TABLE of CONTENTS: The holistic goal

5. Quality of life

6. Production

7. Landscape

The bespectacled crocodile by John Hall An illustrated manual for facilitating Holistic Management in pastoral communities.

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Introduction to the instructional unit on the holistic goal (10 minutes)

¨      Show the group a pot resting on the three stones of a hearth, and ask what would happen if one of the stones were pulled away (Answer: the pot would fall over and the soup would spill out.)

¨      Explain that, over the next three sessions, they'll be reflecting on the best way of making decisions, since they have already done the inventory of the community’s resources and studied ways of organizing themselves. Ask: "When you need to make a decision, where do you start?” (Answer: with a goal, since without a goal one doesn’t know where to go).

¨      This is why, together, we will try to define the community’s goals precisely. This is so important that three sessions will be devoted to it, during which we will study the three aspects of the community’s goals, which depend on one another just like the hearth stones that hold up the pot. They are:

ü      The quality of life to which one aspires;

ü      The activities or types of production that are envisaged and that are expected to bring about this quality of life;

ü      What the landscape, or community environment, should look like in order to permit the activities envisaged and, thus, the desired quality of life.

PEDAGOGIC ANALYSIS

Desired situation:

                In order to be able to manage its resources properly, a community must possess the following skills:

¨      an ability to express goals, arrived at by consensus, concerning the quality of life of all its members; and

¨      an ability to distinguish between the elements that constitute quality of life and the means that are supposed to improve that quality.

Current situation

In real life, however, the situation is often the following:

¨      The community has never had occasion to confer on a joint, long-term goal. Instead, individuals pursue their own ever-changing goals in response to successive crises.

¨      The community often confuses quality of life itself with the means that are supposed to improve it (e.g., wells, dispensaries, schools); and

¨      The community does not see the connection between quality of life and other goals (e.g., production, landscape, etc.).

Disparity between current and desired situation

¨      frequent confusion, on the part of the community, between the quality of life it is seeking and the actions through which it hopes to improve that quality;

¨      the fact that many projects are identified by the nature of the services they deliver rather than by the objectives they are pursuing.

Objectives of the module

:       By the end of the session, participants shall be able to:

¨      explain the importance of agreeing on a goal specific to the community;

¨      explain the difference between the goal and the means employed to attain it;

¨      explain that there are different ways of achieving the same goal;

¨      describe the difference between quality of life and the means used to achieve it;

¨      agree on common goals at the level of their community.

LOGISTICS

Target group:

                The entire community, with all constituent groups represented, e.g.:

¨      men and women;

¨      young people and the elderly;

¨      herders, farmers, etc.

SARAR exercise used in the module:

                Variation on the “three-piles sorting cards” exercise (Srinavasan, p. 101)

Graphic supports

Folder # 5

¨      stack of assorted images on the “quality of life” aspect of the holistic goal. Caution: since there are three small working groups, three complete and identical sets of the assorted images pertaining to “quality of life" are required.

¨      Generic icon for “holistic goal” (i.e., a pot resting on three hearth stones)

¨      Specific icon for “quality of life” (i.e., a woman holding a baby).

Approximate duration of the module: 

                   1 hour      

IMPLEMENTATION

1. Introduction to the “Quality of life” module

¨      Show the generic icon for the holistic goal (i.e., pot resting on three stones) and indicate that the first topic of discussion will be the participants’ hopes and concerns about the quality of life they would like to have.

¨      Next, describe the procedure that will be followed: participants are asked to identify, with the help of images that are shown to them, what they consider to be the most important goals in terms of quality of life. If there seems to be any confusion about what certain images symbolize, you moght provide clarification.

¨      So that no-one is left out, the exercise is conducted in three groups, which then pool their ideas.

2. Exercise “the village’s hopes and dreams” (15 to 20 minutes)

¨      Ask participants to divide themselves into three groups: men, women and young people. Give each group a packet of images and ask them first to choose a few images that might symbolize what they wish for most in terms of quality of life, then to state what these images represent for them and, finally, to explain the reasons for their choice.

¨      Ask the reunited group to pool the ideas developed by the three small groups. It is not important to arrive at a consensus at this time, since consensus will be sought in the remainder of the exercise.

