International Cooperation and Participatory Development : Author(s) Dileep…okinawa-repo.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/bitstream/20.500.12001/22349/1/no21p1.pdf · Dileep Chandralal ([email protected])

TitleInternational Cooperation and Participatory Development :Creating Glocal Bond between Okinawa and Sri Lanka througha Water Project

Author(s) Dileep, Chandralal

Citation 沖縄大学人文学部紀要(21): 1-17

Issue Date 2018-03

URL http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12001/22349

Rights 沖縄大学人文学部

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沖縄大学人文学部紀要　第 21 号　2018

〈論文〉

International Cooperation and Participatory Development:

Creating Glocal Bond between Okinawa and Sri Lanka

through a Water Project

　Dileep Chandralal

([email protected])

AbstractThis paper attempts to contextualize the concept of participatory development with regard to the Okinawa Sri Lanka Water Project (OSLWP). The paper critically examines the project, showing how it can be seen as a model of participatory development. The paper further attempts to furnish a justifying analysis for its stance that the evaluation process of the project was also participatory. The discussion intends to give some informed input to development assistance.

Keywords: assistance, development, community, participation, evaluation

1. Introduction Analyzing social and psychological dynamics of helping relationships, Schein (2009) demonstrated how helping relationships are fraught with inequities and ambiguities, and further showed the ways to mitigate power imbalances and to establish a solid foundation of trust, leading to the development of successful, mutually satisfying helping relationships. Schein identified the inquiry process as the key to building and maintaining the helping relationship, and saw teamwork as perpetual reciprocal helping. Schein’s study makes us aware that helping is a social process which can be informal, semi-formal or formal. Development assistance, which is the subject of this paper, can also be considered as a social process in which actors come from different cultural backgrounds, which means the help envisaged is not only interpersonal but also intercultural. This brings us to the compelling fact that collaborative work and reciprocal relationships are very important in making international cooperation projects successful. Schein has also emphasized that when dealing with organizational clients, it is important to focus on process rather than project per se, or how things are done rather than what is done. This line of thinking can be aligned with the concept of Participatory Development where ‘humble inquiry’ proposed by Schein easily matches with participatory development theories (e.g. Chambers, 1995).

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沖縄大学人文学部紀要　第 21号　2018

This paper attempts to contextualize the concept of participatory development through a development assistance project called Sri Lanka Inochino Mizu Purojecto in Japanese, roughly translated into English as ‘Life-enhancing Water Project for Sri Lanka.’ This refers to the Okinawa Sri Lanka Water Project (OSLWP), which was implemented to provide potable water to a rural village in Sri Lanka. In so doing, the OSLWP itself will be contextualized first. The project is a case study which was participated in, and observed and partly evaluated by, the author. The next important feature to be considered in contextualizing participatory development and the OSLWP is its evaluation. Thus, the latter part of the paper examines the participatory evaluation of the project. Finally, the lessons learned through the project are summarized and recorded as instances of empowering a rural community and achieving mutually satisfying results of a development process. I should begin by acknowledging some obvious caveats and qualifications. In this study, we didn’t use a large-scale questionnaire survey to tell a colour-coded story of success, and we did not choose to do a statistical analysis of quantitative data with charts and graphs displaying the information of various kinds, such as the output and the outcome of the project relative to the cost, for instance. Instead, we depended on qualitative data obtained through direct observation, interviews and evaluation workshops because we believed that such data could be used to grasp what was actually taking place during the process of the implementation of the project, the circumstances as well as the background information of what happened superficially, and, finally, the various factors that have influenced the achievement level. The data emanating from such areas were important for us in abstracting some useful principles regarding international development and human behavior.

