A 

MODEL OF COMMUNITY SERVICE

                         
For individuals or groups to effectively make a dent in community work
and service, they must first recognize the key characteristics of the place, the
people, the leaders, the environment, the resources, the lifestyle, etc.

What is a model?
Essentially, a model offers a way of conceptualizing and ordering related
ideas   and   provides   a   framework.   It   guides   the   community   development
workers, social workers, students, and teachers in their program planning and
implementation.

How does a model of community work and service operate?

Community   work   and   service   spring   from   voluntary   involvement   and

concern for the improvement of the community or to help address felt­needs on
the community.
 The main activities of a direct community work are:

1. Building Trust, Confidence and Relationship with and between All Parts
of the Community

Getting to know and understand the community is essential: what makes
it tick; which are the groups, factors, networks; where and on what bases
are the affinities and conflicts; who are people with power and influence
and how do they operate; what are the values which underpin people’s
place  in  the  community;  what   are   the   issues   and  has  been  history   of
activity   within   the   community.   This   process   of   getting   to   know   and
understand the community goes hand­in­hand with the building of trust,
confidence, and relationship with the community.

2. Strengthening and Building Groups
 The intensity and intimacy of direct community work or service allow the
individual or   group  to asses  the strengths  and  weaknesses of existing
groups   and   to   facilitate   the   creation   of   new   groups   and   relationships.
Existing   groups   may   well   be   placed   to   further   the   community   work
objectives   but   may   need   nurturing   and   support   to   become   active.
Alternatively,   they   may   be   nonexistent   in   a   community   or   completely
inappropriate  to the  task  and  so  the individual or   group  may   need  to
concentrate   on   building   new   groups.   This   brings   challenges   both   for
securing the involvement of people who may not normally participate in
group activities and in working around existing  groups.

3. Facilitating the Creation of Strategy

Communities and groups within them do not readily think and organize
themselves strategically. Indeed, a community that values traditions and
continuity   may   feel   quite   uncomfortable   with   the   concepts   of
organization and strategy.
However, if community groups and the people within them are to move
forward, they need to clarify the issues of what they are trying to achieve,
decide   what   matters   are   a   priority,   and   how   they   are   going   to   make
progress.   This   process   is   done   in   a   purposeful   way.   The   skill   of   the
community   workers   is   to   help   people   not   only   to   develop   a   sense   of
strategy   but   also   to   do   this   in   a   way   that   is   appropriate   to   the
community.

4. Putting Ideas into Action
 To implement a strategy or take an action to meet identified needs may
seem the natural and sophisticated core of the community work process,
but it may need the community workers’ involvement both to happen at
all   and   to   work   well.   A   considerable   challenge   to   the   worker   is   to
facilitate this process rather than to do it himself. Pointing people in the
direction   of   resources   like   money,   technical   expertise,   appropriate
agencies, etc. is a key activity as is helping people to overcome setbacks,
to deal with conflicts, and generally, to learn by doing.

5. Refreshment and Regeneration

A community­based action is not a simple process of beginning, middle,
and   ending,   but   rather   a   complex   overlay   of   relationships,   processes,
highs   and   lows,   false   starts,   dashed   hopes,   successes,   burst   of
enthusiasm, and vision.
The   community   worker   is   involved  in   this   complexity:   spurring   people
when   spirits   are   low,   encouraging   fresh   thinking,   creating   challenge,
promoting participation and compassion, caring and sharing, helping to
see things not only as they are but how they could be. The aim of this is
to   do   it   in   a   way   that   does   not   make   the   community   people   totally
dependent   on   the   community   worker   but   to   help   them   eventually   to
stand on their own feet.

The tendency to become an integral part of the community, experiencing
and sharing its values, can be overwhelming. This has both advantage
and dangers. For the individual or group volunteers, direct community
work   can   be   a   personally   rewarding   and   highly   effective   means   of
facilitating community work, but it can result in isolation and in their
credibility and legitimacy being challenged by some local people.

Fundamental to good practice of direct community work is empathy with
the  values  and  culture  of  the  community.  For  this  to be  possible,  the
community worker will need to have a high degree of awareness of, and
respect for, how local people think, talk and behave. Only in this way will
he gain the trust needed to be able to practice direct community work
effectively.