Care goes from caring to empowering

Care goes from caring to empowering

By Ati Nurbaiti

JAKARTA (JP): A spray of water gushed from new pipes in an
arid East Java village recently.

"We did it!" screamed the villagers, joyously proud of their
18 months of hard work to bring water to their village.

The 18-month period also brought about a transformation in the
villagers' attitude, from one of helplessness to confidence that
they could overcome their problem of getting access to clean
water.

This triumph, repeated in a number of other provinces,
involved Care International Indonesia, a non-profit, private
organization with its headquarters in Brussels.

"We want to rub off some of this experience, that involving
the people themselves does have its merits," Paul McCarthy, the
organization's country director, said recently before completing
his mission in Indonesia.

The 18 months needed to complete a project, he said, can
include six long months of negotiations.

After that, people possess the confidence they need to dealing
with other problems. "They show confidence in facing the
bureaucracy at the district level, which is a big step," notes
McCarthy.

"Water facilities are just an entry point," he added.

Since its first year of operation in 1967, Care says it has
helped 1.5 million people in 800 villages in Central Sulawesi,
South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa
Tenggara and East Timor.

Seventy percent of the assisted projects are in water and
sanitation, while the rest include primary health care centers
and assistance in agriculture.

Indonesia has been one of many beneficiaries of Care, which
was set up after World War II to help communities in war
devastated areas.

From the initial areas of operation in Europe, Care shifted to
areas considered more needy: Asia, Africa and South America.

Over the years the approach in these areas evolved from a
welfare, charity approach to community development with an
emphasis on community participation.

Red tape in Care projects is kept to a minimum. Under an
"umbrella agreement" with the Ministry of Home Affairs signed in
1967, McCarthy added that in general "excellent cooperation" has
been received from government parties.

The beginning of a project assisted by Care in a certain
village is through recommendation by the Regional Board of
Development, Bappeda, but any necessary funds are directly given
to the community.

The government also allocates a certain percentage of the
funds.

The people are consulted on what kind of assistance they need;
but even then, many merely "sit back," said McCarthy.

Such attitudes, he noted, might be because people are not used
to the idea of working without instructions from superiors.

In certain areas there was even some suspicion, he said.

Expecting to be paid for a certain project has been another
reaction to overcome.

"We have to tell them this is not what we mean, we may only
intend to help buy the pipes," said McCarthy. "It is always the
attitude which takes a long time to change."

As noted earlier by Heru Haeruman, who is in charge of
regional affairs at the National Development Planning Board, the
important results of such Care assistance is not the completion
of the projects themselves, but the community's self reliance.

Paternalism

Such "public participation" is easy to claim, but how does
Care make sure its staff, which is increasingly comprised of
university graduates, shows equal respect to the community in
which they work?

Training for staff and field officials, says McCarthy, takes
care of this. "I have never encountered a paternalistic attitude
among our staff," he said.

After 28 years of facilitating locals here, Care has decided
to shift its resources and concentrate on poorer countries. It
has withdrawn from other countries such as South Korea and Hong
Kong.

"Indonesia is now relatively advanced economically," said
McCarthy.

He confirmed this is the view of many large funding agencies
here, which have already concentrated more on eastern parts of
Indonesia.

Care's gradual withdrawal has just begun by the establishment
of the Mitra Masyarakat Membangun (Partners of Communities in
Development) Foundation (YM3), which will carry on its
activities.

"Unlike in Hong Kong and South Korea, we are not pulling out
when we consider a country is wealthy enough. Here we are
withdrawing more gradually," McCarthy said.

Funding, however, will continue for at least three years at an
allocated sum of around US$3.3 million a year.

Former finance minister Frans Seda is the chosen director of
the new foundation, who started his term by noting the two main
drawbacks of community members in search of progress: tradition
and red tape.

"We tend to forget these rural people are highly creative,"
said Seda. "We think it is easy to work with poor people...while
their only constraints are often only certain customs and the
bureaucracy."

Reflecting on his experience as country director for two years
here, and more than 10 years as a Care volunteer, McCarthy said
the traditions are difficult to compare.

"I would say the potential for partnership between non-
governmental organizations and the government has not yet
developed here," said McCarthy, who was country director in Costa
Rica and Bhutan before coming to Indonesia.

Government, he said, has access to a lot of resources, while
NGOs have good access to disadvantaged communities.

Care's prestige has also attracted such volunteers as senior
editor Toeti Adhitama, development expert Hasan Poerbo and
economist Mari Pangestu.

"We need a balance in life," says Toeti, editor of Eksekutif
magazine.