2. Defining the problem The following four lines are from a poem by Shuntaro Tanigawa (1931-), a well-known contemporary Japanese poet:

I do not want to say exaggerated things.I just say that the water is crystal clear and cool.Drinking water when you are thirstyis one of the happiest things for human beings.1

The stark reality is that there are millions of people on this planet who cannot afford this commonplace, simple pleasure. Despite overwhelmingly clear evidence that having access to safe drinking water allows people in communities to become healthier, so many people still suffer from the simple and intractable dilemma that they are unable to quench their thirst. Belungala Village in Sri Lanka was no exception. The primary source of water in Sri Lanka is rainfall. Although the country receives around 100 billion cubic meters of water through rain every year, a large amount of it, around 40-60%, escapes to the sea as run-off (Weeraratna, 2014). Ancient wisdom has been passed down through the following dictum attributed to King Parakramabahu: “Do not let even one drop of water coming from the sky reach the sea without putting it into proper use.” However, these wise words seem to be, in reality, unexecuted. So many people living in rural areas endure hardships because they are without a regular supply of water. In regions other than big cities and large towns, people often draw water necessary for living from wells and rivers. There are some areas where even these water resources are non-existent.

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Belungala is a poor village in the Polgahawela Divisional Secretariat, which is located in the Kurunegala District of the North-Western Province of Sri Lanka. The village is famous as the birthplace of a local legend called How Appuwa Became King.2 According to the villagers, there are castle ruins remaining atop a hill. The village is located on a rocky mountain. With the soil remaining hard and dry, arable land is almost unavailable. Though trees and creeping plants had grown between the stones and on hard slopes, the ground failed to retain enough water. About 150 people living there suffered daily, as there was no source of safe water. In an informal survey conducted in 1996, we found that the most urgent need of the local residents was access to water. Women and children had to walk down the hill to bring water every day. The local government and politicians had abandoned, or left the villagers suffering for decades. Figure 1 carries a newspaper cartoon which shows that such situations are not rare in Sri Lanka.3 When the Provincial Council elections get closer, politicians go around villages canvassing and promising to provide water. In this cartoon, the politician is carrying a pot of water on his head while taking a ballot box in the other hand. The communities have been continuously deceived by such empty promises. According to a recent news report,4 the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka directed the National Water Supply and Drainage Board to complete, by June 25, 2017, the two drinking water projects designed to supply drinking water to villagers affected by Uma Oya Project. Further, the Director of Agrarian Services in the same area was ordered by the court to complete the payment of compensation to the farmers in the Badulla District, who were unable to cultivate their lands due to the diversion of water from the Uma Oya River to the neighboring Moneragala District. The farmers could get at least a temporary solution to their grievances because of the legal action taken by a local civic group named the Center for Environmental Justice, as well as a group of residents of the region. The ordinary people who are unable to approach and urge the relevant authorities to redress such injustices have to suffer indefinitely.

Figure 1 Politics of water

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The health and social impact of water carriage cannot be underestimated. The most affected from the lack of access to safe drinking water are women. They spend a lot of their time in fetching water for domestic needs, thereby restricting their engagement in other social and income-generating activities. Therefore, water carriage has been described as an example of “occupational injustice.” It can be harmful to their health, wellbeing and prosperity. Globally, as women and young girls perform the bulk of water carrying work, it affects them disproportionately, not only with regard to the distance to water resources, but also, given the unsafe, unpaved paths to water, the heavy volume of water that must be carried, as well the frequency of such trips. Combined, these factors may bring health hazards to women and children. (Geere, 2016) The people in Belungala Village have endured this hardship for decades. Women with buckets in their hands and pots on their heads gather to scoop water from a murky hole beneath a rock. That is when there is actually any water after the rainy season. On other days, women and children have to walk down the hill to fetch water. The local government and politicians could not afford to listen to their grievances and complaints.

3. Finding a solutionIn 2012, participants of a group tour organized by the Okinawa Sri Lanka Friendship Association

visited this village and had an opportunity to observe the village culture and to have conversations with the village people. The village community, including children, who participate in religious observances and rituals under the guidance of a Buddhist priest at the temple on the top of the mountain, gave a warm welcome to the Japanese group who visited their village. While a bond of friendship was instantly forged between the two groups, a new topic emerged through their conversation: that is to say, there was no source of water for the village, and this affected the life of the people in a terrible way.