3. Processing. (20 minutes)

                During the discussion that concludes the exercise, you will try to exploit the results of the process by asking, for example, the following questions:

¨      What was the participants’ reaction to this exercise? Was it easy or difficult to pool ideas? Why?

¨      Were any significant differences observed in the goals expressed by the three small groups? What were they? How were they reconciled?

¨      Why is it important to take these differences into consideration?

¨      When an important village decision is in the offing, it can be made either on the basis of the inhabitants’ quality of life objectives, or on the basis of the envisaged actions (e.g., well, equipment, etc.). What difference does it make? Which is preferable?

¨      What is the danger in failing to take into account the quality of life elements when making important decisions affecting any community?

4. Formulation of the community’s goals (10 minutes)

¨      Based on the results of the exercise, you then invite the group to set out the community’s quality of life goal. (This should consist of no more than a half-dozen points.)

¨      The “secretary” takes notes and reads this goal back to the group for its approval.

¨      Once written down, the goal is affixed to the village map.

5. Transition to the next session (5 minutes)

¨      Ask the group if community members ever ask each other about their quality of life goals when an important decision concerning them is to be made? (i.e., by the villagers themselves, the administration or the technical services.).

¨      Explain that, during the next training session, the group will continue this exercise by establishing its own goals in terms of activity or production.

¨      You may now display the “quality of life” icon showing a woman holding a baby. This icon may be used in later stages of the training program.

NOTES TO THE FACILITATOR

q       This exercise is very good for developing participants’ self-confidence and capacity for analyzing their own concerns at the local level. It can also be adapted in countless ways.

q       The pooling, in the larger group, of quality of life objectives identified by the sub-groups (consisting of men, women and young people) is particularly useful and instructive.

q       It is useful because it allows participants to grasp, in an experiential way, the divergent opinions that can exist within a community, and it is instructive in that it allows the facilitator to gauge the group’s degree of cohesiveness.

q       Caution: in describing their quality of life goal, communities often confuse the goal itself (e.g., more free time in the case of the women), with the means used to achieve it (e.g., a village grain mill);

q       In order to be ready to oversee the definition of the community’s quality of life goal, you should, prior to the session, peruse a few examples of goal formulation that are available in documentation disseminated by the WAPPP.

q       The images on goals available in folder # 5 have to do, for example, with religion, education, health, etc. You have to get the participants to see the distinction between the goal and the means used to achieve it. For example:

ü      Concerning religion: one can cite, as a means of practicing one’s religion, the creation of a place of worship, a mosque, a Koranic school, etc.;

ü      Regarding education: possible means include Koranic schools, high schools, literacy campaigns, etc.

Health: means can include dispensaries, a health post, a maternity clinic, etc.

PEDAGOGIC ANALYSIS

Desired situation:

In order to be able to manage its resources properly, a community must be able to:

:

¨      envisage new activities (e.g., gardening, trade, handicrafts, etc.) while remaining attached to its traditional activities;

¨      be realistic and consider the constraints in its environment (with reference to the landscape goal to be studied next), while remaining open to the possibility of implementing new activities;

¨      discern the connection between the forms of production it chooses and the quality of life to which it aspires.

Current situation

In reality, however,

¨      herders, instead of envisaging the rationalization the intensification or the diversification of their activities, are forced to pursue individual subsistence strategies, and do not necessarily take all possible activities (or other actors) into account; and

¨      great divergences in aspirations exist within a single community, without community members being clearly aware of this fact or inclined to make them compatible and/or complementary.

Disparity between current and desired situation

The gap that this module is therefore intended to bridge is the following:

¨      inadequate comprehension of the synergy that can exist between different activities that could be implemented by the various members of the same community;

¨      Failure to take into account the differing interests and activities of the members of a single community (e.g., herders, farmers, hunters, artisans, traders, etc.).

Objectives of the module

By the end of the session, participants shall be able to:

¨      explain why it is important to take the activities of all community members into account;

¨      envisage new activities;

¨      show how these activities would allow them to attain the quality of life they want.

LOGISTICS

Target group:

The entire community, with all constituent groups represented, e.g.:

¨      men and women;

¨      young people and the elderly;

¨      herders, farmers, etc.

