priorities, catalysing action, helping in keeping the initiatives going, monitoring progress, and taking corrective action. At all stages external agencies need to work in a catalytic fashion, encouraging, helping, and assisting community work, while refraining. from taking on a controlling role. Empowerment, and the building and enhancement of local community capacity in various areas that help in development should be the main objectives, as opposed to achieving results through direct control of the development process. (Henderson and Thomas, 2001) Community development activity can be general or specialised. Generic work takes place in a geographically demarcated area, takes up all the issues that lead to social and economic disadvantage, and works out participative programmes to alleviate or eliminate them. The context can be either urban or rural. While rural development has gained ground in recent years and is attracting more funds, community development is an equally critical requirement in the slums and underbellies of the world’s metropolises, which continue to be haunted by gang overlords, prostitution, substance abuse, and domestic violence, as well as lack of educational facilities and poor housing. Specialised community work deals with specific groups within a region, namely issues like homelessness, unemployment, child prostitution, substance abuse or ethic issues, or with identified issues like transportation, housing, public health or sanitation. (Hickey and Mohan, 2004) A USDA publication states that commu nity development initiatives are best achieved through the creation of business initiatives, sustainable community development, community-based partnerships and building and initiating long-term strategic plans. (Key principles of community empowerment, 2002) This complex situation demands great understanding, perception and ability from community development workers. These committed men and women are expected to handle a myriad functions that include identifying community issues, needs and problems, developing new community based programmes and resources, and evaluating and mentoring existing programmes. They also need to be outgoing, possess excellent communication skills, and be able to empathise with members of the local community, qualities that help in obtaining cooperation and help from government bodies, community organisations, and various sponsors, as well as in raising public awareness on relevant issues. Community development practitioners are also expected to provide leadership, co-ordinate programmes, facilitate and promote community self help, encourage and increase local participation, and challenge inappropriate political and social structures. Administratively, their functions entail formulation, development and finalisa tion of strategies, recruitment, motivation and training paid and voluntary workers, networking extensively to build contacts and raise funds, liaising with interested voluntary groups to build new programmes and services, mediating and negotiating with opposing parties, planning, attending and co-ordinating meetings and events, overseeing, optimising and administering limited budgets, preparing reports, and carrying out other required administrative tasks. (Community development worker, 2007) 3. Conclusion Community development demands enormous integrity, stamina, maturity and compassion from practitioners, workers and volunteers. The inherent difficulties in working in alien locations in non-structured working environments and inherently dynamic and changing conditions pose significant challenges. In addition, the inherent contradictions of being human catalysts for social change in foreign environments, of being change agents, at once part and yet distinct from the community, instil feelings of inadequacy, and sometimes even rejection, in communities where intervention may not be welcomed by significantly substantial members of the community. Community development projects aim to unearth local problems, resource limitations, and unsatisfied needs, and work towards their objectives through local participation and empowerment. Yet community participation often fails, once the operating agency withdraws, and much of the gains of community development are lost in the following years. Most agencies working in community development, e.g. the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and Rotary International, as well as governmental and private agencies feel this to be a major problem. Situations like this, as well as apprehensions of development of such situations, result in implementing agencies having to stay on in particular communities or with specific projects, much after their need has diminished, and their services and skills required elsewhere. (Bhattacharya, 2004) This often happens because of confusion in community development objectives and the undertaking of roles, in excess of actual needs, by development agencies. This factor, when combined with the role assumed by development agencies in mobilising funds, often results in producing feelings of inadequacy and helplessness in the community. It strengthens attitudes that magnify community problems, link the success of programmes with the expertise, infrastructure, and fund mobilising ability of the agencies, and works towards disempowering the members of the community, instead of increasing their capacity to address their problems. This overstretching by development workers establishes and ingrains a sense of reliance of the community on the agency, which consequently tends to negate the essence of the development programme. Development practitioners need to understand the delicacy of their roles and the thin line that they must necessarily tread