ABS Capacity buildingProtimos Africa

"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in the bark of a tree, just as the butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited a while, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it, I tried to help it with my breath. In vain. It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of the wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand”.

Nikos Kazantzakis, 'Zorba the Greek'

Not to deliver but to intervene We do not bring or deliver development but intervene into

processes that pre-exist. These processes have begun before us and it is crucial for us to understand what we are intervening into. It is important for us to understand where a community has come from, how it has changed and where it is heading towards.

History of the San in the context of South Africa- pre and post apartheid

Coming together as a community Political representation Hoodia

From dependence to interdependence Capacity building is an attempt to help the

community take control over their future and to arrive at effective solutions to questions, problems and concerns including political and economic marginalization- that means it’s a three stage process a) dependence b) independence c) interdependence

ABS Going beyond ABS Linking ABS to other issues affecting the

community

Facilitating skilfulness

The process isn’t so much about providing skills but rather facilitating skillfulness that already exists within the community

Weapons of the weak- the art of being resourceful, networking with individuals and organizations that can help the community

Organic processes

The need for capacity building is an internal process and has to emerge from the community

The request from the San for legal information, training, help desk

Flexibility It is hard to have a rigid predetermined conception

of capacity building, every intervention changes the situation to the extent that the intervention itself must be flexible to adapt to this change

Changes to pre-planned versions of the workshop The intervention affecting the power dynamics

within the community and between the community and the larger society

Facilitating change It is important to be more than a technical expert;

instead we must be skilled in the process of facilitating change

Now that things have begun to change rapidly, how can this change be facilitated sensitively- change that comes from increase in wealth, issues of accountability of community representatives, change that comes with increased awareness of one’s rights

Self-transformation

Amidst this we have to pay attention to our own development as facilitators

How do we respond to challenges to of our role as facilitators-relationship between the NGO and the community on issues of control, guidance, accountability and transparency?

Participation as an end

Participation is not just a means to an end but an end in itself- the whole point of this is to ensure people are able to meaningfully participate in their own lives

How do we evaluate the project- does it have an end ( in terms of clear outcomes) or is it something more than that?