6 - On-going

Module 6 explores how you can continue to improve what you have done and maintain what you have achieved.

The following steps are involved in the improvement and maintenance phase.

1. Continue with aided self development
2. Continue with government services
3. Diagnosis and planning
4. Affordability and sustainability
5. Replication and expansion

Decision questions: After working through this section you should be able to answer the following questions:

• How will you evaluate what you have done
• What further development initiatives will you embark on
• How will you share your lessons with others?

Exercises

Exercise 1:

Read phase 5 on improvement and maintenance

Exercise 2: Evaluation

Given the whole incremental process, as outlined below, at what stages do you think it would be useful to do and evaluation and reflection session?

Why would you do this? How would you do the evaluation and reflection?

Phase 1: Bulk Preparation

1. Initiation and management
2. Bulk organising
3. Bulk land
4. Bulk planning and environment
5. Bulk services
6. Bulk access
7. Bulk allocation
8. Bulk financing

Phase 2: Basic Product

1. Basic organisation
2. Basic planning / demarcation
3. Basic tenure
4. Basic services
5. Basic facilities
6. Basic access
7. Basic financing

Phase 3: Aided Self Development

1. Aided organisational development
2. Aided local resource mobilisation
3. Aided local tenure administration
4. Aided self build
5. Aided self growing
6. Aided self work
7. Aided health and safety
8. Financing aided support

Phase 4: Upgrading

1. Upgrade tenure
2. Upgrade services
3. Upgrade facilities
4. Upgrade access
5. Upgrade house
6. Financing upgrade

Phase 5: Maintenance and improvement

1. Continue with aided self development
2. Continue with government services
3. Diagnosis and planning
4. Affordability and sustainability
5. Replication and expansion

See the suggested responses section and compare you response to those suggested.

Exercise 3: Affordability and sustainability

Read the section on affordability and sustainability in Pamela’s story.

What did Pamela and her neighbours do to make it easier for them to afford to live in and develop their neighbourhood and houses?

Can you think of other things they could have done?

See the suggested responses section and compare you response to those suggested.

Assignments

Assignment 1: keep a journal

Keep a journal / diary of all that you do throughout the process. Note activities as well as ideas and feelings.

Assignment 2: evaluation and reflection

Establish an evaluation and reflection working group early on in the development process. Task this group to regularly find opportunities for evaluation and reflection.

Visit government, academic institutions and others and seek their advice and support for evaluating your process.

Make sure that your community is involved in the evaluation process. Make sure that the evaluation results are made available to your community

Assignment 3: other incremental approaches

Call a general meeting and consider other examples of where an incremental approach may be a useful development approach

Some examples to get you thinking include:

• Building a community hall in an incremental manner
• Starting and developing a cleaning worker cooperative from a small group of people doing part time work
• starting and developing a sports club
• finding ways to help the aged and children

Assignment 4: share your lessons

Invite other communities to come and visit you at various times during the development process. Let them learn from your experience. You will also be able to learn from their experience.

Go on your own study visits to learn from others and share your experience.

Next module

Click here to go to the next module, module 7 - Reflection.