“What can we do?” This was the question over which the participants grappled after returning to Okinawa. They were desperate to bring a solution to the water problem of the village. After several sessions of brain-storming, planning and simulation, they decided to take action. The simple line of thinking was that providing safe water to the village would lead to the improvement of their quality of life. A simple measure can have a massive impact relative to its cost. It can save the community from lost economic productivity because the children would miss fewer days in school as well as spending longer hours in their studies, and the adults would miss work less often. It would constitute an upward spiral of development: providing a safe water supply can significantly improve the quality of life and would result in socio-economic development of the villagers. After considering a number of options, the Okinawa Sri Lanka Friendship Association decided to follow a community conversation model because the initiative came up from the side of the local community. Further, it was believed that providing assistance would be more fruitful and could bring far-reaching results if implemented as a community-based project. It was assumed that it would be possible, by so doing, to incorporate the views of local people who play key roles in the community. As well, it was thought that such assistance could identify the strengths existing in the community. After listening to the voices of villagers, both parties agreed upon an initial plan: 1) Dig out a well, 2) Set up a pump, and 3) Draw water up to the temple. The initiative of the water project was decided, and a fund-raising campaign

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kicked off in July 2013 in Okinawa. Funds were collected through fund-raising campaigns, donations and various charity events. However, the initial plan had to be abandoned soon. This is because the feasibility of the plan to dig out a well was seriously questioned after consulting a local professional body. They had pointed out that even if you could dig through the rocky earth, water would not flow out. This compelled the organizing committee to consider a new plan, which was to build up pipe lines to draw water from the municipal water system up to the top of the mountain, using a powerful pump. This scheme was costly, but beneficial to a large number of people. It also required advanced technology that would guarantee safe water to a larger community. It was agreed to implement the new plan through collaboration between the Okinawa Sri Lanka Friendship Association and the Bright Moon Foundation. The Bright Moon Foundation, as a local NGO, was responsible for construction work, engineering, financial management and keeping contact with the villagers. Since it was devised as a community-centered project, a village-based organization was needed to initiate negotiations with the local City Council and to cooperate with construction work. The Water-Consumption Cooperative Society of the village was newly established. It had an eye on labor supply and future maintenance work under the leadership of High Priest Padawigampola Gunarathana, and it thus served well to fulfill the purposes envisaged.

4. Social research and evaluation of Okinawa- Sri Lanka Water ProjectTo understand our research topic accurately, we need to turn to the sociology of development and

development assistance. As Sato (2005) has pointed out, social and cultural dimensions of development as well as development assistance become critical because acts of assistance are no more than intervention by outside parties. Since transnational actors become involved in development assistance, problems of intercultural understanding, inter alia, may create barriers to development efforts. Further, asymmetric relationships and inequalities between donors and receivers may widen the gaps between the two sides. However, there are some positive sides in the involvement of outside parties. Something invisible to insiders can become explicit through the process of exchange with outside forces. Even local knowledge and knowhow that have taken considerable effort to accumulate have proved inaccurate or impractical when passed on to newcomers or new workers. This, in fact, happened in Balungala Village when the water project was launched. The villagers just asked for a public well, and seemed to thoroughly believe that they could simply get water if they could dig a well. They also suggested a suitable place for digging a well. It was only after getting a professional consulting company to conduct a proper investigation that they came to understand the folly of believing in obtaining water just by digging a well on the mountain.

