ABCD practice in Umuebu Neighbourhood

house(A Volunteers Experience)

BY

Kabiru Akinu
 INTRODUCTION
Umuebu Neighborhood House has been one of the pioneers of ABCD in Nigeria for
a while now. As a volunteer who has a keen interest in community development, I
took up a volunteering position at the agency, where I was opportune to learn and
participate in the training of field practicum students in the organization. During
this training period, I was able to mobilize various groups of students to impact the
Umuebu community within the duration of their field practice, building on their
strengths. This presentation is about one of such programs carried out by a
community organizer and my challenges in using asset-based community
development.
 Background of the Study
Group work in the social work profession is taken very seriously during student
field placements, and my professor, Dr. Sunday Ofili Ibobor, made it my primary
responsibility to help the groups sent to the neighborhood house build a harmonious
relationship that will enable them to work harmoniously to impact the community.
Through observations, I found out that this particular group had people with a keen
interest in pastries, while some were skilled in local soap making. Nonetheless, we
had to allow the community to decide which group will likely be interested in
acquiring these skills and which of the groups it will be of advantage to in the long
term. Through a representative, the community decided that it was best suited to the
needs of their teenagers, as learning the skills will help them make and sell pastries
as an alternative source of income to contribute their own quarters to themselves
and the wellbeing of their significant others. Hence, the agency supported the
provision of everything needed to train the teens while the students selflessly
carried out the training on a date unanimously adopted by the community and
A Workshop on How to make Cakes,
Chin-chin, Doughnuts, eggrolls and
Buns
The Field work students
engaging the teens
during the workshop
 How Asset Based Community Development Principle was Applied in the
Program
The ABCD approach is centered on five core principles: communities should be
led by citizens; building communities should be based on relationships; every
community has assets that can be harnessed for the progress of the community;
the community is the area of interest; and every group in the community should
be included in driving the community forward (community development).
The success of the workshop was possible because of the relationship between
UNH and the field placement students. (Imagine the cost implications of the
workshop if people were to be hired for the program). The power of relationships
is usually undervalued, but the knowledge of the ABCD approach helped in
harnessing this relationship, knowing fully well that every person possesses
irreplaceable gifts, skills, and passions that, when successfully harnessed, can
become structures that can move the community towards self-reliance.
 The Challenges of Practicing ABCD approach in Some Communities
As much as people are assets, there are times when finances still remain a
major constraint. For example, the program would have been sustained for a
week or more if there was adequate funding, and hence, those children would
become more equipped as an asset to their community and would be able to
carry out the training and retraining of other children who may be interested in
acquiring skills in pastries in the near future, as it is one thing to make
pastries; it is another challenge to carry out planning, organizing, directing,
collaboration, reporting, and budgeting.
Secondly, not everyone in a community is willing to invest their skill sets and
resources in the development of their communities. This tends to reduce the
outcome of the ABCD approach.
Finally, most of the human assets in most communities tend not to reside
within the community, e.g., I reached out to the Warrake community in Edo
State to try to use the ABCD approach to help them with a big generating set to
help them pump borehole water to prevent them from drinking polluted water.
Even though the community has human assets that can be single-handedly
purchased, they all promised and never fulfilled their promises as these
people became inaccessible (video available upon request).
 Conclusion
Irrespective of the numerous challenges facing the asset-based development approach in
our indigenous communities, it still remains the best method for community
development practice. Its all-inclusive nature remains one of its major strengths, as no
one is left behind within the community, ranging from children to teenagers, youths,
women, men, and even the elderly. The Neighborhood House (UNH) has been working
on applying research to the practice through its program Qreca in order to identify our
various pitfalls in utilizing ABCD and thereafter try to devise ways to further strengthen
our approach so as to become more ABCD compliant and competent. The
Neighborhood House has been extending its tentacles to communities in Ovia North
East, such as Ekosodin and Isihor, in various aspects, such as taking children who are
not in school back to school and advocating for stringent adherence to child rights acts.
In Edo North (my community), as a volunteer in Umuebu, I am still working on
applying the ABCD approach to installing a generator plant for the community to help
them access borehole water.
 THANK
YOU
EVERYONE