We have learnt that we cannot effectively tackle real (outer) world issues and injustices such as debt and dependency without also addressing the underlying (inner) psychological dimensions and dynamics that obstruct or reinforce transformation. Even the best intended development interventions will fail if local people feel powerless, their spirit is broken, and their deeper connection to their place and community is severed. At the same time, however, we have found that we cannot resolve those inner issues without tackling immediate, real-world problems.
We have found that there is no more powerful entry point for communities in remote areas to improve their own lives than organising themselves around productive opportunities that meet fundamental needs. There is, also, no more powerful way to learn from and grow these efforts than through an iterative cycle of action and reflection that links the inner and the outer.
In the communities we work in, such productive opportunities do not just put food on the table. Through the cycle of action and reflection, people come to place even more value on the solidarity that comes with shared work (learning to work together); the pride they take in no longer having to depend on the arrival of the next cash transfer for their survival; and the insights they give into the values that underpin community, such as compassion and forgiveness.
We have also learnt that finding a way forward often starts with remembering the ancestral past, using story-telling and other techniques such as community theatre to recall lost collective identity and traditions or other shared memories. These are not blueprints that need to be restored or followed; rather, an invitation to go forward, as well as a source of guidance, inspiration and support along the way.
Another lesson that we have learnt is that progress towards the outcomes sought by policy makers and donors is often an emergent property of this process of locally-led development. In complex situations, even a seemingly irrelevant outlier such as the accumulated acts of communities can have a systemic impact. Any collective action towards building a more liveable, viable and just society reconstitutes social relations, and is therefore a transformative act. What history has taught us is that the continual accumulation of such acts can change things for the better.
Next: Our evolving role

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