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1. A Perspective
Each person regardless of background or life history has her own potential to achieve her own goals and aspirations in life. An affirmation of this belief and manifestation in one's life is what we call self-reliance.
People who have attained a level of self-reliance are productive and creative members of their family and community. They are resourceful and independent. Those who for some reason or other lack this essential ingredient for development, have become a part of what writers call a "dependency culture". They are caught in an endless downward spiral. They have a low image of themselves, are fearful of taking risks, are unable to use their potentials and creativity. As a consequence such individuals abdicate their basic rights in decision-making to others. Such individuals contribute meagerly to their household and community. Their contribution, are generally taken for granted by society in general.
The core objective of the "Women Population and Development" programme of China is to provide opportunities for rural poor women to achieve a certain level of self-reliance, in the belief that once women regain control on their lives they will be able to improve their general economic and social situation. As part of this process of attaining improved status as they revalidate themselves, among other things, they are able to rationalize their family life planning, particularly in the area of birth planning and general reproductive health and child care.
This Manual is one of the tools for rural women to address various issues related to lack of self-reliance on the one had and on exploring approaches for self-transformation towards self-reliance on the other hand.
2. Women Population and Development Manual Series
A series of Manuals has been developed within the context of the Women Population and Development (WPD) programme of China. This Manual on "Group Formation for Rural Women" is one of these. One Manual builds on the other and should therefore be used in conjunction with the others. Cross references are made where required.
Originally, this Manual on "Formation of Rural Women" has been designed for county and township personnel. During the testing period we have found that the Manual can be used by project personnel for rural women as well. The only adjustments project personnel had to make was in terms of pace rather than in presentation. They have had to take a slower pace with groups which had more illiterate members in the said group.
Another Manual on "Micro-enterprise Development" has been designed for county and township project personnel. The nature of the subject matter requires a certain level of education. This is used only for county and township personnel and/ or more advanced members of women's groups.
3. Manual Organization and the Workshop Process
There are four Modules in this Manual on "Group Formation of Rural Women". The first three Modules are used both for field workers workshop as well as for women's groups. There are two parts in Module 4. Module 4-F is for Field Workers and Module 4-W is for rural women's groups.
Module 1: The Role of Persons in Organization Building
This Module addresses issues related to value clarification and value change. Participants are given opportunities to address issues related to why women's status are low. They then determine the approaches to change their situation. Through socio-psychological techniques they are guided through the process of clarifying their own values regarding self-image, risk taking, self-expression etc. Also in this Module they address value issues related to establishing an organization, such as the importance of trust, cooperation and communication.
Module 2: Organizational Mechanics
Module 2 initiates participants into group organization as they are introduced mechanics of establishing and managing their own organization. Participants are guided through the establishment of a savings and loan operation as an essential discipline and financial foundation of an organization for self-reliance. Step by step they are guided as they evolve their group goals and objectives; Policies and Procedures; leadership styles suited to their voluntary and democratic organization; terms of reference for their organizational officers; mechanisms of control such as meeting procedures, minutes of meetings etc.
Modern techniques adapted from the body of knowledge made available through literature and practice in the field of "Organizational Development" are used in this Module. There is therefore a lot of group work with a requirement to accomplish outputs, which are not theoretical but are practical use by the group to start operating their organization right after the workshop.
Module 3: Basic Elements: Establishment and Maintenance of Micro-Enterprises
We have learned from the Women Population and Development project, that one of the main approaches to regain a certain level of self-reliance is for rural poor women to undertake their own individual micro-enterprise. In this Module the workshop participants are given an opportunity to learn basic knowledge and skills in the establishment and maintenance of micro-enterprises.
It may be noted however, that this Module requires a certain level of literacy skills and field workers are warned during their own training to adjust the material and pace to each specific group.
Module 4: Work Plan or Action Plan
Module 4 - F for field workers has three major parts namely: (a) knowledge and skills required in planning for the establishment of women's groups in their individual county areas; (b) the procedures and systems to be established in women's groups; (c) their own county Work Plan or Action Plan.
Module 4 - W for women's groups has two major parts namely: (a) a review of goals and objectives they developed earlier and the Organizational Development Framework (the latter giving indicative targets against key indicators); (b) their own Action Plan for 6 months.
