7.2

• Community Organizing


  A process that consists of steps or activities that instill and reinforce people's self-confidence in their own collective strengths and capabilities
• Community Organizing


  • It is the development of the community's collective capacity to solve its own problems and aspire for development through its own efforts
  • It entails harnessing and developing the community's capacities to recognize a community problem, identify and implement solutions, and monitor and evaluate the efforts in resolving the problem
  • It is a continuous process of educating the community
  • It is a means to build the community's capacity to work for the common goal in general and health goals in particular
• Emphases of Community Organizing in Primary Health Care


  • People from the community working together to solve their own problems
  • Internal organizational consolidation as a prerequisite to external expansion
  • Social movement first before technical change
  • Health reforms occurring within the context of broader social transformation
• Community Development


  Improved access to resources (including health resources) that will enable people to improve their standard of living and overall quality of life
• The end goal of community organizing is community development
• Community Development Processes

  • Assessment of the current situation
  • Identification of needs
  • Deciding on appropriate courses of action or responses
  • Mobilization of resources to address these needs
  • Monitoring and evaluation by the people
• 3 Basic Values

  • Human Rights (the right to life, the right to development as persons and as a community, the freedom to make decisions for oneself)
  • Social Justice (fairness in the distribution of resources to satisfy basic needs and to maintain dignity as human beings, equitable access to opportunities for satisfying people's basic needs and dignity, equitable distribution of resources and power through people's participation in their own development)
  • Social Responsibility (an offshoot of the ethical principle of solidarity, which points to people being part of one community and is reflected in concern for one another)
• Core Principles in Community Organizing

  • People-centered
  • Participative
  • Democratic
  • Developmental
  • Process-oriented
• Community Organizing is People-Centered


  • The people are the means and ends of development, and community empowerment is the process and the outcome
  • With emphasis on the development of human resources
  • It is a process that promotes the development of people's autonomy and self-reliance, leading to people empowerment
  • The organizer must bear in mind that the community is an active participant, learning more from what they do and experience, rather than from what is said to them
  • For people empowerment, community participation is a critical condition for success
• Community Organizing is Participative


  • The participation of the community in the entire process should be ensured (assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation)
  • The community is considered the prime mover and determinant, rather than beneficiaries and recipients, of development efforts, including healthcare
  • Decision making and responsibility are in the hands of ordinary people, not just the elite
• Community Organizing is Democratic


  • It should empower the disadvantaged population
  • It is a process that allows the majority of people to recognize and critically analyze their difficulties and articulate their aspirations
  • Hence, their decisions must reflect the will of the whole, more so the will of the common people, than leaders and the elite
• Community Organizing is Developmental


  • It should be directed toward changing current undesirable conditions
  • Through the process, the community gains insights, hones their capacities, and develops their confidence in themselves and each other that will allow them to take the lead in the holistic improvement of their community
• Community Organizing is Process-Oriented


  • The community organizing goals of empowerment and development are achieved through a process of change
  • It is dynamic, and with the evolving community situation, monitoring and periodic review of plans are necessary
• Phases of Community Organizing


  • Pre-Entry
  • Entry into the Community
  • Community Integration
  • Social Analysis
  • Identifying Potential Leaders
  • Core Group Formation
  • Community Organization
  • Action Phase
  • Evaluation
  • Exit and Expansion
• Pre-Entry


  • It involves preparation on the part of the organizer and choosing the community for partnership
  • It may also be necessary to delineate criteria or guidelines for site selection
  • Making a list of sources of information and possible facility resources, both government and private is recommended
  • Communities may be identified through various means such as initial data gathered through an ocular survey, review of records of a health facility, review of the barangay/municipal profile, referrals from other communities or institutions, or consultation from the local government units (LGUs) or private institutions
  • An ocular survey may provide answers to essential questions about the community
• Entry into the Community


  • It formalizes the start of the organizing process
  • It is the stage where the organizer gets to know the community and the community likewise gets to know the organizer
  • The organizer's responsibility is to clearly introduce themselves and their institution to the community, give a clear explanation of the vision, mission, goals, programs, and activities, and have a basic understanding of the target community
  • People must take care to avoid raising unrealistic expectations in the community
  • The organizer must keep in mind that the goal of the process is to build up the confidence and capacities of the people
• Strategies for Gaining Entry into a Community (Manalili,1990)

  • Padrino Entry (the organizer gains entry into the community through a padrino or patron, usually a barangay or some other local government official)
  • Bongga Entry (the easiest way to catch the attention and gain the "approval" of the community, but it exploits the people's weaknesses and usually involves dole-outs, creating unreasonable expectations and reinforcing a dole-out mentality)
• Community Integration


