Money is a Last Resort
Every month we hold a ‘Global Meeting’. It is a positive product of COVID that probably would not have come to fruition if not for the pandemic. We’ve obviously had to ‘stay put’ as we cannot hop on a plane to do our work.
‘Community Functions’- a topic during our global meeting
During this global meeting, our network gathers across many time zones in an informal ZOOM session (for us here in Vancouver it is usually well past a logical bedtime). It is a space where we offer support to our development partners. We share stories, best practices, discuss the foundations of Community-Centred Development (CCD)— but most importantly we encourage and pray for one another. We are all going against the grain with our approach to development; we focus on ‘strengths based’ development instead of emphasizing needs.
This woman in Lesotho is able to make a living off tomatoes at the market because of a community farming initiative
During a recent meeting, one of our partners made an interesting statement that resonated with all of us on the call. They said: ‘when it comes to community development, money is the last resort’. We all paused for a moment…yes we all know that we are trying to rally social capital in communities …but we’ve never put it quite so bluntly. However, it does make perfect sense.
Rescue Network Nepal conducts Community First Aid courses to teach communities how to be self sufficient in the case of disasters or accidents.
We must stop here for a moment: it is important to differentiate between relief and development. In many circumstances and crisis situations aid/relief funding is direly needed and we are not trying to undermine relief funding initiatives around the globe.
A bakery facility in South Kivu, Congo that many communities depend upon to produce breads that can be sold at local markets
However, at Five & Two our work is about the ‘long game’. It is about elevating communities and boosting them out of poverty. It is about establishing ‘the mechanism’ within the community that will lead to development success in that particular community. It is about empowering communities to decide for themselves the direction they want to go. It is about ‘harnessing energy and creativity’ to propel them forward. It is about instilling confidence so that communities act on their own plan. It is about a community starting down that path to make positive change. And once a community has come together…once community members discover their true identity, value and purpose and begin to collectively take their own steps towards the flourishing of their community…that is when money and funding can come into play. And that is when Five & Two will offer Community Achievement Grants and invest in these communities to boost the progress that they have made—and invest in ventures that benefit that entire community.
But until that point, money is a last resort.