upon if the community is to become truly emp owered. A greater appreciation of the necessity for producing change agents in the local community, rather than donning the mantle themselves for perpetuity, and the need for engaging local people, so that they can help communities create a common dream of a fair and sustainable future, becomes extremely important for the long-term success of community development programmes. Community development practitioners play extremely important roles in today’s grossly inequitable society, and with their grass root developmental programmes, have been instrumental in improving lives across the globe. A better appreciation of the values and principles of community development will possibly help them in improving the results of their efforts. Bibliography Ben-Meir, J.,2006, March/April, Win the War of Ideas through Community Development. The Humanist, 66, 5+. Bhattacharyya, J., 2004, Theorizing Community Development. Journal of the Community Development Society, 34(2), 5+. Community development worker: job description and activities, 2007, Prospects.ac, Retrieved April 14 from www.prospects.ac.uk/links/CommWorker Denise, P. S. Harris, I. M. (Eds.), 1989, Experiential Education for Community Development. New York: Greenwood Press. Dube, S. C., 1958, Indias Changing Villages: Human Factors in Community Development. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Hamilton, E., 1992, Adult Education for Community Development. New York: Greenwood Press. Henderson, P. and Thomas, D. N., 2001, Skills in Neighbourhood Work 3e, London: Routledge Oliver, G., 2000, August, Gentrification Threatens Community Development Groups. Planning, 66, 29. Key principles of community empowerment, 2002, Rural empowerment programs, Retrieved April 14, 2007 from www.ezec.gov/Communit/rurempowprogguide.pdf Midgley, J., 1995, Social Development, The developmental perspective in social welfare, London: Sage. Popple, K., 1995, Analysing Community Work. Its theory and practice, Buckingham: Open University Press Smith, M, 2006, Community Development, Infed, Retrieved April 14, 2007 from www.infed.org/community/b-comdv.htm

Definition Essay

Workplace discrimination is one type Of this phenomenon; treating employees unfair at work that usually based on their nationality, sex, or race. But, What really is workplace discrimination? It's not just a normal denial of a person rights or their work achievements. It's more than that; it's a worst denial that might cause the person to be stress, scare, or even death. An employee can get discrimination in every single day at work from their co- workers or by their boss. You might ask why didn't he/she say anything?It's cause they' were scared. Scared to lose their job, scared of not having health insurance, or scared of not having money to take care their children. And because they were not stand up for their rights, discrimination keep happening which result into severe psychological consequences. Workplace discrimination can become a threatening form, which will not only result in the victim's mind but also their physical body. A good example to illustrate discrimination in the workplace is the study from Lei Alai and Linda C. Babcock.They both did a study on workplace coordination to Asian Americans. They did an experiment that had about 100 participants that they will go to an interview for a junior partner to head one of the satellite offices in the Midwest. This interview will based mostly on social skills, but not limited to first impression, identify candidate's race, and dimension of competence. The result was clearly, it showed that Asian candidates are less consider than the White candidate because of their lacking on social skills as well as their first impression. After the study, Alai andBabcock concluded that lack of social skill is one of many barriers that hold Asian American less likely to move forward in their career. A personal experience about workplace discrimination that I had faced was my very first job at Sweet-frog Frozen Yogurt. I got an interview with the manager and I clearly see in his facial expression that he did not want to h ire me because of my lacking experience. He even told me that the end of the interview that the Store just only hire people with great experience in customer service and asked me to give him times to think about my application. T the job at his store but couldn't be in the front to interact with the customers. The manager kept telling me to work in the back, such as cutting fruit, making yogurt, washing dishes, and cleaning the floor. At first, I thought it might be because the manager wants to test me out my willingness for the job and that's why he wants me to do the hard job first. After 3 months, all of my co-workers got raised, except me. Even a girl who came in the same time with me got raised. Asked him about it and all he said because they're all work hard with the customer but you're not.I was mad but still tried be professional after the discussion with the manager. The next day, gave him 2 weeks notice of resignation with the reason of school schedule conflict. Clearly th at didn't get treat fairly at the workplace and it's just not fair that raising salary based on how many time an employee interact with customers. Workplace discrimination is a nightmare to everyone because of its effect on the victim's mind. Dealing with it might get more stress but if dealing with it in the right way will make a lot of differences at the workplace and the victim life s well.Some of the great strategy to deal with workplace discrimination is stand firm under verbal attacks, remain confident about your own abilities, stay calm in all situations, and communicate with someone