478 chapter 50
The PROJIMO approach: Informal organization and
team management
We who work at PROJIMO are in no position to speak with authority about
‘organization and management’. Sometimes we wonder if our achievements are due
more to our disorganization. Whatever organization and management we have is
informal and more or less cooperative. Not only are there no clear-cut divisions between
‘managers’ and ‘workers’, but even the division between ‘workers’ and ‘patients’ is
unclear. (In fact, we avoid words like ‘patient’ and ‘client’.) Parents, children, visitors,
and everyone else are invited and expected to help out in whatever way they can.
Most members of the PROJIMO team are disabled young persons who first came for
rehabilitation or aids. They began to help out as best they could, and finally decided
to stay to learn and work. Some stay a few weeks or months, learn new skills, gain
confidence, and then go on to something else. Others stay for years. Some come and
go, and return again.
PROJIMO is like a big family, mainly of young people, growing up together. Most
of the work team is made up of young persons who are themselves benefiting from
rehabilitation, learning to work, and learning to relate to each other. It would be a mistake
to use the same goals and measure of ‘production efficiency’ as you would for a shop
that employs already trained and experienced workers. There is no boss to give orders.
Yet the needs of the disabled children place a demand on the group to work relatively
hard, and to accomplish what they can. Hours are flexible. There are quiet afternoons
where half the workers suddenly decide to go swimming in the river. And there are
busy days when several team members work until midnight to finish a brace or limb or
wheelchair for a family that needs to return home on the morning bus. They choose to
work overtime, not because someone tells them to, or because they get extra pay, but
because a child’s father explains that he cannot afford to miss another day’s work or a
mother is worried about a sick child she left at home.
When a situation arises that will require extra work and responsibility, the group as
a whole decides if they think they can handle it. For example, one time a teenage boy
named Julio arrived who was almost completely paralyzed (quadriplegic). He had severe
pressure sores, and was totally dependent for all his daily needs. The team, which had no
one specially trained in nursing care, met and discussed whether they could accept Julio in
PROJIMO, since no family member was prepared to stay with him. Some argued against
accepting him. Others argued in favor, pointing out that his home situation was miserable.
(His stepfather resented his
mother spending time with
the boy.) At last the majority
decided to accept Julio, even
though a few team members
said that they would not be
willing to help in his care. It
turned out, however, that some
of those who had at first been
unwilling became those who
spent the most time with Julio.
Not only did the group do an
excellent job in healing his
pressure sores and tending his
personal needs, they became
his close friends.
Today Julio is one of the leaders of PROJIMO. Every evening
he records the work done by each member of the team.
Disabled village Children