What Model is Right for You?

In this episode, Erica and Sam ask: What if using the wrong development model is doing more harm than good? Drawing on real experiences in Africa, they break down three approaches - relief, rehabilitation, and development - and explore how treating every situation like a crisis unintentionally creates dependency rather than lasting change. They then introduce the mindset shift at the heart of ABCD, moving from seeing communities as half-empty to recognizing the strengths already present.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:08

Hi, my name is Sam.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

And I'm Erica, and welcome to the Crossing Division Member Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Erica, I've been uh reflecting uh on our last episodes, and I'm wondering, you as a development worker, you're an NGO or something like that, you are passionate about something, say education, um, you know, and and and you want to do something for the community in an effective way without creating dependence. How do you do that?

SPEAKER_00 0:48

We're going to be going deeper in that today as we're going to be unpacking the ABCD approach. But do you remember the last story I shared with you last time at the end of our last episode where we talked about um how someone came and they were passionate about malnutrition and they went into a community and they found families that were doing well. So in every community, there are people who are doing something about what we care about. And if we are themed, we need to naturally find those people. It's not true that nothing has been done. You know, the saying that says there's nothing new under the sun. They might be doing it in another way, using another approach. If that community has been staying alive for 40 years before you came into that community, then they have been doing something. Maybe they're using herbal medicine. If you're a doctor, what are those practices they are doing? It's not all bad. Usually we always say everything is bad and we throw it away, but there are good things that are happening in the community. And the asset-based approach, which we'll be talking about, is the intention of looking for what's working. But do you know what happens when you don't find what's working? It's like a story I remember of one of our students who was in our program. They were very passionate about solar. These days, every day, everywhere you look, is electric vehicles, electric cars, solar panel, renewable energy. I know about that because my husband works in the space. So I'm always listening to these kinds of conversation. And it's very good, you know. This is good. All of us should go green, all these things. So they go into a community and they find that that community has no power. Power. So the first thing that comes to their mind, remember, they already have an idea in the back of their mind that they're only because that's what they've been doing. Everybody's saying go green, go green. Everyone, let's use all these things. By the way, we are pro-green. I am pro-green. So it's great to have green projects. But even when we do them without considering the people, sometimes they might not work. Because when we're going green, we want to go sustainable and not just sustainable in form of resources, sustainable in form of that project continuing without us. That's what one of the things we'll be talking about. So they went to that community, they realized there's no power, they set up a community meeting with the leaders. The people of the community came, they said, Yes, we need power. Yes. They were so excited. They went back to their offices, brought all the solar panels, brought a solar engineer who set up everything in that community so that they could be able to have power. They signed off. There was power in the community and took a few videos in that community where they were saying, Okay, you know, my life has been changed. Now I can study at night. The kids were saying that how they're using all this power, and the people signed off, told their funders that they had actually gotten the power in the community.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

So they went back, and two years later, one of them was leading the program who was narrating it, saying that he walked through the community. And as he was walking, he happened to be walking through that community, and as he was walking through that community, he found the leaders, the same leaders who are so excited to set up that salapana, cutting it off the last piece. The last piece, the last piece, they would actually so you so sell it for scrap metal, scrap metal, not even selling it, creating what nobody knew what to do with it.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Yeah, they could only turn it because scrap was one of the things that people could use for business. So dollars, some millions of dollars had gone into the city. They had a theme, they did not consider what the community cared most about.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

What a story. So today we'll help you determine which approach to use and uh in what situation. Do you want to share with us?

SPEAKER_00 4:44

Yes. So it's it's very important to understand what situation you're in. What are the current circumstances of whatever community you're going to? And these uh three circumstances, there's usually three circumstances, they are defined in the book when helping hurts. If you want to learn more about serving, I think that's a very good Christian perspective book that introduces how to serve communities, even using what we are talking about today. So the writers in the book talked about how there are three situations that we need, they are like lenses that we need to look through as we are determining which approach. In case people have forgotten, we're talking about the approaches we were talking about in our last episode, which approach to choose, because we talked about four, two, two, with, with, and by. How do you know which of those approaches to use? So in there are three circumstances and in what situation? In what situation. So these are the situations where either in a relief is the community in a relief situation.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

They need help.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

They need help. Somehow, what do you understand by relief?

SPEAKER_02 5:52

Relief, I guess it's um help given, support given in in times of crisis.

