You can’t put a latrine there! Innovating through community engagement

Deborah Greebon & Katrina Mitchell MINN IDEAS SUMMIT

October 24, 2014

OVP’S MODEL FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Village-centered and human centered

PROCESS : HOW MATTERS

1.  Introductions and consensus

2.  Volunteer leaders are trained

3.  Volunteer leaders gather info from community

4.  Present findings back to community

5.  Agree on list of village priorities

Understand the problem

Define the issue

Brainstorm solutions

Explore and test ideas

Plan the action

Implement!

Evaluate

Evolve

“Households need better ways to control the cleaner, healthier

environments.”

12 community leaders design a solution: latrines + handwashing stations + community

education + monitoring committees

“I am changing some of my farming practices from these conversations. For example, I am now farming earlier so I can plant two cycles and really increase my yields.” "Women in my community love this program, because it's helping us do things on our own. We've started a savings and loan group that we run by ourselves, and we make more money now.” "I have learned from (OVP's techniques) that we shouldn't blame God or witchcraft as the causes of our problems but ourselves.”

Mission OneVillage Partners engages villagers in

Sierra Leone to meet their needs and build skills for self-reliance.

Vision

OVP envisions thriving, self-reliant communities throughout rural Africa.

•  Power over, power with and power to empower. •  Creating the space, an experience, in which the

community determines for itself its priorities, issues, opportunities, future scenarios and what success looks like.

•  Context is self-mobilizing ACTION. •  Solutions oriented. •  Reflecting back. •  Focus on what THEY can do •  Real choice

Service Delivery Model

Empowerment Model

PRO •  Quick •  Good for relief

work

•  Lasts longer •  Layered approach •  Fosters resilience

CON •  Extractive •  May create bias •  May create

distrust

•  Takes longer •  Funding?