Our PHILOSOPHY:
Organizations across the globe are increasingly mistaking construction for “development”. With enough money and enough willpower anyone can build a clinic or manage a school, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you are contributing to the long-term development of a community. Truly long-term, sustainable development comes when a community has the opportunity to acquire the organizational skills and financial resources needed to manage its own development. Only then will the community begin developing and be able achieve the level of independence it deserves.
Roots of Development helps communities become stronger and more independent by providing support in three (3) key areas:
- The building of sustainable infrastructure in the community (clean water facilities, public latrines, community meeting space, etc.)
- The establishment of community businesses that create jobs and become sources of revenue for the community
- And, MOST IMPORTANTLY, the strengthening of the community’s capacity and skill sets that allow it to more effectively manage its activities (via trainings on leadership, strategic planning, business management, conflict resolution, bookkeeping, monitoring and evaluation, etc.)
We believe that when it comes to a community realizing its dreams, anything is possible. For many communities around the world, however, it is a lot more difficult to realize those dreams because they lack access to many basic resources that would otherwise help them reach their goals. The communities we work with have many dreams. They also have the drive and determination to realize them. What they often lack is the opportunity to access, organize, and manage resources that can help them build a strong foundation for growth. By helping communities gain these experiences and access these resources, Roots helps them realize their dreams.
For us, Development must be…
1. COMMUNITY-DRIVEN (bottom-up instead of top-down).
This pertains to the way projects are chosen and then carried out, as well as the way projects are funded.
a. Decision-making. Roots of Development encourages the community itself to identify its greatest need rather than imposing that choice on them. Through a collective decision-making model involving diverse representatives of the community (men, women, old, young, secular, and non-secular), the community identifies and prioritizes their most basic needs. Once a single initiative is decided upon, they then move forward collectively to tackle all of the project’s objectives. In this way, the people most affected by the decisions being made are the ones making them, thus embedding true ownership as the project evolves.
b. Funding. The level of priority a project is given, or the way a project is carried out should not depend on the amount of money the supporting organization or institution is willing to allocate to it. Instead, the amount of money allocated to the project should depend on the amount necessary to complete the desired project, in its entirety and in a way that it is most effective.
Community-driven development is an essential approach to improving the situation in Haiti and other impoverished countries. It is about empowerment and genuine ownership over one’s own development. Many NGOs claim to promote it, but in reality, few support it to the level at which it is becomes truly effective. In an effort to make the work we support more sustainable, we make sure that every project is selected and prioritized by the community, staffed by Haitians whenever possible, and coordinated with local government officials.
2. An emphasis on the PROCESS over the final product.
Simply completing a community health or water project (what we refer to as a “final product”) can improve the standard of living for many, but it doesn’t make the achievement sustainable. We work with communities through the entirety of the project as they learn what it takes to identify resources, manage resources, resolve conflict, and effectively outline their objectives. These learning opportunities are part of “the process”. Once the steps become familiar to a community, it is then able to repeat the process and tackle other important initiatives without our assistance. Not only do these communities get the opportunity to learn what it takes to manage their own development, but they are then able to use their knowledge and experience to support neighboring communities.
To best respect and have the greatest impact on the communities we work with, we provide resources in a way that supports a sustainable process, instead of an unsustainable series of final products.
An emphasis on the PROCESS will improve the results of development, because it…
- Increases the level of sustainability
- Decreases the potential degree of dependency
- Increases the chances of replicability
- Reduces corruption by increasing transparency & accountability
- Leads to better allocation of resources.
For greater insight into how you can promote and/or implement strong community-driven development, visit our Recipe for Development page.