SPEAKER_00 5:58

Yes, yeah, uh, something has to have happened. Yeah, it's a crisis, it's a crisis, always a crisis situation. Yeah, either there's a drought, there has been a flood or a tornado, an uh an epidemic, an epidemic, a war that has just broken out and people have to leave. Refugees have to leave and all that. So there's something that causes a relief situation. And what, how long should your solution be when it's a relief situation?

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Short term. Short term because it's needed there and then, it's needed there and then, it's short term.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Something has happened, there needs to be a short-term solution. So, what can we gather together so that we can now support these people?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

In other words, the relief is short term and life-saving.

SPEAKER_00 6:42

Life-saving, exactly. Something must have happened. So then you do under that. I think the right model to use is the two model. The medical model, you have to act quickly and then go and give these people.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

So, actually, the two model is not wrong. Yeah, it depends on the situation which you are taking us to.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

So, in a relief situation, you need to use the approach, the model of the tools.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And in our story here in Rwanda, as you know, after the genocide against the Tutsi, we went through different processes. Immediately after the genocide against the Tutsi, many people had lost their lives. Those that had survived, yeah, had injuries, they had no homes, their houses were burnt down.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

People were displaced.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

They were displaced in that situation. The government needed to act quickly. In fact, we we hear stories of how the soldiers were the ones carrying people, taking them to hospitals, helping with their wounds. It was an emergency situation. That's how they acted. They had to use, there was no time to discuss what you want to do. It was how can we save the community? To engage the community.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

So that's they needed a life-saving approach.

SPEAKER_00 7:53

And then what happened after that, Sam? We went into a period of what?

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Rehabilitation.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

Yeah. Tell us more about rehabilitation.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

This is when things have now settled. We are not no one is dying, but we still have maybe wounds to heal. Because we healed the external wounds when we we did quick first aid and helped them. But their hearts are still broken. You know, for example, homes are not yet rebuilt. Now we need to start. How can we get people back to normal? Now, in this phase, is when now you start to rehabilitate the community. The with model is what I would advise here, because if you do it for them, then you'll be taking creating a sense of dependency in the community. But if you allow the community to be part of designing that solution, to play a key part in the solution, then that solution can be something that is adapted and continued beyond your intervention. So in the case of Rwanda, there were different rehabilitation initiatives, you know them. One of them, they did some psychosocial support for the people who needed healing. Yeah. And healing went on, it's still going on up to now. So it's they did that, but there was a period where it was a very important approach because people needed to forgive. People needed to be brought to books. So you know the story of the gachacha.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

The gachacha courts, yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Can you tell us a bit more about how Rwanda involved the community in that sense?

SPEAKER_02 9:18

Uh during the gachacha courts, this was a traditional way of how um in traditional Rwanda they dissolved, resolved conflicts between um uh people, and um uh they would sit down on grass, that's why gachacha, which means grass, they would sit down, and then whoever has an issue against a neighbor, then they would raise it, and then the elders in the community would be able to provide solutions. So, in the case of the genocide against the Toots, which happened in 1994, uh, it is estimated that over 120,000 people had uh participated in the genocide. And uh all those people must be brought to book, you know, you committed this crime against humanity. Uh, but there were not enough courts to try them. Matter of fact, it's uh it's said that it would have taken uh over 200 years to be able to try all those people in the former court system. And so Rwanda had to go back to the traditional way how did we solve problems originally before the modern courts came. And the idea of elders, they had to choose elders, you know, respected people, opinion leaders who cannot take bribes and all that. The people that they respected in different villages brought them together and then they would sit down, gachacha. They would sit down and talk about that. And uh, in a period of 10 years, many, many people had been uh you know, um had been tried. Uh the others were rehabilitated and taken back to the community. And uh, you know, those who had to pay fines for the properties they destroyed, they did that. Um, others even would ask for forgiveness, they would serve for a given time, and then uh uh reintegrated into the community. And uh it helped. It helped now. Rwandans live, in fact, not far away from here. Our our partner organization, Rabajirana Ministries, as a community where all those people live together, those who committed the genocide and those who were being persecuted, and now they are living side by side uh because of this uh rehabilitation approach.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

Yeah. So in there was a big challenge. There were people who had committed the genocide that needed to be tried. Yeah. So immediately I think someone would think can we bring in lawyers from other countries? Or maybe we should set up a law program to train people to try all these cases. Try all these people. Yeah, so that would be a long approach. The government said, what has been working in our community? How can we use it? There have been processes of bringing people to book. This is what we are going to use. And the community played a big role.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

In other words, in rehabilitation, yeah, you you do it with the people. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

You involve the community, you involve them, you identify what are they good at and what are we good at. And I do know that the government also provided some form of resources to facilitate.

