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

1.12. Nobody has Nothing
(Source: Coady Institute)
Session Title
Session Objectives
Duration of Session
Resources
Training Materials
Nobody has Nothing
Challenge participants to identify the assets and creativity of people
who are traditionally labelled as the “poorest of the poor”
Show that everyone, no matter how poor, has access to assets
20 minutes
None
Community Scenarios
Introduction
Sometimes, it can be challenging to introduce ABCD to colleagues and community members. People can
be very skeptical and a common response that is given is “We have nothing…” or “that community does
not have any assets…” Labelling people in this way can lead them to believe that they have nothing to
contribute and can result in apathy, a sense of helplessness and a dependence on outside institutions to
“develop” them.
An ABCD approach, on the other hand, challenges us to identify and mobilize the multitude of human,
physical, natural, financial and social contributions that even the “poorest of the poor” can make to
improve their lives. These often go unnoticed and unappreciated by development organizations.
To help the participants see that even the “poorest” people have assets, explain that the group will now
look at four scenarios showing how people have pooled their assets to undertake successful activities.
Explain that these scenarios have been selected because they are examples of people we often assume
to be poor and marginalized. However, they show us that everyone, no matter how poor, has access to
assets. We often overlook these assets because we tend to focus only on people’s needs and problems.
Instructions
This exercise can be done using power points or you may choose to read the four scenarios aloud or
hand them out to participants in hard copy (provided in the Training Materials Guide). You may also
break the participants into groups or undertake this exercise in plenary depending on the context.
Give each team a written copy of the scenarios and ask them to answer the following question (you may
also want to create your own scenarios based on your experience):
1. Can you link these assets with potential income-generating activities? If so, which ones?
Make sure that there is at least one literate person in each team who is able to read the description to
the rest of the team (or you may choose to join a team yourself to be the reader). Ask each team to
report their responses back to the whole group. If done in plenary, you can simply ask people to shout
out their answers. You may even want to provide prizes.
Scenario 1:
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