Simplicity is Powerful

Part V in a series: What We Found - Haiti

Training was a big part of our internship in Haiti. Before we arrived, Pastor W asked us if we would teach a workshop on community development to a group of Church pastors. We knew nothing about the parameters of this course, but we agreed because it was the one thing he had asked of us. As it turns out, the class lasted for an entire month, and we also facilitated an eight-week class for seminary students and taught at three conferences (including the youth conference mentioned in my reflection on mental roadblocks). The three of us adapted the syllabi from our Community Development and Social Entrepreneurship classes to create a specialized curriculum for each purpose. We waded through development theories, diagrams, thick manuals, and class notes to pull out the most memorable pieces that we hoped to convey to our students.

After all the stress related to preparation for these training sessions, it was always a joy when the participants latched on to a concept that generated insightful discussion.
After these experiences, I have noticed that the most simple, uncomplicated models and activities sometimes yield the greatest results. In Eastern’s Community Development class, Professors Offut and Mtika introduced us to the 'Nehemiah model' of community development. Since we were working with pastors and seminary students, we assumed it would be an appropriate approach to share.

After reviewing the Nehemiah story with three different audiences, it is incredible to see how uniformly people appreciated the steps we highlight from the biblical figure's example of community development. There is so much to glean from the first seven chapters of Nehemiah; he exhibits many of the actions of an ideal community developer as he seeks to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, such as: prayer, research, sacrifice, and solidarity with the community. It is noteworthy that a “non-technical,” ancient book like the Bible can wield such power, even surpassing today’s fancy development models.

In a recent workshop for the Church's Women’s Association, we spent nearly an hour on an activity that Gina had found online. The activity was called the Tree of Life, and it had each woman depicting her own life history using the symbol of the tree.  On various parts of the tree, each participant listed her influences, values, hopes and dreams for the future, and her accomplishments in life.  In many ways, this served as an individual 'asset map.' The women put time and care into creating their trees, and then shared them with the group.

At the close of the seminar, one woman stood and said, “We really loved the Tree of Life exercise; it helped us to see how we can build upon our strengths and skills, and we see how we can adapt this exercise for other women in our community who cannot read. Thank you.” This simple activity led to a level of reflection and conversation that we dreamed about. A light bulb seemed to go off as our 'asset-based' approach to development was conveyed back to us in this woman's word, it helped us to see how we can build on our strengths and skills.

(Might I add, this is exactly what we had been looking for during our workshop at the youth conference mentioned in 'mental roadblocks' but failed to convey.)

What we Found: Development professionals should not be afraid to be simple. Fancy, hi-tech models and verbose theories can sometimes confuse rather than illuminate a situation. What matters is that teaching methods are relevant and appropriate to the audience.

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In 2010 I spent 4 months in Haiti with my classmates Sarah and Gina. We were completing our graduate studies in International Development from Eastern University, and we embarked on a final semester as co-learners and, oddly enough, teachers in Port-Au-Prince and beyond. As part of our final assignment as interns, we reflected together on lessons learned from our time applying our practical and theoretical understandings of community development (especially international community development) within our Haitian context. This series called "What we Found" includes excerpts from my reflections made in 2010.