Community Project

In this manual, community project is used interchangeably with

community activity, and refers to actions planned and undertaken by a

group of people in response to a collaborative decision to make a

change or an improvement. Community projects are characterized

by a high degree of participation and commitment on the part of the

community.

Counterpart

A Counterpart is the host country national with whom a Volunteer

works. The term Counterpart is used differently in different settings.

Sometimes the counterpart is a close colleague another teacher,

extension agent, small business advisor who is doing the same type

of work as the Volunteer. In other situations, the Counterpart is a

direct supervisor, such as the director of an agency, institution, or

center where the Volunteer works. In some cases, a Volunteer may

Development agents, such

have more than one Counterpart. For example, some education

Volunteers work with groups of cooperating teachers. The definition

as  Volunteers

and selection of Counterparts is usually a joint decision between the

and staff and local

 and the agency with which the Volunteer will work.

Counterparts, use

For the purposes of the PDM workshop, the Counterpart that comes

participatory analysis

with the Volunteer should be someone with whom the volunteer

works closely. The Counterpart is considered an equal partner of the

tools and methods with

Volunteer. As a result of the workshop, it is hoped that the Volunteer

community members to

and Counterpart go back to the community to share the information

and skills they have acquired in project design and management.

help them explore their

resources, roles and

responsibilities, and

Participatory Analysis Tools and Methodologies

priorities for change.

Development agents, such as  Volunteers and staff and

local Counterparts, use participatory analysis tools and methods with

community members to help them explore their resources, roles and

responsibilities, and priorities for change. As the community becomes

clear about its priorities, the development worker becomes a partner

with the community as it develops its own projects, carries out the

tasks, and monitors and evaluates its work.

In 1996, the  developed Participatory Analysis for Com 

munity Action (PACA), a set of age and gender sensitive tools that

could facilitate a participatory process in which women, men, girls,

and boys engage in their own analysis and decision making about

what they want to change in their community. PACA grew out of the

many requests for materials that could address, simultaneously, the

needs for tools to use in community development, urban and rural

appraisal, gender and socioeconomic analysis, and other participatory

methodologies. Based in part on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

and Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), PACA was developed by the Peace

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