COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT and COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

We are all part of a community. Most of us belong to more than one community, whether we are aware of it or not.
For example, an individual can be part of a neighbourhood community, a religious community and a community of
shared interests all at the same time.

The Colegio de Dagupan is an example of a strong and established educational community for higher learning. As a
community we share, transmit and promote our identity to all the new CdDians. These values are shared by all
alumni, faculty members, and administration and students. Defining communities in terms of geography however is
only one way of looking at them. Communities can also be defined by common cultural heritage, language, and
beliefs or shared interests also called communities of interest. (kpop community, DDS community, jejemon,
LGBT+)

In essence, a community may be described as “a geographical area where a group of people live in a common life
linked together by factors such as religious beliefs, sexual orientation, occupation or ethnic origin, and a shared
sense of identity and belongingness.” (Coloma and Herrera,2004)
 
Can you identify the other communities you belong to?
How do you participate in your community?
How do you recognize a developed community?

Development is a “gradual unfolding, a fuller working out of the details, of noted changes or growing
improvement”. Development has meant different things at different times in relation to changing circumstances and
sensibilities. If you would recall the era of the Industrial Revolution, development then is closely related to increased
speed, volume and size (CDHandbook,1999). Many are questioning this concept now. There was a realization that
more is not always better. According to Elmer Ferrer, an expert on Community Development from the University of
the Philippines, the term “development” does not necessarily mean growth, it is however about change, positive
change.

So what now is Community Development?

Community development is culturally rooted to the life of the people.

 It is a planned evolution of all aspects of community well-being (economic, social, environmental and
cultural).
 Community development is not a quick fix for the day-to-day operations of the community.
Example: Have you participated in a gift-giving or relief operations in your community? These activities can be
classified under a dole-out. Through this method we are only enabling the people to be dependent thus preventing
them to help themselves.
 Community development follows a planned process that is long-term and integrated. The process of developing
and organizing the community is long and tedious. Every step must be carefully planned and monitored.
 
Thus, Community Development is a process of facilitating people to actualize themselves
and therefore discover their identities and possibilities and connection with each other and with the world.

Community Development is not a new concept in the Philippines. This has been rooted even before the coming of
the Spaniards with early Filipinos organized into barangays, most members are related and headed by a leader.
Through the years it has evolved and developed with the aid of western ideologies and teachings which are being
applied based on the needs of the people in the community .Community Development is the improvement, growth
and change of the geographic area and its people from “conventional to modern ways (new ways of irrigation, etc),
from crudeness to refinement (DSWD repacking using machines), from ignorance to learning (reading/math skills),
from faultiness to virtuosity.”

Goals of Community Development

Community Development is people-centered. According to Coloma et.al whenever we think about Community
Development, we always keep in mind the people’s welfare, people’s capacity and people’s participation and
collective action as goals of Community Development.

1. People’s Welfare
 
Community Development is for the people; thus it is very important to place their welfare above anything else. In
developing a community remember the following endeavour that has to be achieved:
 improve the quality of life
 help people acquire coherence and meaning in life
 lead people towards achieving sustainability and self-determination.
2. People’s Capacity

All people and communities have a certain amount of capacity. No one is without capacity but often we need to

develop it. What is important to realize is that the heart of capacity building is the people. BUT WHAT IS
CAPACITY?

It would take capacity to achieve a healthy community as well as good leadership, a viable plan, motivation and the
support of the people from the community.
 
Capacity is simply the ways and means needed to do what has to be done. It is much broader than simply skills,
people and plans. It includes commitment, resources and all that is brought to bear on a process to make it
successful. An indication that capacity is developing within a community is that people are active, interested and
participating in what is going on. This is similar to you as part of a group or organization in your school or
community. You are part of the discussion, there will also be questioning, challenging and debating – but you will
be debating on what should be done, not complaining that nothing will ever change. More and more people will be
getting involved, identifying key issues and taking action.

3. People’s Participation and Collective Involvement

Active community participation is the heart that pumps the community’s lifeblood —its citizens
— into becoming an improved community.

Bordenave (1994) considers participation as a “joint effort of people for achieving a common important objective
previously defined by them.” Meanwhile, community participation according to Paul (1987) is “an active process
whereby beneficiaries influence the direction and execution of the development projects rather than merely
receiving a share of the project benefits”.
 
“Community participation is far more than a requirement. It is a condition for success. Studies have documented that
communities that engage their citizens and partners deeply in the work of community development raise more
resources, achieve more results, and develop in a more holistic and—ultimately—more beneficial way. Community
participation, then is critical to community success.”

It is very important to ensure people’s active participation and involvement in the different programs within the
community, build the people’s capacity and be empowered because through this, the purposes of community
development become more realistic.

Empowerment refers to increasing political, social and economic strength of individuals. It often involves
developing confidence in their own capacities. It is increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices
and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Central to this process are actions which both
build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency of organizations and institutions.

Empowered people have freedom of choice and action. This in turn enables them to better influence the course of
their lives and the decisions which affect them. The goals of community development lead us to empowerment, thus,
empowerment is most essential to community development!
 
How can we empower our fellow brothers and sisters?
- Cooperation and Education

COOPERATION:
- Cooperation is about taking an active part in the community of which you are an important member.
- It is all about voluntary association for mutual benefit.
- Cooperation is about the people who are affected by decisions being the people who make those decisions.
- Most importantly, cooperation is about having your voice heard
GAWAD KALINGA—BUILDING HOUSING. BUILDING COMMUNITIES!

