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.