14 Understanding and mobilizing for Communit y Health
Activities for Learning and Mobilizing
Group activities can help people understand root causes of health problems and
make plans for change. Which activities you use will depend on what you need
to know, what you hope to do, and what resources are available. Activities can:
• Bring people together to identify common problems.
• Find out what people feel they need most.
• Gather information about what is causing a health problem.
• Analyze problems to discover their immediate causes and their root causes.
• Gather all points of view in the community. A project will not be successful
if some groups or opinions are left out. People will not want to help if their
opinions are ignored!
Environmental health is always a community issue, and requires people working
together to make improvements. Whether the goal is to reduce the risk of an
epidemic, to plant a community garden, to improve the health and safety of
people living near a factory or working in a mine, or to address some other
environmental health issue, the more people have a shared understanding of the
problem and a shared commitment to solving it, the more successful they will be.
Women need a voice
In some communities, women and girls are more likely to participate in
organized activities if they are in a group separate from men. The women’s
group then presents their ideas to the larger group. This way, women and girls
have a chance to speak in a strong united voice before the whole community.
By strengthening the voice of women and girls, and building their leadership
skills, the whole community is made stronger.
The toilets
are not safe
for children.
During monthly bleeding
we are not permitted to
use the toilets.
Toilets
Too far from my house.
Safer to go in the bush.
No way to wash.
If you want to solve a problem, work with the people affected by the problem.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012