SARAR exercises used in the module:

                Variation on the “three piles sorting cards” exercise (Srinavasan, p. 101)

Graphic supports

Folder # 6

¨      three piles sorting cards of “production goal” contributing to the holistic goal. Caution: since there are three small working groups, three complete and identical sets of the assorted images pertaining to “production goals” are required.

¨      “production goal” icon (showing a cow and her calf.)

Approximate duration of the module: 

                   1 hour      

IMPLEMENTATION

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

¨      Transition: remind those assembled of the presentation given during the preceding module and indicate that today’s task consists of studying “the second stone on the hearth”.

¨      Point out the relationship between the quality of life goal (studied in the previous session) and production activities (studied in three groups, i.e., men, women and young people.)

¨      Explain that, as a follow-up to the last session on quality of life, the group will explore how it might be possible to choose production activities as a function of the desired quality of life.

2. Production activities sorting exercise (15 minutes)

¨      Describe the procedure to be followed. This consists of identifying activities that are feasible and compatible with the quality of life goals. The aim is therefore to establish a relationship between the quality of life goal and the production goal. This is done with the aid of images.

¨      As was done during the previous exercise, and in order to avoid leaving anyone out, ask participants to divide themselves once again into three groups – men, women and young people. Give each group a packet of images, and ask participants to choose a few images that represent potential production activities that would allow them to attain the quality of life goal they have set for themselves.

3. Pooling ideas (15 minutes)

¨      Once the groups have chosen their activities, they are then asked to meet again in a single large group and to pool their images.

¨      Ask the group next to designate a spokesperson for each type of activity and to present the ideas that have been developed.

4. Processing the exercis; (20 minutes)

¨      Having done the exercise, do the participants think it is easier or more difficult to develop ideas about what should be done in this way ?

¨      Why is it easier or more difficult ? Who else is there ?

¨      Were there significant differences between the three groups ? Why is it important to take these differences into account?

¨      Are the members of the group sure that they have not forgotten anyone (or any group) in their community ?

¨      Do participants think that the activities envisaged would allow the community to attain the quality of life goal it has set for itself? How ?

¨      Which new forms of production can they think of; that were not represented among the images distributed ?

¨      If this procedure, which consists of choosing a community’s activities as a function of its goals, is useful, then why isn’t it ever used in real life ?

5 .Conclusion and formulation of the community’s goals (10 minutes)

¨      Based on the results of the exercise, ask the group to establish the community’s production goal (which should involve no more than a half dozen points).

¨      The "secretary" should take notes and read the goal back to the group for its approval.

¨      The goal is then affixed to the map of the village, next to the quality of life goal.

¨      At this point, the facilitator can display the “production goal” icon, which shows a cow grazing together with her calf, and which will be used during subsequent exercises.

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

q       The holistic goal is not static, but is instead constantly evolving. In establishing the community’s goals, begin by developing goals that attract the broadest consensus, leaving more specific goals for later.

PEDAGOGIC ANALYSIS

Desired situation:

In order to manage its resources properly, a community must possess the following:

¨      an awareness of the fact that a landscape is not immutable, but instead can deteriorate or be rehabilitated, depending on how it is used;

¨      an awareness of the multiple causes of ecological degradation;

¨      a conviction that controlling landscape degradation requires concerted action on the part of the entire community, as well as an individual commitment from each person;

¨      an ability to see the connections between its future landscape, the production activities it envisages and the quality of life to which it aspires.

Current situation

In reality, however, the situation is most often the following:

¨      Community members are usually acutely aware of the deterioration of their environment.

¨      They adopt a fatalistic attitude, however, rooted in a feeling of powerlessness in the face of environmental degradation.

¨      They generally claim that this degradation is caused by inadequate rain and is in the hands of providence.

Disparity between current and desired situation

The gap that this module is therefore intended to bridge is the following:

¨      an excessively narrow interpretation of the causes of ecological degradation; and

¨      individual, rather than coordinated, resource exploitation (i.e., the “every man for himself” attitude).

Objectives of the module

By the end of the session, participants shall be able to:

¨      express their conviction that it is possible to restore the environment by improving its management;

¨      describe the future landscape that would allow them to achieve the production goal formulated previously.

