Village Earth - Philosophy

Philosophy

Village Earth differs from many traditional development NGOs in the following ways:

1. At the heart of the Village Earth approach is the recognition that lack of access to resources, such as land, clean water and credit, is the fundamental issue faced by the majority of the world's poor. Ending global poverty is not as simple as just increasing people's income. Rather, to be sustainable, poverty alleviation programs must work to increase the fundamental rights of poor communities to access resources while building long-enduring and equitable institutions for their protection and management.
2. Influenced by the ideas and methods of Paulo Freire, Village Earth engages in a long-term dialog with communities to reveal and transform the underlying, and often inter-generational, causes of poverty. This approach differs from the approach used by many NGOs, which often define the problem, draft the proposal, and project a timeline prior to their engagement with communities.
3. Rather than focusing on problems impacting communities, Village Earth starts with a community's long-term vision for the future. According to the organization, if communities focus only on "fixing" problems, they may not actually be transforming the underlying structural contradictions causing their problems. By first clarifying a long-term and shared vision for the future, communities are free to imagine an entirely different future and begin working to create it . This principle goes against theories of development based on modernization which locate the concept of development in a continuum of progress, mostly based on Western cultural and economic concepts.
4. The necessity for the tandem use of appropriate hard and soft technology, a concept pioneered by Village Earth founder, Dr. Maurice L. Albertson. According to Albertson (1992) "It is the structure and process of social participation and action by individuals and groups in analyzing situations, making choices, and engaging in choice-implementing behaviors that bring about change. As with hard technology, the appropriate soft technology is related to the villages being able to organize, operate, and maintain the technology with a minimum of outside technical assistance (e.g., from professional social workers). It usually aims at changing the sociopolitical environment."