Village Community Development Field Trip Report

This a short report on my own observations from the three field trips outside Madang town in one of my units I study which is the Community Development Practice PG 303. During the field visit the two programs that we went out was on positive parenting and early childhood development programs. The villagers we went to was Balam, Yabob and Riwo villages. Out of the three villages we went the only village that offers the two programs in the community was the Balam village which they had done positive parenting workshops. The other two villages were running only the early childhood development program which is the ECD school. In this report I would present my observations on the importance of Community development and the need to mobilize on the three villagers by starting with Balam, Yabob and Riwo.

Balam Village

Balam is one of the village near Madang town which is about 2km outside the town settings and which is located near the airport of the township of Madang. The ECD school in the area starts in the beginning of this year and the school was well established the support of the community was very helpful in terms of local materials and support of man power in terms of encouraging their children to attend the ECD school.

The classrooms that are now used by EDC now was elementary classrooms for the Balam Elementary was built with the left over materials from the Air Link company in partnership of the community engagement program. In terms of community mobilization there was both a good cooperation and participation from both the parents in support of the EDC teachers in what little ways they can afford to help to sustain the flow of the EDC school. Most of the parents in the community found the ECD program was very important for their children. They found out that this program can to improve the education level and standard of the community.

Positive Parenting was also implement in the village where the parents of the community found it as an important aspect of their lives for the upbringing of their children. The parents who have attended the program went and advocated those who have not attended the program which made them to know more about what is positive parenting and how can it help them to look after their children in the future.

Difficulties faced was:

• Lack Material
• Payments for the edc teachers
• Income

Benefits of the Programs are:

• Children knowing their manners
• Remembering of rhymes
• Parents knowing how look after their children in a positive way
• The Parents know the right age to send their children to school

Overall the community was organized in a sense where they were improving themselves by understand on how the two program will help them change and develop their community in the future.

Yabob Village

Yabob village is just close by Madang town. In Yabob village they only have the ECD school program that was facilitated by one of their own member of the community. She started the ECD school in the beginning of this year. Many of the parents at Yabob village had said that the reputation of their village has been spoilt by criminal activities which have been done by their own community members and have painted a bad picture to them as a village.

When one of their own who decided to implement the ECD school have change the mindset of the community to work together to established the school the which was into its 2 months and 3 weeks’ period when we went and visited it.

Difficulties faced:

• Lack material
• Shortage of classrooms
• Lack of resources

Benefits of the EDC:

• Community mobilization seeing community working together
• Right age of sending their child to school
• Children having to having to learn manners
• Parents turn to realize change from their children

In general, the community was pleased with the implementation of the school and they also noticed the importance of the EDC which they were children able to identify their children’s behaviors of children started to changed and the community members are working together to help sustain the ECD school in the village running with any little resources they have to help the school.

Riwo village

Riwo is one of that is about 5km out the sitting of Madang town. In 2015 the Jolly phoenix was established in the village, and the classrooms were built using both local materials and hardware materials to build the classrooms. The community mobilization is not really effective in the village I see that there is no good cooperation in the community to running the school in the village. The EDC school in the village does not function normal if the teachers want to attain the class they do. And also the EDC teachers were also obligated to look for the food for their own families and other things to support their lives.

Difficulties:

• Lack of teacher’s support
• Lack of resources
• No good cooperation of the community

Benefits:

• Seeing change in the children’s behaviors
• Use of local material

Overall the village those not have good community mobilization the ECD teachers have lack support from the community which make them too loose hope in teaching and also thinking back to their household duties if I go and teach who would provide for my family. This are some factors in the village that affects the operation of the EDC school in Riwo village.