Women's involvement in community development : a study of Mambuka rural community
The purpose of the study was to investigate the involvement of women in community development with special reference to rural women in Mambuka area. The study focused on the reasons influencing women to participate in community development projects. The investigation looked at various aspects involved in the process of community development. The motivation for this study came from, among other reasons, the author's experience in working with rural people. From a historical perspective, women have experienced and survived many difficult situations. These have included marginalisation, poverty and subjudication, all of which have led to their poor socio¬economic status. The design of this study included both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sampling strategy used was the non probability sampling and a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the interview schedule for quantitative data and the focus group for qualitative data. The sample was drawn from a total of eight (8) projects. Each project consists of about fifteen (15) members. One member was drawn from each of eight (8) projects totalling to eight (8) women and two (2) men. Two (2) other people who were not involved in the projects were interviewed. The focus group was convened to elicit more exhaustive and also grounded data. The study found that the involvement of women in community development had a positive impact because of the following: (i) Income from women ensured food security for their families. (ii) There was acknowledged recognition of what women did in the community. (iii) The infrastructure or community resources were slowly being developed. The study further found that the women face constraints in their development attempts. These include: (i) Lack of a repertoire of skills. (ii) Lack of capital infusion. Consequently, women's development efforts remain at subsistence level. They have not fully liberated women from poverty. It also came to light that there was a need for many external development agents in the area, to enable community women share resources to avoid duplication of services which have resulted in the retardation of progress towards their development and their upliftment in general. The following recommendations were made: Future research This study conducted was only limited to the factors influencing women to participate in community development. The study focused on the reasons for women to act as the main role players in development activities. Future studies could focus on the success or impact of rural development intervention strategies. Future social work practice The future social work practice indicates that there is a need for social workers to place their emphasis on the approach of community development if they are to empower communities to be able to address their unmet needs. As observed in this study, rural communities are in dire need of skills to develop themselves and improve their lives. The shortage of resources in rural areas is also one of the major problems facing people. It is timeous for social workers to become part of the communities they serve and co-ordinate all efforts that the people attempt to put together and help them to tap these resources. This calls for the re-orientation of social workers with a view to enabling them to render effective services to communities. Future social work education The training institutions face a challenge of relevance. They need to change and focus their training more towards a developmental approach, that the White Paper calls for. The curriculum will have to be shaped in such a way that it stresses more on issues that will lead to effective social development. Future policy Policies set to eliminate poverty and others to address women's issues have been put into place. Women of the World (Beijing Conference), came together to put their concerns in order to speak with one voice. As a result many countries .have now realised the importance of recognising the contribution made by women to their economy and other sectors. In spite of all these, the future lies in the hands of the people themselves with the assistance of development agents. These have to oversee the implementation of policies which have not yet filtered into the communities. Without this joint effort, people will never feel that they are pan of the policies that have been formulated.
Community development, Community development--Women involvement, Rural development strategies
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