LOGISTICS

Target group:

                The entire community, with all constituent groups represented, e.g.:

¨      men and women;

¨      young people and the elderly;

¨      herders, farmers, etc.

SARAR exercises used in the module:

                Story with a gap (Srinavasan, p. 118)

                Semi-structured conversations based on assorted images

Graphic supports

Folder #7

¨      Two posters (double A4 format) of the “story with a gap”

¨      Stack of images of the "landscape" part of the holistic goal

¨      Village map previously drawn up by the group

¨      “Landscape goal” icon

Approximate duration of the module:

                   90 minutes

IMPLEMENTATION

1. Introduction (10 minutes)

                Repeat the introduction to the preceding module, mentioning the three-part holistic goal symbolized by the three stones on the hearth. Just as a pot cannot stay upright if one of the stones is removed, no effective decision can be made if one of the elements of the holistic goal – quality of life, production and landscape -- is neglected.

2.    Presentation of the story with a gap (20 minutes)

¨      Display the poster showing the “before” situation, i.e., a severely degraded landscape.

¨      Tell the following “story with a gap”: A family lives in a village located in an extremely degraded environment. Provide the name of the hypothetical village (Ndourndour in a previous example) and enumerate some of its problems (poor health, inadequate nutrition, lack of a school, etc.) that have forced the men of the village to look for work abroad.

¨      Tell the story up to the critical juncture at which something must be done to rectify this unbearable situation.

3.    Analysing the changes in the village (30 minutes)

¨      Ask participants to imagine the various reasons for the deterioration of the situation.

¨      Once that has been done, present the image of the “after” situation and give the group some time to discuss and identify the improvements that have been made.

¨      Ask the group to imagine what actions were undertaken by the villagers to change the condition of their environment and to move from the “before” situation to the “after” situation; allow the group to contribute ideas freely.

¨      If necessary, show the group the images selected during the preceding exercise (production goal) in order to stimulate creative thinking.

4. Application to the participants’ real life (40 minutes)

¨      Ask the group to spread out the previously-prepared village map and proceed to reflect in the same way on its own map, which represents the village’s current situation;

¨      Invite them to choose images representing the production goal that they would like to develop, and place those images on the map in the appropriate places.

                You can ask questions such as the following to stimulate discussion:

¨      What is the group’s perception of the condition of the environment in its own village? Would it allow for the implementation of the envisaged production goal?

¨      Allow enough time for all participants (including men, women and young people) to give their opinions while referring to the map.

¨      Is the previously established production goal compatible with the current landscape as it has been described? Or would it be necessary, on the contrary, to modify the landscape? If so, in what way?

5. Transition and formulation of the community’s goals (15 minutes)

¨      Specify first of all that this session is the last one devoted to the holistic goal; ask the group to recall the image of the three stones on the hearth, and to suggest a few ways in which they might share the results of the preceding reflection on community goals with people who had not attended the sessions, in order to convince them of its usefulness.

¨      Based on the preceding discussion, invite the group to establish the community’s future landscape goal (in no more than a half-dozen points).

¨      The "secretary" takes notes and reads the goal back to the group for its approval.

¨      The landscape goal is then affixed to the map of the village, along with the two others.

¨      At this point, you should display the “landscape goal” icon, which shows livestock silhouetted against luxuriant vegetation, and which will be used in subsequent exercises.

¨      Make the transition to the following module by explaining that the next few sessions will cover more technical subjects, but that these are necessary and will be understandable by all.

¨       

NOTES TO THE FACILITATOR

q       This “programming” exercise is well suited for use at the village level. However, remember that involvement on the part of pastoral communities can require a certain experience that they (and particularly the women of such communities) do not always have. Persevere.

q       The facilitator should consider ways of getting people outside the community (e.g., neighboring communities, administration, technicians) to understand and approve the process of establishing the holistic goal. Indeed, it very often happens that administrative and technical people think they “know perfectly well” what everybody’s goals are and that it is pointless to spend too much time on this issue, whereas it is the point of departure for the holistic process and must be a constant point of reference.

q       One indicator of the participants’ ability/desire to improve management of their resources is the following: do they blame bad luck? Or do they accept their own share of responsibility for the degradation of their environment?