An urban renewal program in preunification Berlin involved self-help projects and a community school. The program demonstrated a holistic approach to urban regeneration and showed that the success of participatory community processes depends on community education. (SK)

Interviews with 120 rural Nigerian women found that 96% participate in self-help community development projects and 68% were engaged in farming. Constrains on participation included domestic responsibilities, lack of funding and resources, male domination, and politics. There was a significant relationship between their sociocultural beliefs and…

A survey of 23 chairpersons of town unions (rural sociocultural organizations) in Nigeria indicated that self-help projects in education and rural development were concentrated in areas lacking infrastructure. Recommendations were made for an organizing framework, leadership training, government assistance, and efforts to encourage active…

A community water supply project in Cameroon illustrates the following constraints on community participation in development: paternalistic authorities, prescriptive role of the state, selective participation, bias toward "hard" issues, inattention to negative results, group conflicts, gatekeeping, pressure for immediate results,…

A study of three Nigerian villages produced the following suggestions for improving the problems facing rural community development: democratic participative decision making, care in project selection, government incentives, promotion of adult literacy, and well-trained community workers. (SK)

The case study examines the work of a coalition between certain women's groups in India and a nongovernmental charitable trust. The mission of the coalition is to empower Indian women, who generally possess neither land nor power, to care for their livestock. (CH)

Outlines data on the socioeconomic, health, and educational status of Blacks in Georgia. Calls for the maximization of internal resources for internal development, self-sufficiency, and self-determination. (GC)

Presents a case study of participatory evaluation which suggests an evaluation method which not only provides meaningful data for decision makers but also provides important feedback to the community. Shows the steps leading to self-evaluation workshops and reviews the evaluation methods that were utilized. (Author/CT)

The paper documents and analyzes the nature of community self-help efforts in rural areas of Anambra State, Nigeria. It notes that community perceptions of development are based on a social and economic yardstick and differ from the prevailing public policy on agricultural development. (Author/SB)

In recent decades, rural Mayan women in Guatemala have been working to overcome long-standing disadvantages: illiteracy, poverty, lack of basic community services, and lack of respect for women's abilities and contributions. Profiles of 10 Mayan women describe their educational experiences and their community development work, particularly in the…

NativeSUN, an enterprise to install solar energy systems on Hopi and Navajo reservations, is the star project of the Hopi Foundation, a home-grown nonprofit organization that fosters self-sufficiency and culturally compatible development in Hopi communities. Other projects include preservation of ceremonial Clan houses, support for indigenous…

Examines how Inter-American Foundation's grantees in Argentina are coping with the country's economic crisis of 2001. Describes community development projects in Indigenous regions, the role of urban schools as the only functioning public institution providing human services, literacy education in Patagonia, job training and support for…

Discusses how cultural vitality drives successful community development. Links cultural, community, and environmental values. Examines successes and failures of programs attempting to link culture and development in Panama, Ecuador, and Colombia. Examines role of cultural self-examination for creating new development paradigm. Examines prospects…

The Citizens' Campaign Against Hunger and Poverty and For Life is a nongovernmental organization in Brazil that recruited and organized more than three million volunteers to distribute food baskets, support gardening and water projects, provide basic health care, create jobs, assist homeless children, and encourage local and state governments to…

The Fundacion Social, a grassroots organization in Colombia, uses profits from its 14 companies to fund community self-help initiatives aimed at eliminating poverty. Social programs focus on community integration, microbusinesses, recycling, education, and communication. The organization seeks to eliminate structural poverty and is currently…