The starting point of any community diagnosis is to identify all problems and limitations within the community itself. This first step in the process involves three key activities: working with the children to develop a community map of the future; SWOT analysis of local institutions and resources, and finally of a social map of the community and another of the future, the latter two steps developed directly with the villagers.

Community map of the future developed with children

Children are an important source of information in problem identification. Although their voices are often silenced or ignored, their perspective gives a different and genuine vision of community issues. This activity aims to give them the opportunity to express their point of view and expectations within the community.

The aim of creating the community map of the future is created to identify community issues from the perspective of children.

Community map and map of the future

The aim of this meeting is to identify problems within the community from the point of view of its male and female community members.

In the first instance, it is important to create a map depicting the community in its present state. The second step is to visualise and draw, in different colours, the future aspirations and desires of the community at large.

Matrix Organisations

The aim of this activity is to identify the social organisations of the community; it’s strengths and its weaknesses.

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are identified for/within every organised group:

• Strengths are factors within the group contributing to an improved performance.
• Weaknesses are factors within the group that negatively impact on the performance of the group as a whole.
• Opportunities are external factors that influence, positively, the organisational development of the group, but which the group itself has no control over.
• Threats are external factors that negatively impact the organisational development of the group, but which the group itself has no control over.

Following the work achieved with the different organisations, this SWOT matrix was devised in order to summarise the communities overall strengths and weaknesses:

STRENGHTS	OPPORTUNITIES
– Participatory Community – Rich Community Resources: forest, water, earth, and quarry. – Organised Community	– External Support: organisations, municipalities, universities, companies…
WEAKNESSES	THREATS
– Lack of Means – Specific conflicts – Lack of Motivation – Limited Agricultural Knowledge	– Migration – Political Disorder – Diseases and Pests in Crops

Photographic Record











PRA in Centro Sanibeni: Introduction| Stage I | Stage II | Conclusions

“She’s on the horizon… I go two steps, she moves two steps away. I walk ten steps and the horizon runs ten steps ahead.
No matter how much I walk, I’ll never reach her. What good is utopia? That’s what: it’s good for walking.”
(Eduardo Galeano)