LESSON 7: CHARACRERISTICS OF AN EMPOWERED COMMUNITY 7.1 Introduction Other than its definition, we have also noted in previous lectures three important facts about empowerment, and these are: a) Empowerment is a process that takes time; b) Every human experience has a contribution to make towards that empowerment; and that c) While individuals and communities are at the end of the day responsible for their own empowerment, external inputs too have value. In this lecture we will be discussing characteristics of an empowered community over time; community’s role in its own development; and also the role of external input, especially that of people’s government, in this empowerment process.

7.2 Objectives
By the end of this lecture, you should be able to a) explain the characteristics of an empowered community b) discuss the role of the people in their won empowerment; and c) discuss what should be the role of the government (and donors) in support of the people in their own empowerment.

7.3 Characteristics of an empowered community There are four characteristics that an empowered person or community should display. These characteristics are progressive in their arrangement and hence it should be easy to remember them. The four characteristics are a) the ability to understand one’s reality and to analyze the factors that shape that reality; b) the ability to decide what one wants to be; c) the willingness to act to change the situation for the better; and

d) the ability to ensuring sustainability of those efforts. Let us now consider these one by one. As we have said previously, you should not be surprised to discover that you have covered some of these facts in one way or another during previous lectures. 7.3.1 The ability to understand one’s reality and to analyze the factors that shape that reality Many times communities, or even individuals, do not know who they are; and it is rare that they would take time off to think about such an issue. Perhaps we are all too busy “with living” our normal lives – and for some this living is such struggle to make ends meet that the kind of thinking proposed here would look a mere luxury. Others may be living in what psychologists call a “state of denial”, that is the state of refusing to accept one’s reality. Perhaps a review of Freire’s three levels of awareness – levels at which we all fall – might help us clarify our realities to some extent. a) Do those at the magic level of awareness know that although they look so dependent and that their “bosses” seem and pose to be powerful that these bosses are also totally dependent on them? Do they know that if united they have power no system can withstand? b) Do those at the naïve level of awareness accept that – though welleducated and certainly crucial to the life of the organizations in which they work – they are mere servants of faceless and brutal forces and systems and that they are also dispensable? Do they also accept that due to their privileged positions as managers in these “foreign” establishments, one of their key responsibilities is to empower their subordinates to also climb the ladder? c) Do those at the critical level of awareness accept that they too still have a lot to learn? Yet, for them, if they worked in unity and not as lone do-gooders, the sky is the limit, their possibilities are limitless and that together they could turn this world around? At whatever level, this understanding and acceptance of one’s reality, is the first step in a journey to empowerment. 7.3.2 The factors that shape our reality An empowered community should have the ability to identify the following two crucial factors that shape their reality: • its historical setting; and • the resultant social/cultural/economic system in which the community finds itself.

7.3.2.1 Historical Setting A community needs to understand its history – past and also recent – and how this has shaped its reality. Let us take us Africans as an example of such a community in search of its reality. a) It would be naïve to dismiss colonialism (sometimes even the centuries ago slavery) when considering the African reality. That history has been an important factor in shaping not only our economic situation and relations between and among Africans and also with other human beings, but even more crucially these past forces have also greatly influenced how we take ourselves – contributing especially to the reduced self-esteem as a people; looking down on our institutions, religion and culture; and also the wholesale adoption and love of anything foreign. b) Our reality as Africans is also shaped by the way we have behaved as nations in the recent past, say, since independence beginning with Ghana in late 1950s. While this reality could not escape the influence of our past history and also interference from external sources, it is the greed and incompetence by our leadership at various levels that have been responsible for the mismanagement of our politics and economies: and these are recent happenings. It might be annoying to be reminded often that while the world economy grew by an average of almost 2% per year between 1960 and 2002, that of Africa was negative for two full decades between 1974 and mid-1990s. (Maathai W 2010, p.48). There has been no recovery of note. This is our reality that we need to accept. c) Earlier in Lecture 3 we discussed how, through misguided development policies, people’s unprecedented development efforts in animal husbandry, agriculture, human health, community development, care of the environment, etc in Kenya just fizzled away during the period Maathai is talking about. This is our reality: we need to face it honestly as squarely. 7.3.2.2 Social/cultural/economic situation The second crucial factor in shaping a people’s reality is the social/cultural/economic situation in which they find themselves. a) Material resources: A community needs to explore the level of such material resources at its command. In the Kenyan case, it would be sensible to consider the availability of good fertile land for farming; water resources for farming and animal husbandry; mineral resources for industrial development; wildlife, warm beaches, etc for local and foreign tourism and enjoyment; etc. Kenyans need also to recognize and craftily exploit their position on the globe: half way between Europe and South Africa and also similar position

