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Guest Editors: Bimal Phnuyal, David Archer and Sara Cottingham
Ordering Information

Summary

Most of the articles in this bumber 10th anniversary issue explore the theme of participation, literacy and empowerment. Based on experiences with REFLECT, this issue demonstrates how participation must become a community-led dynamic that links analysis to action. This mirrors the move away from RRA and towards (and beyond) PRA to promote a sustained process of participation. The issue emphasises the diversity within and between communities and stresses that literacy, in its broadest sense, impacts upon the ability of different groups to communicate and participate. The articles also explore some concerns common to practitioners of PRA, such as the role of manuals and training in promoting standardisation and/or diversity, how to develop strengthened local-level (horizontal) networks of practitioners, and how to scale up a participatory process from the local to regional, national and international levels.

Editorial

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1. Helping health workers to plan with communities in Ethiopia and Zambia

Karabi Bhattacharyya and John Murray

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Abstract
This paper describes the use of a participatory approach to community assessment and planning in Ethiopia and Zambia. The purpose of the assessment was for government health staff and community members to jointly identify and prioritise maternal and child health problems and develop a plan to solve them.

2. Participatory basic needs assessment with the internally displaced using well being ranking

Clare Hamilton, Alice Kaudia and David Gibbon

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Abstract
This paper reports on a study by the International Childcare Trust after the ethnic clashes that took place in the early 1990s in Western Kenya, which resulted in the displacement of individuals from their land. The methodology used was an adaptation of well being ranking. This approach showed that there were distinct rehabilitation strategies amongst the displaced, depending on their current access to land and the gender of the head of household.

3. Lessons from community empowerment programme formulation: Mission-2 of UNDP, Bangladesh

Neela Mukherjee

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This paper outlines an experience of introducing community participation in Bangladesh at the stage of programme formulation.

4. 'The Wayq'os (gullies) are eating everything!' indigenous knowledge and soil conservation

Graham Thiele and Franz Terrazas

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This article reports on the use of participatory methods to understand indigenous approaches to soil conservation in Bolivia. Two PRAs were carried out in order to help farmers to resolve the problem of erosion themselves.

5. How to get reliable yield estimates from terraces

William J. Fielding

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Based on experiences in Nepal, this brief note sets out guidelines for on-farm trials on terraces.

SPECIAL ISSUE:

Participation, literacy and empowerment

6. Reflections on REFLECT

Bimal Phnuyal, David Archer and Sara Cottingham

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Abstract

This article introduces REFLECT and goes on to give a brief summary of the original pilot projects.

7. The REFLECT process at an international level

David Archer

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David Archer summarises the latest developments in the REFLECT approach and provides a new definition of REFLECT, together with core principles and characteristics. These are outcomes from an international seminar which brought together fifteen key practitioners from Africa, Asia and Latin America to critique the Mother Manual.

8. The organic process of participation and empowerment in REFLECT

Bimal Phnuyal

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Experience with REFLECT shows that literacy in itself is not sufficient to empower people unless conscious and planned efforts are made to interweave it with a participatory and empowering development process. This article raises some questions about understanding the process of empowerment, as well as sharing practical observations about the organic process of participation and empowerment in REFLECT.

9. An encounter with a 17th century manual

Keshav Gautam

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The discovery that manuals of various kinds have been produced in Europe for several centuries leads the author to discuss the problems with the REFLECT Mother Manual, and the concept and role of manuals in training.

10. How can REFLECT be used widely without diluting the participatory nature of the process?

Sara Cottingham

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Abstract
This article reports on the spread of REFLECT since its launch in 1996 and examines some of the lessons learnt during this period.

11. REFLECT in practice: literacy and change in India

N. Madhusudan

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Abstract
This article reports on the experience of YAKSHI, an NGO based in Andhra Pradesh, which experimented with the REFLECT approach in 1995 as a way of promoting sustained dialogue at a community level and integrating the learning of literacy with the strengthening of indigenous and traditional knowledge systems.

12. REFLECT and empowerment: our field experiences

James Kanyesigye

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Abstract
A brief account of experiences with REFLECT in Uganda and the empowerment outcomes that have been observed.

13. REFLECT, savings and credit in Bangladesh

Fazilatum Nessa, Begum Rokeya and Achintan Mazumder

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Abstract
REFLECT was first developed in Bangladesh through a pilot project in Bhola Island. It was designed to make ActionAid's shomitis (savings and credit groups) more sustainable by reducing dependency on ActionAid and enabling the women to manage their own development process. This article reviews the process to date with this project.

14. SEACOW and Chisa Kruskaisa

Teeka R. Bhattarai, Debendra Adhikari and Ishwari Nepal

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SEACOW (School of Ecology and Community Work) is an activist organisation working with rural communities in Nepal. After participating in a REFLECT orientation workshop, SEACOW decided to adapt the REFLECT approach for their Adult Learning Centres. This paper reports on SEACOW's experience in this process.