4. The Educational Methodology
The fundamental belief of self-reliance is woven into all the features of this Manual. The learning process is structured in such a way as to draw out the ideas of participants. It is this essential principle of participation in the process of arriving at outputs which initiates and sustains the process of building the sense of self-reliance of the workshop participants. Participants are in effect introduced not only to a method but a value of participation which hopefully will carry through in the way they operate their organization.
Participants of the workshop are introduced to a participatory mode of learning as differentiated from the teacher-student mode of learning. In the former, the flow of knowledge which is the content of learning is drawn from the participants themselves. Being adults who have years of experiences, participants contribute content in the workshop. In the latter, the flow of knowledge or content of learning is mostly from the teacher to the student.
The Modules and what they contain are like building blocks. As such therefore, they are not independent of each other. They build on one another. It is for example not advisable to simply use Module 2 when participants have not had the opportunity to experience the learning process in Module 1.
Socio-psychological tools have been introduced, drawing from modern methods of education and corporate manpower development. In the process of testing the Manual on "Group Formation For Rural Women" we have been able to find the appropriate adjustments in the socio-psychological tools to fit local culture.
A deductive and/or experiential method of learning is employed. For example, an experiential activity is first undertaken. Participants are guided to undergo a Group Dynamics activity. They then discuss and reflect on what they have learned from this experience by transferring the principle to real life situation. The results of their discussions are then summarized and reflected back by the Facilitator to the group. Theory is used to enhance participant insights. This process in effect makes participants actually provide their own inputs and to delineate these from those of the Facilitator. The Facilitator enhances participant outputs by organizing their outputs, adding her own insights and enhancing the over-all group output through theoretical synthesis.
5. The Workshop Design
There are two phases in the workshop for field workers. This workshop is for a period of about 160 - 170 hours or 18 days with 8-9 hours work daily. of this two to three days are for field practice. There are therefore two phases in the workshop for field workers. The first phase is in-classroom and the second phase in the village, working with rural women.
The workshop for rural women is for a period of 60 - 70 hours. This could broken into segments, but basically Module 1 needs to be done within a continuous time frame.
See Figure 1 for the Workshop Design.
WORKSHOP DESIGN: GROUP FORMATION
(For Field Workers/Facilitators)
PHASE I: THEORETICAL PHASE |
PHASE II: PRACTICUM PHASE | ||||
Topics |
MODULE 1 |
MODULE 2 |
MODULE 3 |
Module 4-F |
FIELD PRACTICUM |
- Setting A Tone For Participation |
- Group Capital Fund and Project Revolving Fund Discussed |
- Causes of Success or Failure of a Business |
- Task Analysis |
- Preparation of Workshop Design | |
Process |
Lecture/Sharing, Structured Learning Exercise (SLE), Workshop/Discussions, Rob Playing. Caselets |
On the Job Actual Work | |||
Output- |
- An appreciation of the concept and practice in participatory learning/shared responsibility |
- Internalized the importance of group savings and loan operation as key foundation for self-reliance |
- Internalized key factors which make business succeed or fail |
- Clear understanding of FW task requirements for group formation |
-Practical Skills, Knowledge and Attitudes in Organizing Women's Groups acquired |
Duration |
19-20 Hours |
10-15 Hours |
15 Hours |
10-12 Hours |
2 Days |
WORKSHOP DESIGN: GROUP FORMATION
(For Women's Groups)
PHASE I: THEORETICAL PHASE | ||||
MODULE 1 |
MODULE 2 |
MODULE 3 |
Module 4-W | |
Topics |
- Setting A Tone For Participation |
- Group Capital Fund and Project Revolving Fund Discussed |
- Causes of Success or Failure of a Business |
- Review of Partnership Commitments and Programme Overview |
Process |
Lecture/Sharing, Structured Learning Exercise (SLE). Workshop/Discussions, Role Playing. Caselets | |||
Output |
- An appreciation of the concept and practice in participatory learning/shared responsibility |
- Internalized the importance of group savings and loan operation as key foundation for self-reliance |
- Internalized key factors which make business succeed or fail |
- Clear understanding of group commitments; goals, objectives; |
Duration |
19-20 Hours |
10-15 Hours |
15 Hours |
6 Hours |
