PRA-Manual Embracing Participitation tools-only.pdf - PACA

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3.12 EMBRACING PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT: Wisdom from the Field 1.11 Duration It is not possible to recommend a standard duration for a participatory appraisal. The time required can vary from a couple of days to several weeks. This will depend on the topic being analyzed, the size of the community, its internal dynamics, the diversity within the community and the size of the facilitating team. Urban communities tend to be very large, and therefore, take more time as compared to rural communities. During the participatory appraisals with adolescents in Zambia we had fairly large teams of facilitators, ranging from 12 to over 20 members in a compound. It was, therefore, possible to divide the team into sub-teams of 3-4 members each. This made it possible for us to cover a lot of ground within a relatively short span of time. Usually we spent about five to seven days in a community. The first few participatory appraisals may require more time. As the facilitators gain experience in handling the methodology and the process, it is possible to facilitate the same process in less time in subsequent appraisals. While planning for participatory appraisals it is important to budget for some days at the end for writing the reports. During the participatory appraisals carried out with adolescents in Zambia we allocated two days at every compound to complete the report. The synthesis report for the seven compounds in Lusaka took about a week to prepare. 1.12 The daily routine (17) Part 3 A participatory assessment must necessarily take place when people are available to participate. Therefore, the team must assemble early in the morning so that the day’s agenda can be reviewed and material gathered before setting out. An example of a fairly typical schedule is working in the community for five to six hours without taking a break, e.g., from 8:00 AM until 1:00 or 1:30 PM. It is possible that the team of facilitators spends this time with one group of people in the community, however, there is some fatigue and often it is difficult for the people to spare 4-5 hours at a time. It is common, therefore, for facilitators to meet, and have discussions with, several groups of people in the community in one morning. The teams disengage slowly from the community activity, discussing if appropriate with community members whether they should all meet to continue discussions the next day (sometimes it may be necessary to follow up the discussions in the afternoon on the same day), and then thanking the people for their time and effort. The teams then return to the central meeting point for a short break and lunch. After lunch, each team gathers its members together and begins sifting through and recording data generated during the morning sessions; as a team, they then pull out the main findings and results. In the late afternoon, by about 4:00 PM, each of the teams then briefly presents the day’s outputs to the larger group, including the display of important visuals prepared by the community. Once all the teams have presented, data are then systematically compared and contrasted
EMBRACING PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT: Wisdom from the Field 3.13 to identify similar findings and variations and to determine: 1) whether the findings have been adequately substantiated with several groups in the community, and 2) whether additional discussion and analysis is required with a specific group or different groups in order to triangulate the findings. Team members must take notes on the discussions to include in the team’s daily field journal (Part 3, Chapter 3), which is written later that evening. The process of comparing and contrasting data assists the teams to draw up the following day’s agenda and plan, (i.e., issues or questions to be pursued with the community). The other daily activity is for the team leaders to review progress against the original research objectives to ensure that all topics are being or will be addressed. Depending upon the complexity and richness of the day’s process in the field, it is possible that the day’s work may not end until late in the evening. The final activity for the day for the team members is to write up the daily field journal. A SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE USED DURING A PARTICIPATORY REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEEDS ASSESSMENT IN GITARAMA, RWANDA 7:15 AM Meet at rendezvous point and drive to the field 8:30 AM Gather materials at CARE Gitarama office and leave for the field 9:00 AM Begin participatory exercises 1:30 PM Wind down participatory exercises and return to CARE Gitarama 2:00 PM Lunch at the field office; team data review and prepare presentation 3:30 PM Team presentation (15 minutes per team) 5:00 PM Return to Kigali 6:00 PM Team Leaders plan following day’s agenda Source: Kambou (1999) Part 3 1.13 Monitoring quality and encouraging innovation It is important to remember that there is no ‘fixed’ way of facilitating a participatory appraisal process. Since the process is flexible and iterative, each context presents a unique situation. This poses challenges for the facilitator, for they have to continuously adapt and innovate in the field. Facilitators should be encouraged to ‘use their own best judgement at all times’, and try out any new ideas or adaptation of existing methods. PLA methodology is young and still evolving, and all its major innovations have taken place in the field. Flexibility and open-endedness of this methodology poses another challenge – that of ensuring quality. Since there are no standard procedures, or recording or reporting formats, it is very important that the facilitators, and especially the supervisors, make a conscious effort to monitor quality. This can be done in several ways. First, ensure that the facilitators are trained and briefed well about
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