between West Africa and India; to say nothing of being the entry point for goods to its landlocked neighbours. b) The human resource: The community needs to look not only at the numbers of its human resource but also at the quality of this crucial resource. Such numbers and quality need to be synchronized with community current needs and also plans put in place to ensure satisfaction of immediate future needs. c) Technology/educational/health/water and sanitation: their availability, quality and equity in distribution; including the community’s ability to acquire these resources as needed. These factors give a community a quality life that makes general development possible. Equity in resources distribution is a major contributor to community peace: a crucial ingredient in community life and development. d) Community unity of purpose and readiness for change: How well community members are exposed to each other; the opportunities offered to both men and women to reach their potential; whether all – religious, ethnic and whatever other groupings – are pulling to the same direction; members readiness to accept and experiment with new technology and ideas and also to let retrogressive ones go; and what could be the hindering and helping forces in this effort. A study of these factors coupled with an honest analysis of all the variables enables the community to look at it reality in a holistic manner, that is, taking all factors in consideration – in a balanced manner without undue assumptions/deceptions, etc. An empowered community tells itself the truth about itself! 7.3.3 The ability to decide what the community wants to be The ability to decide what one wants to be is the second characteristic of an empowered community. Such a community should have the ability to take three related actions: a) The first action is to review its reality. If a community wishes to move on, its first reality is to accept that its current situation is unsatisfactory, and to know why this is so. It will be asking question such as: • Where are we now? • Why are we where we are? b) Secondly, the community should be in a position to define developmental goals and to put together a development plan to achieve this. Its questions include:

• •

Where do we want to go? What are our development goals?

c) Thirdly, the community should have the ability to execute that plan; and as we have already agreed, by first utilizing its own resources (human and material) as this is the only way to guarantee sustainability. d) At • • • this level of its development, the community should be asking itself: What are the factors in our favour? Who amongst us has the needed competence for this or that task? What are the barriers that would prevent us from reaching those goals?

We will revert to this SWOT analysis in a future lecture. 7.3.4 The willingness to act to change the situation for the better The planning we have discussed above is normally a paper exercise, normally done in the office. The community now needs action at the field level. Such action should generally be done collectively, through community organization and action, e.g. • • • through development of savings and consumer cooperatives to raise resources, trade unions and other community-based groups; and the organization of peaceful mass action, demonstrations, etc where necessary.

7.3.4.1 In text Question Why do you think it is advisable to have collective action rather than individual effort?

There are two reasons that it is advisable to act together rather than individually. a) Such collective effort is more effective and is normally more sustainable, that is, longer lasting. b) It is also safer in case of an action against stronger forces e.g. government or employers. Violence against demonstration, threats to sack any strikers, including actual sacking, are real. But where numbers are

large, employers cannot afford to take too drastic an action else the whole industry would be paralyzed.

7.3.4.2 Take note

There is no record in the world where the “people”, united for a just purpose, ever failed even against brutal forces: think of the civil rights movement in USA; struggle against colonialism; or, even more recently, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

The question then is how motivated and empowered the communities are to take collective action on matters they feel are important to their lives. It is not whether they can. 7.3.5 The ability to ensuring sustainability of those efforts The ability to ensure sustainability of community efforts towards its empowerment is out final aspect. This is best guaranteed by • self-reliance and dependence on oneself; and on • the utilization of the available community resources; for the benefit of all, rather than benefiting only a few.

7.3.5.1 Take note
Dependency on others for empowerment is dangerous since “the one who pays chooses the tune”. It does not matter who the benefactors are, be it government or donors: they will always wish to direct how their resources are utilized

7.4 ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND DONORS We have said several times in these lectures that only people can develop themselves. To this end, we have shown that taking development to the people or an attempt to develop others is a philosophical fallacy. We have also said that the people should as much as possible use their own resources to develop themselves; and we have given reasons why this is important.