15. REFLECT in Oxford, England

Alison Norris

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Reports on ODEC's (Oxford Development Education Centre) work with REFLECT, and in particular with members of Oxford's Afro- Caribbean communities.

16. Challenges in facilitator recruitment and training

Maria Nandago

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Abstract
REFLECT programmes depend on the use of local facilitators who come from the same communities as participants. In this way, the REFLECT process does not create or encourage dependency on external agents, but rather generates a dynamic within the community. Drawn from experiences in Uganda, this paper shows that identifying suitable facilitators is far from easy and training them effectively over a limited period of time is a major challenge.

17. Facilitator training and innovation in REFLECT: experience from Nepal

Jillian Popkins

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Abstract
This article discusses issues drawn from a research project in Nepal investigating how facilitator training can contribute to the capacity of the REFLECT methodology to adapt to local conditions. The research project observed a strong resistance to adopting any kind of prescriptive manual, and the innovative use of participatory tools (such as song, drama and myth), which seemed to suggest a high degree of facilitator ownership of the methodology.

18. Empowering trainers: An experience from Bangladesh. The REFLECT trainers' forum
Habibur Rahman and Serajud Dahar Khan

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Abstract

The Trainers' Forum has become the nodal point for the development and advancement of REFLECT in Bangladesh, generating continuous learning for the trainers themselves and for others nationally and internationally who are interested in the methodology. In some respects, the Trainers' Forum has become a union of trainers with a horizontal structure.

19. REFLECT and institutional change: the experience of CIAZO in El Salvador

Luis Orrellana, Nicola Foroni and Marden Nochez

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Abstract

This article describes the institutional resistance encountered by CIAZO (Inter-agency Committee for Literacy in the Eastern Zone of El Salvador) in the adoption of the REFLECT approach. It required personnel to 'unlearn' ways and methods of working which had been developed over the years and which were perceived as the only effective way of working in the Salvadorean context. Institutions interested in REFLECT should draw from this lesson: REFLECT requires a radical change in the relationships with communities and partners, and that, in turn, requires a radical change to the institution.

20. Beyond the bounded community: REFLECT in urban settings

Anne Jellema and Marc Fiedrich

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Abstract
Drawing from experiences in Kampala, Uganda and Dhaka, Bangladesh, this article highlights some of the problems of working in urban areas, where the notion of 'community' is problematic. It argues that it is not enough to substitute 'urban' themes for 'rural' ones, but that PRA tools must be adapted to different contexts, and that changes in the training and management of facilitators,as well as in teaching and learning methods, are necessary.

21. REFLECT with children

Sara Cottingham

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Abstract
This article discusses how REFLECT can make a contribution in the area of children's participation in development, and highlights the differences between REFLECT with adults and with children.

22. REFLECT on a large scale: challenges and prospects
Salifu Mogre and Julie Adu Gyamfi

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Abstract
There seem to be encouraging prospects for REFLECT in large scale programmes as far as cost effectiveness, meeting development objectives, language diversity, decentralised training, management and materials production are concerned. The key challenges are: finding a way to plan and budget for a large programme at the same time as moving at the pace of local communities;and how to utilise the existing capacity and prior investment in other approaches to literacy.

23. Gender and REFLECT
Kate Metcalf and Geni Gomez

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Abstract
Starting with a discussion of the key issues to consider in a gender perspective, this article goes on to highlight some of the ways in which a gender perspective can be strengthened in the PRA exercises in REFLECT.

24. The evolving conception of literacy in REFLECT
David Archer

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Abstract
There are fundamental links between literacy and power which frame the REFLECT approach as it has evolved since 1993, linking the literacy process to a wider, poverty-focused and rights-based approach to development and change. This article attempts to explore our evolving conception of literacy and the ways in which literacy is related to power.

25. Numeracy in REFLECT
Nicola Foroni and KateNewman

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Abstract
The authors of this paper argue that numeracy is generally not conceived as a fundamental part of the empowerment process with practical application at personal and collective levels. They explain the reasons for strengthening the role of numeracy within literacy programmes, and specifically, within REFLECT programmes.

26. Talking out of turn: notes on participation, learning and action in REFLECT
Anne  Jellema

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Abstract
This article looks at some of the contributions of REFLECT to the community of practitioners of participatory methods - especially those not working in the fields of literacy and adult education - from a theoretical point of view. In particular, drawing from the experience of a study of women learners, which is now under way in Uganda and Bangladesh, it discusses how REFLECT has produced some insights about 'participation', about 'learning' and about 'action'.

27. Commemoration of Paulo Freire
Bimal Phnuyal

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Abstract

This article provides an overview of the life and work of Paulo Freire, introducing some of the key concepts that he developed which are significant for both REFLECT and PRA.

28. REFLECT contacts

29. Feedback:
Using participative techniques with people with disabilities
David Thomforde with a response from Sulemana Abudulai

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30. A brief guide to the principles of PLA (II)

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Tips for Trainers

Marching soldiers
Paul Mincher

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