5'12 P 1

1
Interacting with Communities

• Working with the Poor

2
Participatory Learning Action (PLA)

• Introduction - Why PLA?
• A truly participatory approach of working with
  the communities can be introduced by using
  Participatory Learning Action (PLA) techniques.
  The aim is
• for people to analyze their own situation, rather
  than to have it analyzed by outsiders.
• to empower the community to control the
  developmental activities in their communities for
  their own benefit

3
Participatory Learning Action (PLA)

• PLA helps to look
• Deeper
• Differently and at other
• Dimensions of Community Concern
• PLA is not just a method. It is a process. It
  can be used for
• Mobilizing organizing communities
• Empowering people enabling them to articulate
  their problems
• Initiating community level interventions in
  partnerships with people

4
Participatory Learning Action (PLA)

• Building a team introducing an inter-sectoral
  approach in looking at community problems
  concerns
• Seeking diverse solution to peoples problems
• Essential features of PLA
• In this method the information thus collected
  can be cross-checked. We need
• A Team Experts, Insiders, Outsiders.
• Tools Techniques Discussions, Observations,
  Diagrams etc.
• Various sources of Information Events,
  Processes, People etc.

5
Participatory Learning Action (PLA)

• Essentials before PLA
• Clarify Goals Objectives of the Study.
• Choose Main Topics.
• Prepare a List of such Topics, Indicators and Key
  Questions.
• Identify Sources of Information for each
  Sub-topic.
• Select Tools to Gather and Analyse Information.
• Design Research Tools.

6
PLA Tools Techniques
Some PLA methods that can be used for
understanding the communities are

• Transect or walk through
• Community Resource Mapping
• Trends Analysis
• Time Line
• Seasonality Diagramming
• Problem Diagrams
• Linkages
• Pie Diagrams
• Family Line
• Daily Routine Diagrams

• Matrix Ranking/scoring
• Pairwise Ranking
• Wealth Ranking
• Resource Flow
• Decision Matrix
• One Page Story

7
Transect

• What is a Transect ?
• A transect or a walk through is the first visit
  to the community to know its different features.
• Why should one do a Transect?
• A walkthrough will help us to note
• The resources exist in the area such as household
  water taps, garbage points, sanitation systems,
  open areas, balwadis, etc.
• Some problems that may exist in the area such as
  open drain channels, taps without proper drainage
  channels, unpaved pathways, busy main roads,
  unhygienic community toilets etc.
• The strengths, potential or opportunities that
  exist such as possibilities for constructing
  household toilets, open area that can be
  converted into a park or school etc.

8
Community Resource Map

• What is a Community Resource Map?
• A community resource map is a detailed picture of
  the community that indicates the different
  facilities and services available within the
  community, their locations and spread. It also
  provides information on each household in the
  community.

9
Community Resource Map

• How to prepare a Community Resource Map?
• Find an open space in the community, where about
  50 persons can be comfortably accommodated.
• Collect a group of people from the community,
  inform them about the purpose of your exercise
• Draw the map on the ground. This will enable a
  larger group of community to participate in the
  exercise
• The map can later be transferred on to a chart
  paper preferably by the people themselves
• The information must be presented back to the
  community so that they may make corrections and
  suggest solutions/alternatives.

10
Chapati Diagram

• What is Chapati Diagram
• A Chapati Diagram is an exercise which can be
  used for finding out problems of Peoples in the
  communities, the priorities they assign to these
  to understand who are the key decision makers in
  the community and how are the different problems
  / people linked together.

11
Chapati Diagram

• How to we make a Chapati Diagram for
  Problems?
• After gathering the community together, people
  may be requested to represent these problems on
  the ground using object as symbols

• Provide people with chapatis / circles of
  different sizes which they may place under these
  symbols to represent the gravity / magnitude of
  the problem.

12
Chapati Diagram

• Follow this up with an analysis / discussion
  of each problem to understand
• how it affects the people,
• the degree of its severity ,
• what priority do they assign to solving it
• what are its implications
• what are the remedies or solutions they have
  tried out
• what has been their contribution to finding the
  solution for the whole
• community
• what intervention is needed .

13
Matrix Ranking

• What is a Matrix Ranking?
• A matrix ranking exercise helps to identify
  choices people make and why. It can be used for
  finding out the possible options available to
  people, their priorities and preferences.
• How to do a Matrix Ranking?
• Once the community has listed their problems they
  may be asked to indicate the alternative
  solutions to these that are currently being
  practiced by people.
• Draw a matrix on the ground or on a chart.

14
Forming Action Plans

• If facilitated carefully, people really enjoy
  developing their own action plan and 'own' the
  plan. Such plans generally indicate communities'
  preferred style of implementing them and lends
  into participatory implementation process in the
  project cycle.
• The solutions/development intervention /strategy
  proposed should be relevant to the level of
  technology that exists in the community. The
  financial implications will be determined by the
  type of technology used
• No technology -No cost
• Indigenous technology -Low cost
• Introducing technology- Medium cost Hi
  technology-High cost

15
Forming Action Plans

• After facilitating the DEVELOPMENT and
  EMPOWERMENT of the community, the IMPLEMENTATION
  and MONITORING, the professionals must also PHASE
  OUT.
• Phasing Out has to be planned from Day 1 of the
  programme. It is only then that Sustainable
  Transformation can take place. People must know
  that the professionals' presence is only for a
  brief while that they must manage on their own.

16
Overcoming the Engineers bias

• Engineers are commonly either reluctant or are
  uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with
  communities. They feel that being technical'
  sets them apart from others. These typical'
  attitudes have to change and the awe of the
  common man' for the engineer saab' has to be
  replaced by a healthy respect for each others
  views and experience.