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Local informal leaders
There is nothing more important in participatory community development then finding the proper people in communities who will take over the process and have it go years after
we are gone. There are probably hundreds of books written about informal leaders and their role in communities. And possibly another hundred about how to find them, involve and
work with them or how to create them.We have seen various people take this position, respected old ladies or men, religious leaders, NGO workers, administrative workers, teachers, sometimes mayors. Sometimes we could not find one. Often, because we did not look well enough. In a few cases we helped people to become informal leaders, because there weren't one. This sometimes appeared to be the case in very "bad" communities, newly established ones (an IDPs camp for example) or communities, who have lost any spirit of community and everyone lives for himself. We realised that communities without leadership, even with an official leader, are extremely vulnerable. And we found out, there are many hidden informal leaders around, who would never speak out, too shy or too uneducated, or with a low social status to allow them to stand up. Our job was to find them, give them trust and possibility to speak, and support them by building knowledge and by protecting them. They do the rest. One of the things that we never told the local people in the teams is that we expect them to become informal leaders in their communities sometime in the process. This is scary to know too early. The local people in the teams start to realise that when other community members have developed expectations for a change and start asking them questions about the future. Then the team members start to really feel the responsibility. They begin to worry about the results and start asking us for reassurance. At the moment they start to worry, we know. The PCD process has just became sustainable. Our job then changes. We don't have to move on the process anymore. We have to support these team members to move it. We have still to protect them sometimes but mostly to reassure them again and again that they are capable to go on. And they are capable, they really are. There is no other feeling like the pride of the local team member of the job is done. And of respect by the community. |
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