How to do VCA? - International Federation of Red Cross and Red ...

38International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies■ local government structure;■ major problems.■ Familiarize yourself with the layout of the community.■ Understand the rhythm of the community: When do peoplework? What time are they at home? When is the best time tocarry out activities?■ Ensure that Red Cross Red Crescent representatives maintain afriendly, dynamic and motivational attitude, whilst at the sametime clarifying the process and raising realistic expectations.Box 10The problem with ‘community’….It is important not to idealise the notion of ‘community’. The people in anylocality that outsiders think of as being a ‘community’ may not always beco-operative on all issues. They can also be in conflict, involving exploitativeand repressive relations, especially in relation to their livelihoods (e.g.different access to land and water) and social existence (e.g. caste, ethnicdifferences, religious intolerances). Another factor is gender: we cannoton the one hand advocate for gender equality and women’s rights andignore the fact that in any ‘community’, divisions between males andfemales are of crucial importance. Do we work on gender issues, or withthe ‘community’ that exists on the basis of gender inequality?Programmes that fail to acknowledge the internal divisions anddifferences within a ‘community’ may be liable to fail. These issues arewell-known in NGO development work, and are recognised in theFederation’s programmes through the Better Programming Initiative (e.g.through the concept of dividers and connectors in BPI). Many donors donot take these issues into account enough, and tend to idealise the ideaof ‘community’. As a result of some VCAs, the resulting interventions canbe very useful in reducing conflicts between different groups in a locality,since outsiders can act as catalysts for change.You are now in a position to select and invite different communityleaders to attend a sensitization meeting.