Self-help in Bangladesh
Love them;
Learn from them;
Plan with them;
Serve them;
Begin with what they have;
Build on what they know.
But of the best leaders
When their task is accomplished,
Their work is done,
The people all remark:
--"We have done it Ourselves." THIS is my favorite old Chinese verse and also has been my basis of development work. Every time I am touched by the overwhelming power of community people, I become more convinced with the truth and wisdom of this verse. My theory of community development has been endorsed by the people in Bangladesh ever since I came here four years ago. Through this writing, I want to share my precious experiences in the rural Bangladeshi community. Most foreigners have a strong image of Bangladesh as a poor country and a major emergency relief recipient because of natural disasters. I admit I was one of them. When I traveled to different areas of Bangladesh, I saw the actual scenario. The remote rural areas are not much promising and the people themselves tell me: "Bangladesh is a poor country, please help us!" The people's dependency seemed so high that I felt myself depressed and powerless about making any meaningful changes in this country. The experiences in Narsingdi district saved me from feeling desperate. I met the members of community groups under the so-called Community Support System (CmSS). They look just like ordinary rural people, and the only difference is that they are impressively motivated and committed to the activities initiated by their own. "Every time I saw or heard about a pregnant mother dying during delivery in our village I felt very sad, I even felt anger inside me. But, I never thought that we could do something about it." A farmer who was selected as a president of a community group enthusiastically told me his story. "But now we have learned how we can prevent the sad death of mother and child. Since we formed the group, we tried to raise funds to help poor pregnant women with complications to ensure their access to emergency care. We also hired rickshaw vans so that they could be carried to the hospital. We register all pregnant women and disseminate birth planning information to them, and accompany them if they need our assistance to go to the health facility. At present, we do not have any death cases in our village. We are confident that we can contribute to our community and be appreciated by our villagers. We are proud of ourselves!" When I visited a backward area of Monohordi upazila, one old man approached me: "I lost my daughter a few weeks ago. It was heavy bleeding that killed my pregnant daughter. I knew that something wrong was happening to my child, and I consulted with a member of CmSS. He told me to take her to the hospital immediately, but I did not take his advice. When I finally took her, it was too late. If I knew that pregnancy could be life- threatening, I could have given better care to my daughter. Please, help the people learn about the risks of pregnancy so we can avoid the death of pregnant women." It was obvious from the appearance of his house that he was quite well off, however, even though he had money he could not save his daughter's life due to ignorance about pregnancy risks. We went to the people, and we found that they had the solutions. They know what is important for them. CmSS groups decided to establish their own Federation to empower themselves so that their voices were heard. The activities of CmSS groups have now expanded beyond health: they facilitated the construction of rural roads in their locality; they opened informal schools; they mediated domestic violence in their neighbourhoods, they stopped early marriage, and so on. Their activities have been recognised and supported by union and upazila authorities. The CmSS circle has been enlarged within and outside Narsingdi as well. Some leaders of the CmSS groups have become a promoters of CmSS, and are getting requests from other villagers to teach them how to organise a group. There is a goal ahead of them, and I am exited to see how far CmSS can reach. Finally, I am grateful to CmSS members personally for giving me an opportunity to learn about another face of Bangladesh and giving me the power to move on. The success of this country depends on the commitment of the people, and I hope that CmSS can grow as a social movement to stir up the potential of the community in Bangladesh.
Learn from them;
Plan with them;
Serve them;
Begin with what they have;
Build on what they know.
But of the best leaders
When their task is accomplished,
Their work is done,
The people all remark:
--"We have done it Ourselves." THIS is my favorite old Chinese verse and also has been my basis of development work. Every time I am touched by the overwhelming power of community people, I become more convinced with the truth and wisdom of this verse. My theory of community development has been endorsed by the people in Bangladesh ever since I came here four years ago. Through this writing, I want to share my precious experiences in the rural Bangladeshi community. Most foreigners have a strong image of Bangladesh as a poor country and a major emergency relief recipient because of natural disasters. I admit I was one of them. When I traveled to different areas of Bangladesh, I saw the actual scenario. The remote rural areas are not much promising and the people themselves tell me: "Bangladesh is a poor country, please help us!" The people's dependency seemed so high that I felt myself depressed and powerless about making any meaningful changes in this country. The experiences in Narsingdi district saved me from feeling desperate. I met the members of community groups under the so-called Community Support System (CmSS). They look just like ordinary rural people, and the only difference is that they are impressively motivated and committed to the activities initiated by their own. "Every time I saw or heard about a pregnant mother dying during delivery in our village I felt very sad, I even felt anger inside me. But, I never thought that we could do something about it." A farmer who was selected as a president of a community group enthusiastically told me his story. "But now we have learned how we can prevent the sad death of mother and child. Since we formed the group, we tried to raise funds to help poor pregnant women with complications to ensure their access to emergency care. We also hired rickshaw vans so that they could be carried to the hospital. We register all pregnant women and disseminate birth planning information to them, and accompany them if they need our assistance to go to the health facility. At present, we do not have any death cases in our village. We are confident that we can contribute to our community and be appreciated by our villagers. We are proud of ourselves!" When I visited a backward area of Monohordi upazila, one old man approached me: "I lost my daughter a few weeks ago. It was heavy bleeding that killed my pregnant daughter. I knew that something wrong was happening to my child, and I consulted with a member of CmSS. He told me to take her to the hospital immediately, but I did not take his advice. When I finally took her, it was too late. If I knew that pregnancy could be life- threatening, I could have given better care to my daughter. Please, help the people learn about the risks of pregnancy so we can avoid the death of pregnant women." It was obvious from the appearance of his house that he was quite well off, however, even though he had money he could not save his daughter's life due to ignorance about pregnancy risks. We went to the people, and we found that they had the solutions. They know what is important for them. CmSS groups decided to establish their own Federation to empower themselves so that their voices were heard. The activities of CmSS groups have now expanded beyond health: they facilitated the construction of rural roads in their locality; they opened informal schools; they mediated domestic violence in their neighbourhoods, they stopped early marriage, and so on. Their activities have been recognised and supported by union and upazila authorities. The CmSS circle has been enlarged within and outside Narsingdi as well. Some leaders of the CmSS groups have become a promoters of CmSS, and are getting requests from other villagers to teach them how to organise a group. There is a goal ahead of them, and I am exited to see how far CmSS can reach. Finally, I am grateful to CmSS members personally for giving me an opportunity to learn about another face of Bangladesh and giving me the power to move on. The success of this country depends on the commitment of the people, and I hope that CmSS can grow as a social movement to stir up the potential of the community in Bangladesh.
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