Training for community development

Community development has become almost as popular a subject of international discussion as the problems of Africa. It is the new technique which is taking the under-developed (better known as the developing) areas of the world by storm. In Central Africa it was introduced in Northern Rhodesia some years ago, in Nyasaland it is being actively pursued and in Southern Rhodesia it is being officially talked aDout. It is thus a very live issue for the Rhodesias and Nyasalanu. Some see community development as a piece of government policy, and up to a point it is. Community development projects usually depend on government support and are most successfully accomplished where the government has the confidence of the people. But to think of community development simply in terms of official policy is to lose the real essence of the idea. In a final summing-up to the Conference, Professor T. Paterson of the Royal College of Science and Technology reminded his audience that community development is a means towards achieving a greater end. True, it produces many material manifestations which are of immerse practical value. But much more important is the spirit it engendeis within the community itself—a spirit which enables nations and communities to discover their real strength. In Central Africa it could be a means whereby petty prejudices are forgotten and a genuine spirit of community fostered amongst all people.

A symposium paper on community development projects in the Federation of Rhodesia & Nyasaland with special reference to rural development. Papers presented at a conference organized By The Institute Of Adult Education, UCR, Mt. Pleasant, Salisbury, August 1962.