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Participation has two forms. One is with conversation, and the other is with action. Conversation deals with consultation of any matter among the members of any community so as to derive to a best and effective decision, which helps the community activity to go so smooth. Consultation is a powerful tool that allows the members of any community to reach at the best of what they have and enable them solve many difficulties that they may come across in the process of their development work. It requires the disciplined use of communication skill to produce the best possible results that can be obtained from the minds, backgrounds, the feelings, and hearts of those participating. By energetic discussion many creative ideas can be generated, which brings new life to the consultation. There are two reasons why people need consultation. One is to solve a particular problem and the other is to run their day-to-day businesses, which requires the involvement of other people. For both conditions people are forced to communicate with each other, and those who are the wise use the best type of consultation, which is free from idle arguments and full of sincere motives.
The other form of participation is for action [work]. People need to express with some form of outward activities in order to translate what they believe as an ideal. In this case action besides the knowledge and skill they have acquired is essential. When people are acting towards a same goal or objective, it is vital for they should be assigned for specific jobs so that this division of labor may help them carry out their task or goal effectively. Delegation of duties is an important method for any community in the performance of all its varied tasks.
Today’s world needs both. Effective and efficient community life is mainly based on participation. Every member of the community should contribute one’s share according to the capacity and knowledge of every individual. The attainment of any goal or object is impossible without the fullest participation of every member of any given society. In the third world countries like Ethiopia, what we lack is this important ingredient, which serves as an engine of growth and development, and without participation of every one in the community, progress and success will be a chimera. Participation is the key factor for any development activity, without it progress and achievement is impossible. I want to discuss the following major issues, which hinder people who especially live in the third world countries, taking my country as an example that may illustrate the main reasons for the lack of participation one might observe. Besides the knowledge and skill that one is supposed to acquire, which are integral parts of any development work, the following paragraphs try to discuss the main reasons for the communities which do not show progress with the fullest participation of their community members.
We live in a world that power is only shared by few, those who are in authority, governors, who decide the fate of many, who assume that what they think and decide benefits the society better than the society does, they assume that they dedicated their life for the service and betterment of the society. At this critical stage of our planet, society (community), individuals and institutions are not in a good mood to trust with each other, and they always gossip about one another, for there are many mischievous acts and behaviour, conspiracies and plots to attack with each other, and reached to a point that no one is to trust the other. Trust and confidence are no more of influence and bond these entities, and that is why the world has never been in a mess than ever. One of the problems that happens to be an obstacle for many countries is because of the political structures of society, because of the rigidity of the rules and regulations designed to administer the society, which do not permit the community to participate in its fullest energy and zeal. The political institutions are suspicious of community’s activities, and they want to control and censor every activity of the community, which discourages self-initiatives and the power of creativity.
The other challenge is because of the cultural make up of societies where people are not trained or shaped to be inquisitive or searching. Culture is the totality of socially transmitted behaviour patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought in which these patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population. Our culture affects our mentality. It defines the boundary of our thinking. In countries where there are backward traditions it will be such a formidable task to bring to a higher level of people’s capacity to participate in any given community objectives. In a society where there are many confusions, creative minds play a great role where new ideals are portals to the freedom to liberate from what one has been enslaved to old and routine worlds, and the society should accept the thought of new minds where as far as the nature of this world, as a laboratory of ideals is concerned, and try to see what is going to happen with it. There is nothing to be afraid of, and courage is the source of our freedom in life, and we should be able to try with a collaborative manner the new ideals that any one has, an ideal which is so organized and thoughtful one, which is convincing in arguments, and realistic in its approach, that many people may agree, in which the possibility of its practicality is very optimistic and promising. We need to learn how to adapt ourselves to change, whether we liked it or not, for change is inevitable, and the better we learn, the more safe we’ll be in life.
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Writer Profile
Dereje Amera
Writing is a powerful instrument to promote one's ideology, so as to transform and galvanize the whole of humanity to have a better perspective about this world.
Words are just combinations of letters, but the power they exert in every human frame is still a mystery to all.
Writing uses these mysterious forces of words as a tool to introduce, induce and create vibrations in society, which do have an influence on every aspect of our life as human beings.
May the power of WORDS prevail over all!!
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