Aharenmen – Who Better Understands a Community than those Who Live in it!

Parasyn CL¹*

1. TAFE GLOBAL Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Community engagement has proven fruitful in communities throughout the world. Community engagement has enabled communities to be proactive in taking ownership for and managing the necessary changes to create a safe, happy and productive society for all its members. This has been particularly evident in relation to the active participation of marginalised and disadvantaged groups in the community as more and more people are playing a role in influencing the decisions that affect their lives.

Based in the heart of the community Care Society, a locally founded non-government organisation in Maldives working in the disability field, utilised Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) as the vehicle for facilitating the active involvement of all community members, including people with disabilities and their families, in raising awareness about the value and rights of those who have been disabled by society. CBR is development for the people by the people and as such is a dynamic and effective strategy that can be used with a variety of communities; across diverse cultures; in urban, rural and remote locations; and across a myriad of government sectors.

Using the author’s experience living and working in Maldives, this paper will describe the process facilitated by Care Society in engaging communities in their own development. The author’s reflections on the realities of working from a participatory framework and the lessons learned will provide recommendations for the use of CBR in the Australian context. Importantly, this paper will emphasise the irreplaceable benefits community engagement generates in creating a more equitable society for all.

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