Mobilizing Nepal

Organizational Development

After completing the Development Education course, community members are encouraged to devise their own individual development plans. Once the individual creates their own development plan, acknowledging their strengths, weaknesses, capacities and desires they are asked to for a People’s Organization with neighboring family members and residents called a “Community Development Committee” (CDC). This is the second element promoted by CCODER to achieve Total Human Development where essential infrastructure is developed to create an environment conducive to civic participation. The CDC is generally comprised of 25 to 50 members, and assesses the situation of available resources, how to use those resources to achieve each individual’s development goals and develop and institute a community wide development strategy.

After the formation of a CDC, representatives of ten to twenty CDCs unite to form a Regional Community Development Committee (R-CDC). The R-CDC draws up development plans according to the projects and goals of its member CDCs. Once CDCs are formed, R-CDCs come together District level CDCs (D-CDCs) form based on the geographical division of Nepal which then collaborate with a National CDC, which is currently held at the Kathmandu Headquarters of CCODER.

Development Education

The first element, of the CCODER model of Total Human Development, is the implementation of its Development Education Package. This was influenced by the short story by Leo Tolstoy titled “Three Questions”. The story is about a King who believed that if he only knew the right time to begin everything, the right people to trust, and what the most important task to undertake was, he would never fail. In search of the answer to these three questions he found himself on a journey of self-exploration and in the end came to the realization those questions could only be asked and answered from within.

The DE Package was created as an awareness building exercise to help people realize their full potential, and to awaken a sense of social awareness within. CCODER recognized early on, that in order to create such an awakening in Nepalese, one must provide them with practical education- supply them knowledge and education as a tool for progress; the ultimate goal is to support communities to use resources available to them to deal with the poverty facing their area.

 

The Development Education course is 3 months long where participants are asked, and in the end able to answer three questions:

· Where am I now?

· Where do I want to go?

· How do I get there?

The participants learn to identify the root causes of their problems, set clear goals and formulate realistic, feasible plans for success. After people have participated in Development Education, meaningful institutional development is possible.