Community-led initiatives (or CLIs) are “any form of action undertaken by self-organized groups of people to improve their social and environmental conditions.”1 The purpose of community-led initiatives is to emphasize leadership of and within the communities that take initiative to bring about the changes they wish to see. Most fundamentally, CLIs are:
- community-driven
- targeting the restoring of social and ecological qualities
- operating at a local or regional scale (small-scale and place-based)
Furthermore, CLIs range from adaptive approaches to transformative approaches. Adaptive CLIs “aim to address specific societal challenges as a direct response to a perceived threat.” Transformative CLIs take a more systemic approach, as they do not only address societal challenges, but “also challenge the systemic structures and institutions that created those challenges in the first place.”1
Collaborating with CLIs
When respect for a culture and its values is genuine, development plans are not arbitrary but are the outcome of consideration of the aspirations and desires of those who will be affected. The interplay between insiders and outsiders in development is important.
Insiders are in a good position to incorporate local values into the process, whereas outsiders are not influenced by such values when assessing the likelihood of success and sustainability of plans and projects. Local experiences may be relevant but limited; outside expertise may be less relevant but wider in scope. For a fruitful collaboration to occur, insiders and outsiders must share some basic values and be committed to similar goals in connection with the improvement of human conditions.
In the end, it’s all about building community power.
“A core principle of community power building is that impacted community members are best positioned to push for the deep structural changes that are needed and so should be active and direct participants in decision-making processes that shape their lives.”2
What is an example of a CLI?
This is the relationship between Lok Kala Sagar Sansthan (LKSS) – a Jaisalmer-based NGO registered in 1996 by Dr. Sarwar Khan – and New York-based Folk Arts Rajasthan (FAR), which began as a grassroots effort until it was officially established as a nonprofit in 2004 by Karen Lukas. The two organizations have worked hand-in-hand for nearly 20 years to “offer educational and preservation programs affording basic human rights envisioning a tomorrow where the Merasi celebrate their heritage with equity.”3
The relationship between LKSS and FAR centers on programmatic support – most of the decision making and the continuation of community programs such as Merasi School and the Musical Narrative Project are left up to members of the community. Founder of FAR, Karen Lukas, acknowledges that being a community-led, small-scale organization has been the key to the success of the LKSS-FAR partnership throughout the years.4
A key example of their progress is the community-based, community-run Merasi School. Many Merasi children lack equitable access to education in schools – thus the creation of Merasi School in 2007 was borne of the community’s desire to improve their children’s access to literacy and future livelihood prospects. The staff from Merasi School, both past and present, regard their involvement with the project as a passion for education as well as a desire to continue improving the quality of education that Merasi children have access to.
How Has The CLI Approach Impacted the Jaisalmer Merasi Community?
1. It’s a matter of basic human rights
As of now, the United Nations defines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call by all countries, developed and developing, in a global context. These goals recognize that in eradicating poverty, we must improve all aspects of life. This includes Goal 4 – Quality Education – which works to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”5
As a basic human right, access to quality education is often kept from our most vulnerable communities – the Jaisalmer Merasi community being no exception – and thus the creation of Merasi School was created in an effort to re-establish the Merasi community’s basic rights.
Basics Class Teacher, Nawab Khan, says: “From the day we started school, we have seen many changes. People come and when they see, they get to know that we have rights, and nobody can steal those from us.”
Seema Khan explains her own perspective about how access to education has the ability to change lives. “Education is how we can regain power. If people are not educated, they can be cheated at the market, for example. If students are educated, at least [they] know they can take a stand and fight for themselves and our community.”
2. By creating a safe space to learn and dream
Not only is it a matter of equitable education, but also a safe place for students to express themselves and openly ask questions that they may not feel comfortable asking elsewhere.
“In Merasi school, they [the students] feel that this is their place and they can speak. They can share anything with any of us. Merasi School is their next family, like home. All the children and staff are like a family,” says Advanced Class Teacher, Seema Khan.
Teachers also often encourage students to focus on their dreams and reach for their goals – and Merasi School makes those dreams feel more achievable.
“They come from villages and study here. They see us teaching and think someday they could be a teacher too. I was a student before, and now they’re my students. All students coming can be smart and educated,” says Midmost Class Teacher, Saina Khan.
Advanced Class Teacher Seema Khan agrees, saying: “Students think they can be teachers after us because they know the school and their legacy. In the future, Merasi students can run the Merasi school. Seeing community members run the school gives students inspiration, shock, and happiness as well as the confidence to someday be teachers and follow through on their education. They think: if they can do it, why can’t I?”
