Supporting Self-help Efforts

This book describes and analyses efforts of a small Japanese NGO, Community Action Development Organisation (CanDo), which implements education projects in marginalised areas in Kenya. The NGO's philosophy is based on the Japanese value of supporting self-help efforts of the community. Through interviews and ethnographic fieldwork, it examines the role of small organisations and discusses issues related to facilitating self-help efforts by outsiders. The book argues that small NGOs have a stronger potential to reduce dependency and to have relationships that are more equal with the community in which they are situated, thus providing opportunities that are locally relevant. The in-depth study on this small Japanese NGO should provide a range of insights about development assistance and should be especially useful to professionals engaged in development activities both in the South and the North or anyone else who are interested in international development.