about the problem. We, unfortunately, do not live in a world with all perfect people. Many people still facing unequal opportune ties and rights in everyday at their workplace and can not tell anyone about it. Employees can be discriminated because of certain features they posses, such as their skin color, race, sex, religion, and disability. Definition Essay Having a chance or dream is how an American life Starts Out, believing you can do something with your own life, getting the job you always wanted, and having equal rights. Overcoming obstacles is a great way to have believe in yourself and going out into this country that gives you a chance no matter how poor there's always some type of help for you because of all the public facilities that exist in this free country. This quote explains it, â€Å"But now I can say that I am a Japanese-American. It means I have a place here in this country, too† (Growing up Asian in America).This girl overcame the problem that was going on in World War 2 when all Japanese were being put in concentration camps by the U. S. Government because of Pearl Harbor. After it all ended she was actually proud to be Japanese-American because she had rights and a chance to get somewhere in life after all the down falls during the war where everything was taken for all Japanese. She still had hope and was i nfluenced by America, to a dream that can be possible. Following it no matter what color or race your are, all you have to do is have a dream, but go out there and make that dream become true.Every person has this chance to go out there and make it to the top, work hard for it and you have to be the one who has to make it possible. Getting to where you want to be with a successful job isn't easy. It takes lots of determination to get there and be one of a kind. That's the goal of every person out there but It's not as easy as people say because there's different advantages and disadvantages depending who you are or where you're from. But being the American that your are it should have a positive outlook to get there.For example this quote, † Who is to say, then, if there is any right path o the top, or even to say what the top consists of right to Fail). So how are we sure that it possible to get to the top, there's no one to tell you that and that's why you have to take actio n in life and beat the competition to get the job that you want. There arena any more secure jobs out there in this country they will take the best they can get so you have to be prepared because I also think the white person has an advantage against a minority. It always been a question of what equal rights mean in every situation and race always conflicts with this as well. The laws, the indulgent laws, protect hem as they arrive, stamping on them the symbol of adoption; they receive ample rewards for their labors; these accumulated rewards procure them lands; those lands confer on them the title of freemen; and to that title every benefit is affixed which men can possibly require†(What is an America). Looking at this quote I can tell that minorities are coming into this country from Europe and the law is protecting them to be here and work in lands and then reward them with land of their own. Definition Essay The dictionary defines risk as â€Å"a situation involving exposure to danger†. From experiences when speaking with others; particularly those in their forties and above, many tell me that if they were able to go back and change one thing they'd have taken more risks. Risks aren't easy to take. Advances in brain imaging technology now show that t humans are wired to avoid risk. That is to say that people find it easier to accept the status quo, keep our mouths shut and our heads down rather than take a chance make a change, ND speak up.Daniel Keenan wrote in Thinking Fast and Slow, † when assessing risk, potential losses tend to loom larger than potential gains† Therefore effectively hindering a person's d session on whether or not to take that risk. Risks have their benefits and consequences. Although its true that risks can lead to serious consequences in most cases the potential gains outweigh the losses. Personally believe in the saying â€Å"no venture, no ga in. † Only when we take the risks, do we realize our full potential.This saying speaks true to me in that as a young child remember being dead holy scared of swimming. Knowing that one day I still tried and learned how to swim and I've been swimming ever since, swimming was a risk that I took knowing that I could drown, but ye t if I never took that risk I would have never realized how it could be. Risks must be weighted, or in other words the risks being taken must be â€Å"cal elated risks†. Only a fool would try to fly an airplane without any rudimentary training and consciousness of the dangers involved.Flying an airplane is a extremely risky endeavor . But if they were to fly they have to be brave enough to take risks of knowing the co uniqueness of that act.. In a similar situation Jon Krause writes about the life and adventures of a young man by the name of Christopher Mishandles in his book Into the Wild. In the book Kerr Quaker follows Chris as he journeys into the Alaskan wilderness to live life of solitude but is h peepholes unprepared.As he heads into the wild a man offers him a ride and notices ho w liquefied he was for his journey and offers him supplies but Chris turns his offer down. Chi iris is then found dead later that year in a bus he used for shelter. To conclude risks do have their faults but in most cases the benefits outweigh those consequences, and a person would lose more opportunities in the long run if they were to take no risks rather than take calculated risks and lose some.