However, communities, especially in the poorer parts of the country, will of course require various kinds of support from the government and external donors to realize the development goals that they have themselves set. 7.4.1 In text Question

If only the people can develop themselves, and basically using their own resources, then what should be the role of government in people’s development?

The government and donors have only two real roles. 7.4.2 Creation of an enabling environment for self-development The first role is to create an enabling environment for the people to develop themselves and to also remove external hindering forces. To this end, the government should create • progressive and non-intrusive regulations and laws that stimulate development • Security • Education opportunities including progressive extension and advisory services • Employment opportunities • Access to affordable credit • Access to local and external markets for produce (markets themselves, means of communication such as telephones and passable roads) 7.4.3 Provision of technical and financial resources for selfdevelopment The second role of the government and donors is to provide the necessary technical and financial resources for development. Such provision however should be as per conditions below.

7.4.4 Take note
Such provision of development resources and also technical services is not a favour to the people. The people have a contract with their government for provision of various services, paid for from the people’s own taxes

7.4.5 Government/donor assistance should be empowering However, for people to develop themselves, to ensure sustainability while avoiding creation of the culture of dependency, the following conditions – that would guarantee community empowerment –should be adhered to: i) Government and donor support should be determined by the people: people must get only what they need, not what others think they should get; ii) Government/donor support to be proportional to what people can support or sustain – nothing too grandiose or white elephants, or projects that people are forced to maintain at huge costs though benefits are doubtful; iii) Government/donor support should be the last resort, in other words, such support should be requested for only when the community has exhausted what it has from its own resources; iv) Government/donor support should be catalytic, that is, stimulator of development. As such, the support should be for starting off and hence for a limited duration only so that the people can resort to selfreliance. 7.5 People must contribute No community is without resources for its own development! This bold assertion seems supported by common sense: else a community with nothing would not be in existence! We suggest two broad ways in which a community could contribute to its own development projects. a) To avoid dependency, even when external support is available, the community must contribute its own portion. Often poor communities have difficulties raising real cash: however, such communities have plenty of labour and physical materials that they can bring forward for their own development. b) Another general principle is that of ownership: the community must “own” the project and be committed to it from the word go.

7.5.1 In text Questions

a) What do you think the concept of ownership entails? b) If you owned a cow, what would be your expectations from the cow; and c) To achieve your expectations, what would be your responsibility to the cow?
7.5.2 The concept of ownership The in-text questions should lead you to agreeing that ownership has two related aspects: a) The first is the expectation that the project will provide benefits (actual goodies such as daily milk from the cow or even mere satisfaction of owning such a beautiful cow) to the community. b) The second aspect has to do with community responsibility for the community to ensure that the project performs at its optimum so as to satisfy the expectations. The cow must be properly fed and given all care necessary for a good life: it is only then that maximum production should be expected. 7.5.3 Responsibility for community-based projects As far as community projects are concerned, the following responsibilities are necessary: a) The community will protect the projects from vandalism. In many of our societies, we find, for example, school windows vandalized obviously by members of the same communities. This is a sure sign that the community never thought of the school as theirs. b) The community will ensure the completion of the started project, for example, if external resources dried up prematurely. If the project was to size, and, even more importantly, was of value to the community, this completion should not be impossible though it might now take longer as it will require reorganization of available community resources. c) The community will ensure that the projects are sustained, e.g. supply of spare parts for tractors, vehicles, etc; supply of drugs if the project is a dispensary; repairs for buildings, etc. Often, when projects are imposed from external sources, communities would

wait for the donor to rectify even small things that the community could have done itself.

7.6 Summary

In this lecture we have looked at four characteristics of an empowered community. We have agreed that empowerment should be based on self-reliance so as to avoid dependency syndrome and the resultant control of community affairs by external forces. We have finally discussed the concept of ownership and spelt out its two aspects: expectations and responsibility

References Maathai W. The Challenge for Africa (Arrow Books, London 2010)

In your groups or individually answer the following question: Based on examples from Kenya and elsewhere, discuss why the notion of taking development to the people is a fallacy