promote our identity to all the new
Module 4
Available from 12:05am Mon 02 Aug
2010 to 11:55pm Sun 08 Aug 2010
NSTP Module 4 - 1st Semester AY:
2010-2011
Community
Development and
Community Organizing
Lesson 1: Community Development
Lesson 2: Community Organizing
We have two lessons in Module 4
Lesson 1 will discuss the theoretical
background of community development.
This lesson will help you be aware of why
there is a need for community development
and hot to go about it.
Lesson 2 will discuss how to put the theories
and concepts of community development
into action through community organizing.
In this lesson, you will be able to know what
community development is all about and
how essential it is connecting the people
and the nation. Check out the vision of
community development and take note of its
highlights.
The Vision of community developments in
the Philippines to realize the community’s
dreams and expectations, by strengthening
itself and develop towards its full potentials
through active participation and effective
involvement thus create empowered and
responsible citizens working relentlessly for
a better Philippines.
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
neighborhood community, a religious
community and a community of shared
interests all at the same time. (Frank smith
1999) the University of Santo Tomas is an
example of a strong and established
educational community for higher learning.
As a community we share, transmit and
Thomasians. These values are shared by all
alumni, faculty members, administration and
students of our almost four-century old
university.
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.
In essence, 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)
What we do now in the community has a
great impact in the future generation.
How do you recognize a developed
community?
Let us now look into the definition of
development…
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 (CD
handbook, 1999). Many are questioning this
concept now. There was a realization that
more is not always better.
According to professor Elmer ferret, 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). (cdta handbook,
2005)
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. (cdta handbook 2005) you will
know more about this in lesson 2 community
organizing.
Thus, community development is a process
of facilitating people to actualize them selves
and therefore discover their identities and
possibilities and connection with each other
and with the world. (Prof. Elmer ferrer) a
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
balangays; most members are related and
headed by a leader (Gloria 2000). Through
the years it has a teaching which is 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, from
crudeness to refinement, from ignorance to
learning; from faultiness to virtuosity.
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
endeavor 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 people. It would take
capacity to achieve a healthy community as
well as good leadership, a viable plan,
motivation and 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 organizing 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
citizens-into becoming an improved
community.
Community participation . . . is critical to
community success.
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 those
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!
If the people are appreciably empowered
and can participate in the process of
development, then they can.
Cooperation and education.
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 whoa re
affected by decisions being people who
make those decisions.
Most importantly, cooperation is about
having your voice heard.
Another way to empower the community is
through 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.
In my pegagogic creed, 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 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.
LESSON 2
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.
-Reverend Robert Linthicum, world vision
international.
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 foe effecting change in which the
community groups are helped to identify the
common problems or goals, mobilize
resources, and in other ways develops and
implement strategies for reaching the goal
they have set. (Minkler 1990)
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.
In the Philippine setting, community
organizing is seen as systematic, planned
and liberating change process of
transforming a community into an organized,
conscious empowered, self-reliant, just and
humane entity and institution. (Dr. Reynaldo
A. Padilla, CWTS: A Component of National
Service Training Program 2004 Edition)
When organizing a community it is very
important that we set our goals. What is our
purpose and why is there a need for
community organizing?
These should be the fruits of our labours in
our efforts in organizing the community.
People’s empowerment+improve quality of
life+leadership and mobilization+ social
transformation= 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.
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.
Learn, plan and work with the people- an
organizer must be open 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.
Start with and build on what the people
know- the organizer should begin with the
indigenous resources, technologies and
structures that a community has.
Teach by showing; learn by doing- the
organizer should demonstrate procedures or
techniques and not just merely give
instructions so people could learn easily.
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.
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.
I. Area site selection
Communities chosen for community
organizing are those that are generally
described as marginalized, those that are
unserved, undeserved and are economically
depressed. These communities are chosen
based on a need, a need that the external
agent (in this case the university, 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.
Let’s take the case of Stitio Mabilog and
Sitio Haduan in Bamban, Tarlac. These
areas are not the most accessible areas for
development work. In fact students and
faculty members would normally hike to get
to community. Why of all places did the
University choose these areas for our
community development program? The
answer is simple, these is a need. Poverty is
pervasive in communities, health and
education services are inaccessible and we
feel that we can contribute to changing this
state. But most of all, the communities
accept and are cooperative to the
development efforts in the area.
II. Entry to the community
“when in Rome, do as the Romans do” so
goes the cliché that probably best describes
this phase.
ORGANIZERS don’t do it but get others to
do it ORGANIZERS are simply facilitators
and implementers.
Must do:
Hold courtesy call to local leaders (barangay
officials, school officials. Leaders of the
peoples’ organization, members of the core
group
Be prepared to explain the purpose of your
visit in the community
Never promise anything. Don’t raise the
hopes of the community particularly in things
we can not deliver.
Assume simplicity in clothing. Your jewelries
and expensive gadgets are better left home
during your community visits.
Act in a behavior that will be a positive
reflection of you, your family and the
University.
Have fun. don’t be afraid to try out new
things, new adventures in the community.
Try to participate in normal community
activities, planting rice, harvesting banana
and camote, washing clothes by the stream,
riding a carabao, etc. just remember not to
take unnecessary risks and always seek the
permission of your facilitator.
Always greet every body with a smile. I am
pretty sure you will always get a smile in
return.
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. Depending on
your course ort specialization, this is also
called as the :
Community diagnosis
Social investigation
Community investigation
Social analysis
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. Identifying them at this
stage is important because they will be able
to help you In your organizing work.
As you continue your work with our partner
communities, you will get to know some of
your partner communities, and some of our
local leaders. Observe them, talk with them,
try to pick up some of their traits that qualify
them as leader.
V. core group formation
Jesus did not do it himself. He had twelve
disciples.
Organizing is a daunting task if you would
place all the task and responsibility on
yourself. You can plan and divide the
activities with everybody; hence, the work
gets easier. Everybody feels responsible for
the success and we slowly build up the
community organization.