Relationships: Online Dating vs. Long Distance Dating

There is no doubt single people are willing to try anything to find their romantic partner. It depends on how far they are willing to go. People date because it helps them to get to know each other. If they are interested in each other they can build a relationship. Meanwhile, there are different methods used when meeting someone. Online dating and establishing a long distance relationship are just a couple of methods to building a relationship. â€Å"In the U. S. alone, tens of millions of people are trying to find dates or spouses online every day. † (Epstein, 2007). Many people prefer online dating because they can quickly search through millions of available candidates. Online dating have many advantages. With online dating you are able to look at different peoples’ profile. This option allows you automatically eliminate the people you don’t find interest in. Also, online dating have low tolerance for foul language. There is a membership expense for joining an online dating site on certain web sites. â€Å"Other dating sites will not charge you a membership fee but will charge you posting personal ads. † ( Hardy para 2). Compared to online dating, long distance relationships have some similarities. There is no physical or face to face contact on a daily basis. Regardless of the lack of physical companionship, these relationships establish an emotional connection. Online dating and long distance relationships are beneficial if you enjoy having more time for yourself. You may have to travel a lengthy distance to see each other. This can also be costly depending on if your means of travel will be a train, bus, or airplane. In contrast, long distance relationships can cost a lot more than an online relationship. The latest issue of Women’s Health magazine has an article about long-distance relationships featuring this interesting statistic: An average total amount of $278 is spent a month by couples to keep love alive in a long distance relationship. † (no author,2006). In a long distance relationship you typically know the individual you are in a relationship with. However, getting seperate d for reasons, the test of true commitment is far more real than online dating. Online dating have imagine deception not recognized until you meet for the first time. Author Robert Esptein met a woman he corresponded with online. They agreed to meet at a coffee shop, but she was not the same woman in the online photo when she showed up at the table. (paraphrased para 2). Thus, online dating and long distance relationships share common interest of people wanting to get to know each other. It could both be good or bad. You have to find what dating method works out for you. If you are shy person or used of getting rejected, then online dating might work for you. You could avoid the embarrassment of being let down. Long distance relationships give you more time to spend with yourself. Although both online dating and long distance have their own category of expenses finding what method that will work for you will make you more at ease. Meanwhile, the effort people are willing to go for romance will eventually have some kind of distance involved, whether it would be online or long distance. â€Å" More than 120,000 marriages occur a year as a result of online dating. Growth of online dating industry estimated at $642 million in 2008. † (Silva-Behrens, Nguyen, Queen, Ayala) References Ayala,C., Behrens, L., Nguyen, G., Queen, M. (2009). Online dating statistics-docstoc -documents. Retrieved from www.docstoc.com Epstein, R. (2007). The truth about online dating. Retrieved from www.scientific american.com Hardy, M. (2006) Understanding no membership free personals/love to know Retrieved from www.dating.lovetoknow.com Women’s Health (2006). Cost of a long-distance relationship. Retrieved from www.myopenwallet.net

Conjugating Regular French Verbs in the Subjunctive