  • It is the phase when the organizer may actually live in the community in an effort to understand the community better and imbibe community life
  • Integration frequently requires immersion in community life, where the organizer must consciously discard the "visitor" or "guest" image and respect community cultures and traditions
• Different Integration Styles

  • "Now you see, now you don't" style (the organizer visits the community as per schedule but is not able to transcend the "guest" status)
  • "Boarder" style (the organizer rents a room or a house in the village, lives his/her own life, and does not share the life of the community)
  • "Elitist" style (the organizer lives with the barangay chairman or some other prominent person in the community, making integration with the larger community difficult)
  • People-Centered Approach (this approach allows the organizers to develop a deeper relationship with the whole community through various techniques, and is the recommended approach to guarantee the success of the organizing work)
• Techniques Suggested by Manalili (1990) to Facilitate Community Integration

  • Pagbabahay-Bahay or Occasional Home Visits (an effective way of developing a close relationship with the community, requiring the organizer to observe the daily schedule of activities of households to avoid inconvenience)
• Social Analysis is one of the phases of Community Organizing
• Identifying Potential Leaders is one of the phases of Community Organizing
• Core Group Formation is one of the phases of Community Organizing
• Community Organization is one of the phases of Community Organizing
• Action Phase


  Important considerations during this phase include mobilization of the community, building alliances, and taking concrete actions to address the identified problems
• General Evaluation Parameters


  • Effectiveness of the organizing process
  • Extent of community participation
  • Degree of community empowerment
  • Sustainability of the community's efforts
• Exit and Expansion


  Indications of readiness to exit by the community organizer include the community's ability to take over the organizing work, the presence of a core group that can continue the process, and the community's capacity to mobilize resources and sustain the efforts
• The goals of Community Organizing include empowerment and development of the community
• Community Organizing Participatory Action Research (COPAR)


  It is an approach that integrates community organizing and participatory action research
• Basic Qualities of a Community Organizer

  • Commitment to the community
  • Humility
  • Patience
  • Flexibility
  • Creativity
  • Analytical skills
  • Facilitation skills
  • Networking skills
• Traditional Research Approach Vs. COPAR

  • Traditional Research Approach: Researcher-driven, Extractive, Detached, Findings not shared with community
  • COPAR: Community-driven, Participatory, Immersed, Findings shared and used by the community
• Elitist style


  The organizer lives with the barangay chairman or some other prominent person in the community, and is frequently seen in the company of local officials. This style makes integration with the larger community difficult.
• People-Centered Approach


  This approach allows the organizers to develop a deeper relationship with the whole community through various techniques. This is the recommended approach to guarantee the success of the organizing work.
• Techniques Suggested by Manalili (1990) to Facilitate Community Integration

  1. Pagbabahay-Bahay or Occasional Home Visits

  2. Huntahan (informal conversations)

  3. Participation in the Production Process

  4. Participation in Social Activities
• Social Analysis


  The process of gathering, collating, and analyzing data to gain an extensive understanding of community conditions, help in the identification of problems, and determine the root causes. Also known as social investigation, community study, community analysis, community needs assessment, or community diagnosis.
• Identifying Potential Leaders


  Potential leaders should be identified, trained, and become part of the community organizing team. They should represent the target group/community, possess leadership qualities, and have trust and confidence in the community.
• Core Group Formation


  The formation of a viable, functioning core group is the focal point of community organizing. This requires a series of training sessions to "transfer the technology" of community organizing, enabling the core group to take charge of the subsequent organizing process. An essential component is reinforcing the social consciousness of the members, particularly in terms of analyzing the root causes of the problems.
• Community Organization


  On the initiative of the core group, the community conducts an assembly or a series of assemblies to arrive at a common understanding of community concerns and formulate a plan of action. Collective decision-making must dictate what projects and strategies must be undertaken. The organizer must let the community decide.
• Action Phase (Mobilization Phase)


  Refers to the implementation of the community's planned projects and programs. Important considerations include allowing the community to determine the pace and scope of project implementation, recognizing that the process is as important as the output, and conducting regular monitoring and continuing community formation programs.
• Evaluation


  A systematic, critical analysis of the current state of the organization and/or projects compared to desired or planned goals or objectives. It is done periodically during mobilization (formative evaluation) and at the end of the prescribed project period (summative evaluation). Evaluates both program-based and organizational aspects.