Let me give in to some friends who suggest I take a break from my remembrance of the community development pioneers and fieldworkers I worked with in the past, which covers the period 1975 to 1989.
So far in this blogspot I have talked about eight pioneers and four fieldworkers and showed what I and other younger fieldworkers at that time learned from them.
Those twelve co-workers had passed away long before my blogs. I am only playing tribute to their memory and specific contributions to community development practice in the country. It may be a remote possibility, but I am also thinking that perhaps some young people may be reading these blogs and they may start to appreciate development work of this nature, going out to where most of the action is happening, right at the precise contact point between the local government and the people.
Based on what I have observed in the course of my professional community development work in the Philippines and 14 other countries during the last 37 years, I conclude that government bureaucracy tends to be weak at that point of contact with the people. NGOs, on the other hand, lack the funding resources, commitment and mandate to organize communities who are able to partner systematically with local governments in development planning and implementation.
Our involvement in two initiatives, Project Compassion and Ilaw ng Buhay (Light of Life) Program for 13 years, 1975 to 1989, yielded some insights or findings which found their way in in both my Master of Management and PhD dissertations under UNICEF sponsorship. When I left to assume the post of Community Development Specialist for the Integrated Atoll Development Project (IADP) under UNDP and UNOPS, it was basically the Ilaw ng Buhay community development approach that was the basis of my technical work with projects in the countries where I was assigned.
By the time I left my last country of assignment, Solomon Islands, in Dec 2001, I had a total of 15 years of field experience related to the promotion of the Ilaw ng Buhay approach in community development work. It also guided the technical advice I gave to partner organizations in subsequent work: Consultant on Poverty Reduction and Governance, Provincial Government of Bohol, and Head, Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (2002 to 2005 - 3 years); Regional Program Manager for Southeast Asia, Habitat for Humanity International (2005 to 2007 - 2 years); and my work with projects funded by CIDA and EU (2008 to the present - 4 years).
Hence, it can be said, for the last 24 years it has been the Ilaw ng Buhay approach which provided the framework of my engagement with projects as far as community development is concerned.
I agree with my close friends I should now proceed to tell development colleagues about the lessons learned from the advocacy and practice of this approach which, understandably, cannot be articulated by its original name in the diverse countries where I have been involved in something like 28 projects spanning almost four decades of my professional life.
More on this next blog.
So far in this blogspot I have talked about eight pioneers and four fieldworkers and showed what I and other younger fieldworkers at that time learned from them.
Those twelve co-workers had passed away long before my blogs. I am only playing tribute to their memory and specific contributions to community development practice in the country. It may be a remote possibility, but I am also thinking that perhaps some young people may be reading these blogs and they may start to appreciate development work of this nature, going out to where most of the action is happening, right at the precise contact point between the local government and the people.
Based on what I have observed in the course of my professional community development work in the Philippines and 14 other countries during the last 37 years, I conclude that government bureaucracy tends to be weak at that point of contact with the people. NGOs, on the other hand, lack the funding resources, commitment and mandate to organize communities who are able to partner systematically with local governments in development planning and implementation.
Our involvement in two initiatives, Project Compassion and Ilaw ng Buhay (Light of Life) Program for 13 years, 1975 to 1989, yielded some insights or findings which found their way in in both my Master of Management and PhD dissertations under UNICEF sponsorship. When I left to assume the post of Community Development Specialist for the Integrated Atoll Development Project (IADP) under UNDP and UNOPS, it was basically the Ilaw ng Buhay community development approach that was the basis of my technical work with projects in the countries where I was assigned.
By the time I left my last country of assignment, Solomon Islands, in Dec 2001, I had a total of 15 years of field experience related to the promotion of the Ilaw ng Buhay approach in community development work. It also guided the technical advice I gave to partner organizations in subsequent work: Consultant on Poverty Reduction and Governance, Provincial Government of Bohol, and Head, Bohol Poverty Reduction Management Office (2002 to 2005 - 3 years); Regional Program Manager for Southeast Asia, Habitat for Humanity International (2005 to 2007 - 2 years); and my work with projects funded by CIDA and EU (2008 to the present - 4 years).
Hence, it can be said, for the last 24 years it has been the Ilaw ng Buhay approach which provided the framework of my engagement with projects as far as community development is concerned.
I agree with my close friends I should now proceed to tell development colleagues about the lessons learned from the advocacy and practice of this approach which, understandably, cannot be articulated by its original name in the diverse countries where I have been involved in something like 28 projects spanning almost four decades of my professional life.
More on this next blog.
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