SPEAKER_01 12:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

But then most of these conversations were happening within communities. So this is another way of doing things. When you're going to a community, find what is working and then build on that. That's what they've done. You build together a justice system that works for your community.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Just like it worked many years ago. And now it served the purpose.

SPEAKER_00 12:46

There is stories of it working in different communities. So after the rehabilitation process, we are now enjoying development and peace in Rwanda. We're in a place of peace. We, if you come to this nation, you say we host games, uh, we have international guests coming, many things. But if we read up about Rwanda, sometimes we might find that it's being defined as a very poor country somewhere. You know that, right? On a list somewhere. So someone might say, Oh, I'm going to Rwanda because it's a very poor country, and then we need to do what? To go and give them relief. Just because I have read somewhere that they're a very poor country without understanding that we are now in a state of development.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

We are no longer in the state of receiving relief.

SPEAKER_00 13:33

Exactly. We are now in a state of development. What is happening in Rwanda? We do have some few disasters here and there. It's not a perfect country, but we are now in peace. We're in a state of development.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

So, what's needed when we're in this state of development?

SPEAKER_00 13:48

This is when you work using the buy method. How can communities in Rwanda build solutions from inside out by themselves? By themselves. How do we facilitate solutions that are coming from the country? And I do know that the president of Rwanda does a very good job in pushing us to do that. Yes. Finding our own things, you know? There is resources, by the way, in communities that we never know about. It's because we never step back to learn about what's in that community. We always assume by the labels that have been placed on them that there is nothing that they can do for them. And in most of the leaders that come to the Abundant Leadership Institute, some of their countries have never gone through what Rwanda has gone through.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Some of them have been, have always been in development. In development. And yet, they are relief. They are doing relief.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

Exactly. Many NGOs, many organizations, many churches are taking relief solutions in development circumstances.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

Say that again.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Many organizations tend to take them because it's one of the easiest things. They are taking relief in a situation of development. Just because people, I remember a story in one of the classes where the student, an Ethiopian student, their organization works to serve people who have been living in slums in the city for a long time, not slums around trash, I don't know what they call that, garbage. Those families have lived there for a very long time. But we do know that the nation itself is one of the only African nations that has never been colonized. So they have largely been in development in terms of a state.

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

So they then when I asked her, What do you do for this community? They said, we have to give them food, we have to give them clothes. And I asked them, How long have you been doing that? Have you ever had a has there anything ever happened that has caused you to decide that food and clothes are the right things? And when you do it, have they left the streets?

SPEAKER_02 15:51

No.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

No. Year after year. There have been people who are proud of having supported a family by giving them everything for three generations.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

They support the parents and their children and their children's children.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

And their children's children. And they're like, we are so happy we are committed to giving this. But then we have disabled that community by giving them the wrong approach.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

That begs a question. What happens when we use the wrong approach?

SPEAKER_00 16:21

If you use development, for example, in a state of relief, it's not applicable. People need emergency. Someone cannot be wounded, and you're telling them, okay, let's sit and discuss and work on something that is important for us. If we use development, uh relief in the state of development, which many organizations are doing, we create dependency. People begin to depend on us and even the little things they can do because in a state of development, every person can contribute. In a state of relief, people need to be sufficient.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

They need to be helped, yeah. They need to be helped.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

So it's important to really understand that.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

So that's what uh actually A B C D is about.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Know which approach to use. And when people are in the state of development, now use development, empower the community, use ABCD approach and do it with the people.

SPEAKER_00 17:14

And let me let me just share that sometimes it's hard to make the shift. You know, I do know that. Remember what we had said in one of the episodes that the first thing you do in the community will determine how they look at you. Yes. So if you started by giving, many of us are serving in countries where it's development. We look back and there's no disaster. And we have been giving free things, giving money, sending all these things that we know to do. Sometimes it's hard to make the shift. And I I know a story of someone who a leader recently reached out to me and he told me, How can I get the schools that we are serving to begin to contribute more? And I asked him, How have you been doing it? No, we've been providing all the materials. They have a program for the students and they provide all the materials for them, like the books that are needed for the program. They pay for some facilitators who have to go and visit the schools, although they teach the schools how to do it. The schools have largely depended on them to make sure that they have all the materials they need.

