Consolidating experiences as development professionals

Taking a distance

Looking back, the choice to work with voluntary organizations in the field of rural development was, for both of us something that we did not consciously plan for. In the overwhelming mainstream this was not an option that was considered and discussed as we went through the phase of ‘education’ and thinking about our careers. Yet, with several influences along the way, there was a sub-conscious build up of the values and orientations as well an understanding of the possibilities that existed in engaging in a meaningful manner in the arena of rural development.

The education in IRMA was in many ways a turning point, for some of the discourses that we were exposed to engaged with, but more importantly for the opportunity to engage directly, grapple with and attempt to understand the complex issues that are involved in poverty and underdevelopment.

Post IRMA we have both been working with established NGOs – initially with ADITHI in Bihar and for about six years now with Gram Vikas in Orissa. Both have used a variety of strategies and interventions to engage with the contexts that they have chosen to intervene in. Yet there are some areas where both organizations demonstrate fundamental similarities and some others where they are very different. It is these experiences that have influenced our thinking and shaped our perspectives. We have also in the process been exposed peripherally to the practices of other organizations and individuals.

Working with large established organizations has its advantages, but also its limitations. The greatest limitation being that they are established, used to certain ways of analysis and responses. While new ideas and new ways of thinking are encouraged, they are limited by the routine functions that often tend to dominate available energies. Secure in our jobs there is also this ‘zone of comfort’ that we seem to be settling into, which is disturbing in its own way.
At this point, the main reason why we feel we should take this time out is to consolidate experiences so far, for our own understanding. The process will help us in distilling our thoughts on what we have seen so far, what we have tried to do, and what we have not tried yet.

In the process we will also make an effort to document them in a manner that is useful for individuals involved in working with the voluntary/ rural development sector in general.

Areas of enquiry

There are two key areas where we would like to focus on at this stage. There may be more ideas as we go along, but our preliminary thoughts are to explore the issue of -‘professional management’ vs. ‘social activism’ - is the dilemma real? We have been confronted by this issue time and again in the course of the work, and would like to analyze and understand this dilemma to some extent.

Another area that has substantively dominated our work in the past years is quality of life. We’d like to explore if “threshold quality of life” is a necessary precondition for sustained social change. Are there sufficient examples on ground to substantiate this?