Ask a Silly Question,Get a Silly Answer

ABSTRACT

Careful attention is required to one's entry into community development work. The formation and continued support of genuinely participatory working relationships are essential. These must be given the time and creation of trust to establish and be tested. This requires making sure that the needs of the community (as they see them) are sensitively regarded and integrated within the action plan that they have helped to create, along with the skills and whatever the person(s) bringing development assistance services can realistically contribute. This ought to be obvious, but in practice many things frequently seem to be missed and can go wrong, especially when people cross cultures from the West and enter a Third World situation to “help.” This article identifies and gives illustrations (some of which engage children) of some important fine points of the participatory process, providing some flesh to the bones of our social work development values and theory.