Remember: your core group serves as the
building
VI. community organization
community organization may take on
different forms. This is the phase when
you formalize your organization. The
organization must:
1. clearly identified, articulated reason
for being. This is normally captured
in their statement of vision, mission
and goals (VMG). It may take a
while before they may be able to
come up with their VMG but a
generally statement may suffice.
2. community organization and
development plan:
a. objectives
b. activities
c. resources needed
d. timeframe
e. responsible persons/group
f. expected output
3. Have a semblance of a structure.
4. they may even have their policies,
such as dues, attendance in
meetings, upkeep of the meeting
hall, etc.
VII. mobilization
this is the actual implementation or activity
phase. This is when you along with the
community put your plans into action.
Just remember:
We work with the community and not for
them.
Use available resources in the community
Have fun.
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. We must be very keen in
identifying these. You can evaluate your
activity based on the following criteria:
Effectiveness
Did we fully achieve our objectives?
Partially?
What are the factors that facilitated the
achievement of your objectives?
a. organizational / group
b. community factors
efficiency
what resources (material, manpower,
money) were utilized in the project?
How much time was spent for the whole
project? Was it enough? Was time used
wisely?
How were these resources utilized?
Is the output commensurate to the
resources utilized?
adequacy
is the project sufficient for the identified
problem? If not, what other projects/
activities could contribute to the solution of
the problem identified?
appropriateness
was it the right project/ approach to solve
the problem?
Was it a suitable solution to the problem?
Your subsequent action would largely be
based on the result of your evaluation. The
community may need more training; they
may need assistance in linking up with other
agencies (government, NGO or church-
based). They may need further planning and
evaluation, etc. at this point you should also
be weaning the community with your direct
influence in the decision making. Slowly
your presence is less felt and you are now in
your exit phase. You occasionally visit the
community to follow-up/ monitor their
progress and provide assistance only when
needed and expressed.
This lesson on community organizing
discussed and taught you how to put into
action the principles of community
development. This is supported by the
following concepts and experiences.

Community organizing is a process.

CO is a values-based and problem-solving
process by which ordinary people are
brought to the tables, empowered with
knowledge and skills to identify their needs
and problems. They mobilize their resources
to deal with their problems and take action
collectively.
CO aims to empower the people through
leadership and mobilization and improve the
quality of life through social transformation.
Community organizers are simply facilitators
and implementers; your role as a community
organizer is to simply get others to do it.
The phases for community organizing follow
this process.
a. area/ site selection
b. entry/ integration
c. Community study
d. Spotting potential leaders
e. Core group formation
f. Community organization
g. Mobilization
h. Evaluation
i. Follow-up expansion

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