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THREE STORIES ABOUT VILLAGE WATER SYSTEMS-for helping health
workers look at questions of leadership and power structure
Should the strong help the weak, or the weak help each other—or both?
Ideally, perhaps, the answer to this question is “both.” The strong should help the
weak to help each other. In some places this happens. Here is an example from
Indonesia:*
“In the village of Losari, in Central Java, the people were helped by an
outside volunteer agency (Oxfam) and an ‘intermediate technology’ agency
(Yayasan Dian Desa) to put in a piped water supply. Looking ahead to the
time when the pipes would rust, but outside assistance might no longer be
available, a plan was made to raise money for eventually replacing the pipe.
Each family along the water line has planted ten mahogany trees. In 15 or
20 years’ time, these trees will be cut down and sold to raise money to
replace the steel pipes.
“The village headman bought the mahogany seeds from the Agricultural
Service and planted them on unused patches of his own land. After 12
months, he gave seedlings to the 85 families living near the water supply.
“If any young trees die, the people can ask the headman for replacements.
He makes no charge for the seedlings and asks only that the people look after
their trees well.”
This is a good example of the strong helping the weak to help themselves.
Outside funding and technology, together with the good will of the village
headman, made this self-help community project possible. The project has double
importance. It not only helps the people in the village to become more self-reliant
through cooperative activity, but it also helps them to look ahead and actively plan
for the future. What is more, it encourages the strong to share their resources
with the weak. In this case the headman, who has more money and land than his
neighbors, contributed some of each to benefit the project and the community.
*From the Indonesian Village Health Newsletter, Vibro, No. 22. p. 11, December, 1979. Yayasan Insan
Sembada (YIS), www.yis.or.id