EDUCATION

Basic education not only increases a person’s economic opportunities, it also serves as a catalyst for social
change. More importantly this is the key component for sustainable development.

John Dewey held, among other things, that: Education is the fundamental method of social progress. Education
is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of
individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction.
Education must be conceived as a continuing reconstruction of experience; that the process and the goal of
education are one and the same thing. The community’s duty to education is, therefore its paramount moral
duty.
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This lesson on community development has taught you as to WHY community development is done. This lesson
was also supported by the following concepts and experiences.

 We are all part of a community.

 We may belong to more than one community
 Development may mean growth and positive change.
 Community Development is a long-term and integrative process that involves all the resources of the
community to achieve sustainable development.
 Community Development is focused on improving the quality of life through utilizing the community
members’ capacities and making them actively involved in the process.
 A developed community is generated by an empowered group of individuals. Empowerment of the people
often involves developing confidence in their own capacities.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

Community organization is that process by which the people...organize themselves to take charge of their situation
and thus develop a sense of being a community together. It is a particularly effective tool for the poor
and powerless as they determine for themselves the actions they will take to deal with the essential forces that
are destroying their community and consequently causing them to be powerless.
 

 What is Community Organizing?

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."-Winston Churchill

 Community Organizing (CO) has been defined as the application of principles and methods for effecting
change in which the community groups are helped to identify the common problems or goals, mobilize
resources, and in other ways develop and implement strategies for reaching the goals they have set.

 CO is a values-based process by which people - most often low- and moderate-income people previously
absent from decision-making tables - are brought together in organizations to jointly act in the interest of
their "communities" and the common good. Ideally, in the participatory process of working for needed
changes, people involved in CO organizations/groups learn how to take greater responsibility for the
future of their communities, gain in mutual respect and achieve growth as individuals.

GOALS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

People’s Empowerment.

The people will become conscious that they possess power--power to assert their rights and to have a hand in
decisions that will affect their lives. This will enable people to think that there are opportunities for change and
development through cooperation and collective action.

Improved quality of life

Through the process of community organizing people learn to secure short and long term improvements in their
standards of living as soon as they receive access to their basic needs.

Leadership development and mobilization

Leaders are identified and developed. They gain knowledge, skills and proper attitude required by their task in
community development.

Social Transformation

Community organizing seeks to change the life of the community and the whole society into a democratic, self-
reliant, nationalistic and self-governing entity that can respond to bigger concerns like environmental problems and
individual needs.

The process of community organizing is not an easy and tidy endeavour- it does not happen in neat and predictable
steps, sometimes problems do exist. That is why it is important that you are guided with the following principles.

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

1. GO TO THE PEOPLE, LIVE AMONG THE PEOPLE
- Community organizers can decide which approach can be employed best if they know and feel what the
community believes, does and wants to attain.

2. LEARN, PLAN AND WORK WITH THE PEOPLE

- an organizer must be open to what the people want to achieve and how they plan to achieve it. He should facilitate
changes and ensure that residents participate in the whole process of planning, decision-making, implementing and
evaluating activities.

3. START WITH AND BUILD ON WHAT THE PEOPLE KNOW.

- the organizer should begin with the indigenous resources, technologies and structures that a community has.

4. TEACH BY SHOWING, LEARN BY DOING.

- the organizer should demonstrate procedures or techniques and not just merely give instructions so people could
learn easily.

5. NOT BY PIECEMEAL BUT BY AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

- community organizing is an interrelationship of different factors. Cooperation System of the residents must be used
until the majority of the people are provided with the basics in their daily life.

6. NOT RELIEF BUT RELEASE

- community organizing liberates a community from its problems. Problems do not recur in their original forms but
are resolved on a long term basis.

PHASES OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING

I. Area Site Selection

Communities chosen for community organizing are those that are generally described as marginalized, those that are
unserved, underserved and are economically depressed. These communities are chosen based on a need, a need that
the external agent (in this case the school, through the NSTP) would like to address, and may have the capacity to
address.
Additional criteria such as location distance and safety of the community organizer is also taken into consideration.
The general acceptance of the community to community organizing and development work also plays an important
factor in the selection of the community.

II. Entry to the Community

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do” so goes the cliché that probably best describes this phase. Some books also
call this the integration or the immersion phase. This is when the community organizer goes to the community, lives
with the people and assimilates into community life. In short, to understand the community and allow the
community to know you, you must be one of them and be one with them.

III. Community Study

Your immersion should have given you a good idea of what the community is. It is time to formalize and conduct a
community study or community profiling.

IV. Spotting Potential Leaders

In the course of working and interacting with the community, you will get the chance to know them better. You will
also notice that there are individuals who show more concern and are more active in the community and have
considerable influence and leadership among others. They are your potential leaders.

V. Core Group Formation

Jesus did not do it by himself. He had twelve disciples. Organizing is a daunting task if you would place all the task
and responsibility on yourself. You cannot and must not do that.

VI. Community Organization

Community organization may take on different forms. This is the phase when you formalize your organization.

VII. Mobilization
This is the actual implementation or activity phase. This is when you along with the community put your plans into
action.

VIII. Evaluation and Follow-up

Evaluation is a process of assessing what has been done and its impact. Please bear in mind that community
organizing is both a process and an output. Projects may seem to fail but still produce learning experiences that are
in the long term, beneficial to the community.=-UU