Civic Welfare Training Service Program Essay Example

and a strong dependence mentality.

The Change Agent System: A Liberative Community Organizer recognizes this prevailing culture. Consequently, many individuals may initially have no interest in the work of change agents. To overcome this resistance, change agents play a vital role in sparking people's interest in their own personal and communal situations. Community organizers begin by urging and pressuring the system to address societal injustice. By raising awareness about dissatisfaction, they disrupt the existing state of affairs and initiate improvement.

The role of a community organizer is to actively engage in various activities such as persuading, arguing, suggesting, challenging, motivating, analyzing, agitating and facilitating in order to bring about change. They constantly explore and test different methods due to the diversity of people and ever-changing situations. However, they do not take control over decision-making from their clients. It is crucial for the community organizer to establish boundaries between acting as a catalyst (which they are) and avoiding manipulation (which they are not). In summary, the community organizer serves as a "change generator," effectively transforming an enabling issue into a recognized need (Source: ASI CD Monograph, 1998).

The topic being discussed is the definition of community organizing. This term has been extensively used in both academic and non-academic contexts with each agency or organization interpreting it differently based on their perspectives and objectives.

Community organizing (CO) is widely utilized by various professionals, including development practitioners, social workers, health workers, agriculturists, forest workers, teachers, and students. The purposes for which people employ CO vary - some aim to promote environmental protection while others focus on the act of community organizing itself. While certain individuals view CO as solely a means of

building organizations, others see it as just one aspect of the goals tied to CO. For some practitioners, CO is synonymous with community development. Nevertheless, CO involves more than simply physically gathering and organizing individuals to collectively address issues. It encompasses a decision-making process based on the community in which a change agent intervenes, specifically when it comes to exploiting resources within that community.

According to Paulo Freire, man is a being who exists in and with the world. Existence is a way of life that belongs to a being capable of producing, deciding, creating, and communicating themselves. Now let's examine various definitions of community organizing, which involves the process of promoting and sustaining harmony between the social welfare needs and resources within a specific geographical area or specialized field of service. This signifies that a community must recognize that their needs can be met within the physical boundaries of the community.

Adjusting the needs of a community with the resources available involves several steps. First, it requires identifying which resources can be utilized. Second, there needs to be a plan in place for how to tap into these resources, use them, and potentially re-use them. Third, it is important to employ environmentally safe appropriate technology during this process. Finally, promoting collective human action in resource management and maintenance is crucial.

This adjustment process ultimately has an impact on the patterns of relationships within the community. It involves developing and maintaining a normative system that influences the values, beliefs, attitudes, and aspirations of the community members. This approach, known as CO or community organizing, aims to bring about development in a radical way. CO

may employ methods such as coercion, advocacy, and even threats to address social injustice and eliminate its root causes. While CO may start by addressing smaller issues that can be immediately acted upon or solved, its main focus is on uncovering and resolving the underlying problems.

The creation of CO, which stands for legitimate and real organization of the people, is a result of the organization process. CO represents the collective wills of individuals to participate, express themselves, be heard, and make decisions as a unified group. It reflects the interests, sentiments, and aspirations of people. The question arises whether achieving the end justifies using unconventional methods by effective COs raises ethical considerations. According to Alinsky, conscience is more about observation than being an agent of action. In action, consistent decisions with one's individual conscience may not always be possible. The focus is on mass salvation rather than personal salvation due to society's inherent hypocrisy, contradictions, and apparent failures in various aspects of social and political life.

2. By empowering the people, we ensure that the future is entrusted to them. Power is the fundamental factor in the process of community organizing. In CO, the power of the people does not depend on their material wealth or societal status. Consequently, a potent people's organization (PO) serves as a significant avenue for addressing their grievances and taking action against situations that marginalize and dehumanize them.

People’s empowerment involves making individuals more assertive and advocate for addressing human rights violations and exploitation. It is a process that recognizes and builds upon people's innate capacity, aiming to enable the weak, poor, unorganized, illiterate, and oppressed to overcome their powerlessness and

develop their inherent potential. Through empowerment, individuals can become vocal and secure fundamental freedoms, opportunities, and self-governance at the grassroots level. In Conflict (And Controversy) In CO, dissatisfaction or discontent is seen as a catalyst for community enlightenment and development. It motivates people to come together, discuss issues, and actively work towards resolving the problems that affect them.

