Not until residents of Misheli community (Nigeria) decided to communicate their priority, 2000+ residents lacked access to clean water for 26 months because no one – including the government saw the need to fix a broken water source (borehole). The government was fixated on non-pressing issues in the community.
It took installing this signage on the outskirts of the community of Misheli, Taraba state, Nigeria for them to attract the attention of the CSOs who took this as a responsibility and facilitated actions that brought about a solution.
Misheli community is just one of the many rural settlements where a primary need like access to clean water has become a luxury. While it is good to provide rural communities with electricity, school buildings, internet access, etc., we must not approach intervention projects from our worldviews and interpretations of what the people’s problems might be.
A good place to start engaging with rural communities is by asking specific questions: what do you need? what is it you care about?
#Communication #Thoughts #Water #Development #Nigeria #CommunityAction