Describes Comunidades Eclesial de Base (CEBs) or base communities which are self-help and mutual aid groups that assist in alleviating the effects of poverty and powerlessness in Latin America. Discusses two potential problems of CEBs - that they may encourage either passivity or increased violence. (Author/NB)

Describes a workshop providing tools for self-confrontation and for acquiring self-help methods of making the desired changes in participants' daily lives. Many participants came to the realization that they are not passive victims of life, that they do make choices, and that they shape their lives by those choices. (Author/BEF)