3. By empowering young girls
These statements are true for many Merasi children, but especially for young girls in the community. For many Merasi women, this school is a symbol of self-empowerment.
One of the very first principal’s of the school was Asha Khan when she was only a 10-year-old girl. She was also one of the very first women in the community to receive an education. Before Merasi School, even many schools in the greater Jaisalmer District were segregated by gender, or simply did not allow girls to attend. Merasi School from the beginning has accepted girls and the majority of its teachers have been women.
“In villages, girls are not getting education or stop studying to help around the house. Some families educate their daughters. I am from a village and my parents sent me to this school because they thought this was my best way to get educated. Now, people see me speaking English and being educated, and that gives me more opportunities,” says Saina Khan.
One former teacher and principal says this about girls’ education: “If daughters are sent to school, they can fight for themselves. The community has changed after understanding girl’s education. I gained power by being principal. Being a female principal has improved how women are viewed in the community.”
Speaking from personal experience, she explains how being educated has changed her own life. “I am the first girl to travel on the bus alone. I have education, and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t know how to travel or get around [such as village names, city names, how long, how far]. If we are educated, we don’t have to ask others – we can listen or read.”
4. By preserving the Jaisalmer Merasi’s musical legacy and intangible cultural heritage
For a community still marginalized and defined socially by caste, preserving their musical legacy and educating the new generation has been an ongoing goal. When asked if Merasi School has become a part of the community’s legacy, all the teachers agree that the school has become a fundamental part of protecting their community’s legacy.
Seema Khan says: “If we are educated we can protect our legacy. We don’t want our legacy to die. Nowadays our legacy is [the] most important and our legacy is disappearing. People [may] die but the legacy should always remain.”
“Many Merasi students don’t know anything about our legacy or what’s happening in our community, but when they come to Merasi school, they understand more about their own history and legacy. Otherwise they don’t know,” says Suraiya Khan.
Another part of Merasi School is Music Merasi – music classes that happen after Merasi School ends each day. Children will come and listen to their music teachers play traditional songs on traditional instruments such as the dhol, dholak, khartals, and harmonium; teachers help students to learn how to sing along and play these instruments. This is another space where Merasi children are free to learn and develop a better understanding of their own cultural heritage – and it also ensures that the knowledge of these songs and instruments do not get lost with the new generations.
Why Choose a CLI Model?
In creating projects and plans for vulnerable communities to improve their livelihoods and conditions, the community members themselves must take an active role in decision-making and project implementation. If there is little or no investment on part of the community, then project plans are likely to fall apart.
Each of these decisions – to create a school specifically for Merasi children, to accept female students, and to preserve their unique musical legacy – have been community-driven decisions intended to target the social inequalities that they themselves face every day.
It is a way of claiming power for a community that has been powerless for so long.
Nawab Khan agrees, saying: “I feel a great power that Merasi school is for the Merasi community. The community feels good because they own the school. They feel like Merasi is home because it’s run by the community.”
The success of Merasi School is due to years of painstaking effort on behalf of the Merasi community, and the passion and dedication towards education that LKSS and its staff have poured into it. Without the investment of community members to act as teachers, assistant teachers, principals, and rickshaw drivers, Merasi School would not be where it is today.
The most important part? The school is what the community wants it to be.
I’m thankful and proud to have worked with and for a grassroots organization where this decision making is actively put into the hands of the community. I have seen firsthand what a difference it makes when the community is able to put forth their own ideas and feel empowered to take charge – it not only makes a difference in the quality of the project, but in how invested a community will be to continue it.
Development is morally justified when human beings are not mere objects in plans and projects, but subjects, in the sense of being free agents who want to improve their condition. This means that active participation and ownership on part of the community is crucial in ensuring that plans and projects are ethical and sustainable.
The future of development is in community-led initiatives, because the goal of development is – and should always be – to help in empowering communities to be self-sufficient and motivated to make a change.
___________
Sources:
1“Community-Led Initiatives.” Community-led initiatives – Communities for Future wiki. Accessed June 18, 2023. https://wiki.communitiesforfuture.org/wiki/Community-led_initiatives.
2A Primer on Community Power, place, and Structural Change – USC dornsife. Accessed June 18, 2023. https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/1411/docs/Primer_on_Structural_Change_web_lead_local.pdf.
3“About Us.” Folk Arts Rajasthan. Accessed June 18, 2023. https://www.folkartsrajasthan.org/.
4Based on conversations with Karen Lukas.
5“The 17 Goals | Sustainable Development.” United Nations. Accessed June 18, 2023. https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