CO views confrontation as an essential and valuable means of addressing social injustice. Change is inherent in human life, and conflict is an essential element in bringing about societal change. To live is to undergo change, and change and conflict are closely intertwined in societal transformation. One practical aspect of conflict is that it stimulates the search for resolutions.

It serves as a catalyst for innovative change and the release of latent socio-psychological frustration. Praxis refers to the integration of theory and practice in community organizing.

In community improvement and organizing work, it is challenging to distinguish between theory and practice. Both theory and practice should be intertwined and complementary, with each one testing and strengthening the other. This concept also includes reflection and action (Figure 3). Conscientization, also known as critical awakening, refers to the process in which individuals are not recipients but rather knowing subjects who develop a deeper awareness of the socio-cultural reality that shapes their lives. They also become aware of their capacity to transform that reality (Paulo Freire; 1972). Conscientization involves simultaneous reflection and action in the organizing process, where critical reflection becomes a form of action.

Conscientization is characterized by an organized response against the existing system, revealing and exposing its realities. This allows individuals to perceive the true nature of the system and counteracts

efforts by elites to perpetuate a culture of poverty. Instead, it encourages critical awareness and mass protest among people, fostering cooperation, unity, and sincerity to combat the self-centered, competitive, exploitative, and selfish traits exhibited by those in power (Source: ASI CD Monograph, 1998).

When discussing goals for community organizing, there are several overarching objectives at play. Firstly, community organizing aims to empower individuals by equipping them with the necessary skills and values to assert their rights and advocate for social equity, fairness, and human dignity. Another objective is to establish a permanent organization that effectively addresses the needs and aspirations of the community. The primary aim is to create a grassroots-managed organization that is self-reliant. The community acquires management skills through formal or non-formal structures (Source: ASI CD Monograph, 1998).

Building alliances: Community organizing seeks to provide people with skills in both intra-organizational management as well as inter-organizational management processes through group linkages and networking among various community groups.

Popular democracy involves attributes such as consensus-building in decision-making processes, planning activities together with participation from all members within the community projects.The text highlights the promotion of key rights such as "one man, one vote," freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Community organizing strives to transform both the community and society at large into democratic, nationalistic, self-reliant, and self-governing entities. These entities address individual members' needs and community-based issues like environmental degradation. Furthermore, the goal is to identify local leaders and empower them with necessary skills through collaboration and building upon their existing knowledge.

Building on what they have, teaching by showing, and learning by doing is not achieved through showcasing, but through a pattern.

Instead of random items, there

is a comprehensive system. Instead of fragmented strategy, there is an integrated approach. Rather than conforming, the goal is to transform - not just providing temporary relief but aiming for lasting release. This approach involves immersing oneself in the community and living among its people.

Understanding and embracing the culture of a community is crucial for successful integration. This involves actively learning, planning, and collaborating with the people. Their local knowledge is invaluable, making it essential for community organizers to tap into their expertise. Additionally, it is vital to acknowledge and build upon the current stage of development in order to effectively support them.

In order for the community to effectively utilize its resources, a balanced combination of top-down and bottom-up technologies is required. Community organizers should initially learn from the people and recognize that local knowledge carries equal importance as scientific knowledge. By valuing the expertise of the community, they will be encouraged to develop additional skills that can enhance their existing knowledge.

To truly transform the lives of individuals in a community, community organizing must adopt an integrative and holistic approach that acknowledges the interconnection and dependence of different factors. One crucial aspect of this approach is to closely engage with community members, forming strong bonds and actively immersing oneself in the community. By living among them and sharing their experiences – including their aspirations, ambitions, and challenges – trust and collaboration can be fostered. To accomplish this, organizers participate in both formal and informal social and economic activities to gain understanding of the culture, history, economy, leaders, and ways of life of the people.

The act of integrating serves as the basis for all subsequent actions.