SPEAKER_01 18:14

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 18:14

So now he's like, we are thinking of reaching many people. So they don't want to go and give more materials to the schools that they have been giving.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

They want the schools to be able to print to print their own materials and continue. Yeah. And support the facilitators.

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Yeah, but the schools are not willing anymore because they said, What? You have already been doing this for us.

SPEAKER_02 18:34

The first approach matters.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Matters. We have already been giving. And you spread fast. If you've given in this community, they will know in the other community that you're an organization that is giving. So the first thing you do, you need to make sure you're clear, is this something sustainable in the long run? Are we always going to be there in this community to provide these things for them?

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Especially if we must scale up.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

How can we scale up if it's not sustainable in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Exactly. Because now they will be stuck in that community since the resources they would have used to move into another community. Either they choose that the other schools stop working altogether, the old schools.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Don't you think it could be a result of looking at what we need? We don't have this. These guys are coming to provide this and that. And I've sat in several of your classes when you're talking about the glass being uh half empty, half full. Share with us more about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

That's where the ABCD, the asset-based community development approach is starts from, actually. And if I were to provide a definition for the asset-based, because we keep saying ABCD, ABCD. ABCD stands for asset-based community development.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

And it's an approach or a way of working where the communities lead their own development. What we kept talking about where buy, the buy model is where communities lead their own development. By doing what? By identifying, mobilizing, and connecting, putting together the assets. When I say assets, it's the resources that they have in the community, the capacities, the knowledge, all these things already existing in the community. How can they mobilize all that in form of action so that they can bring a change in their own communities? So for in the ABCD, it's a conscious effort to focus on what is right. So when you're talking about the full, the half-full glass, this is uh an example. Yeah, it is not exactly half full, but the half-full glass. Thank you very much. You know what many many organizations they look at that glass and this glass, and when we look at the community, we are like uh this community does not have A, B, C, D, E, F, G. So we are focusing on what's not there.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

The empty part.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

The empty part. This community is poor. When we are saying when we label people as poor, we are focusing on what is not there. When we label people as disabled, as underprivileged, marginalized, never reached by anyone, all those are labels that we place on people that make us focus on what is not.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

What is missing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

And you know why we do that? We look from our lens of privilege. If I've come and I've been putting on shoes all my life and I walk into a community and I find people who are not putting on shoes, the first thing I'll say is that these people are poor, they cannot even afford any shoes. I've already deemed them as people who are not able to. But maybe they don't put on shoes because that's what works in their community. They have to walk around to do something. It helps them in a way. Nobody ever thinks about why they aren't doing this. The first thing is to give before analyzing.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Let's give shoes.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Let's give shoes. So it's about the perspective that you look at. ABCD is the conscious effort of looking at what's strong. What does this community have? Communities have resources, communities have passions, communities, every person you ever meet, despite the levels we pull. On them. They have gifts. God has given them. If we are Christians, we know that God has not created anybody empty-handed. The man you have found surviving for 40 years, I keep talking about, has survived because he's doing something right. And it's our role to find out what is that thing they have been doing right and how can we build on it. And that's what the ABCD is about.

SPEAKER_02 22:23

Amazing. So, in other words, to our dear uh listeners, so when you focus on what is missing, you create dependence. Yes. And ABCD focuses on what is available, and that creates ownership and then a development as a result of that.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Yes. And it starts by truly believing in the people that we are serving.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah. In this episode, we learned that not every model fits in every situation. It depends on the situation. However, we've also noted that ABCD fits in the development. If we want real development, then that's where ABCD applies, and not in a release situation. So Erica, what would you say in conclusion?

SPEAKER_00 23:12

I would say that the ABCD starts by focusing on what we have in the glass. Always remember this glass illustration, and it starts with what is in there, not on the abundance and not the scarcity of the communities that we are serving.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Yeah. What's next, therefore?

SPEAKER_00 23:30

Yeah. So, you know, next episode we'll be talking about the core principles of WebBCD. There are five core principles and six different assets that the communities have. We talked a lot about what they have. Now we'll be breaking down what defining what exactly they are.

SPEAKER_02 23:46

Sounds interesting. Thank you for joining us. We hope you join us next time for more episodes. Please visit our website at korumboca.org slash podcast.