ABCD-Training-of-Trainers-Tools-July-2013

Emphasize that ABCD emerged from a recognition that communities have been self-organizing to meet
opportunity or overcome crises for centuries. Development actors often forget this fact and overlook
that even in the poorest communities, there are a multitude of strengths and capacities that could be
mobilized for community development efforts today.
Explain that focusing only on the glass as ‘half-empty’ has also led to a number of unintended
consequences:
Debrief
• Leaders only talk about community problems and needs and become preoccupied with getting
external help and resources.
• Community members start to accept uncritically what their leaders are saying and come to
believe that they can’t improve their lives without outside assistance.
• There is a growing dependence on external rather than internal resources and relationships.
• The existing efforts, assets, and resources of the community are undervalued and overlooked.
Explain that you are not saying that needs do not exist or that people are not entitled to have their
needs met. The point is that by focusing only on needs and problems, we will just see one half of the
picture.
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