It is also evident, as many researchers have repeatedly pointed out, that there are contours of power and inequality involving development assistance. Schein (2009) stated, “In summary, at the beginning, every helping relationship is in a state of imbalance. The client is ONE DOWN and therefore is vulnerable; the helper is ONE UP and therefore powerful. Much of what goes wrong in the helping process is the failure to acknowledge this initial imbalance and deal with it.” To our surprise, there had been an appalling experience in their past which the villagers were reluctant to mention or accept. When we visited the village, we found that there were some broken pipe lines abandoned on the ground along

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the way to the mountain. These pipelines seemed to be the ruins of an attempted or abandoned water supply scheme. The officers in the city office later revealed that the village had been provided with a water supply scheme implemented as a World Bank project at a previous time, but that the villagers were unable to maintain it. Although we could not get adequate information regarding the failure of the project, it can be assumed that the project was not based on the ownership of the clients, and the method of ‘process consultation’ was not followed.5 The role of each actor being ambiguous, the villagers probably did not feel like acting on their own initiative because of their ‘ONE DOWN position’. Therefore to us, students of development and international assistance, the broken pipelines scattered around the pathways were warning signs or ruins of a tragedy attributable to a top down project which had probably been launched without much concern for local realities and factors like cost effectiveness. If the local people had been involved in the design and construction of the project, they could have taken responsibility for maintenance of the facilities.

This kind of situation underscores that international cooperation works as a social process activated by intercultural actors, and therefore participatory development will be very useful in increasing the efficiency of an envisaged program. It is essential for donors to be considerate of a variety of social and cultural factors of the relevant developing country in order to understand unintended consequences and to prevent disruptive effects.

5. Participatory developmentIn the past, only large infrastructure development projects, industrial projects and irrigation works

were considered by the mainstream of international assistance and development as their vehicle and trajectory. However, during the last quarter of the twentieth century, the flow of development aid has shown a tendency of quality-wise transformation, making way for people-based development, developing resident-centered capabilities, raising awareness of living environments, and, meeting local needs such as local people's education, health and sanitation, and so on. With this people-centered approach, the shift has occurred from top down to bottom up, from centralized administration to participation, and from controlling to empowering.

In this context, it would be important to see development assistance not as means of transferring financial resources, but as processes embodying transnational relations between different actors, facilitating the movement of ideas, expertise and people between organizations and societies (Chabbott, 1999, Peterson, 2014). For participation to be authentic, it should embrace shifts in power occurring within communities, between donors and local communities, and within donor institutions or resource-holding organizations. This implies changes in relationships between researchers and target communities, as well as between funding institutions and local communities and also changes in bureaucratic procedures, cultures, education and training. These kinds of changes also suggest that the new focus on participation can be understood as a fundamental shift in thinking and approaches with regard to development assistance as well.

A brilliantly written article titled, “In Africa, Just Help Us to Help Ourselves” by developmental economist Gebreselassie Yosief Tesfamichael attests to the complexity of donor-recipient relationships in Africa.6

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One of the major issues for us, in fact, was the donor-recipient relationship. For decades, we had watched governments throughout the continent compromise their sovereignty as they adopted economic models imposed on them by both the West and the East in order to get rid. We could not help noticing how aid distorted the development process. For instance, donor organizations emphasize the social factors ― health and education ― while almost entirely ignoring the commercial and business sector. Africa’s cities are full of educated, enterprising people who are peddling goods made in Asia. Why should that be? Agriculture and manufacturing are starved for funding. We need health care and education, yes, but we also need a productive sector for the healthy and educated to work in.

We wanted something different. We wanted a partnership rather than a donor-client relationship.

The author has emphasized the importance of ‘partnership’ based on equality and symmetrical relationships rather than a ‘donor-client relationship’ based on traditional top-down thinking, while pointing to the discrepancies between local needs and donor expectations.

I maintain that the OSLWP fits into the broad character of participatory development. The foundation of the project was water safety, cooperation and the community, so taking every possible step to provide access to safe water and to increase the consciousness of sustainability was indispensable for groups on both sides. It was steeped in deep community insight, and driven by the communities. Thus, citizen participation was sought at the maximum by encouraging discussion among the residents, by consulting their needs and wishes, and by increasing their awareness of living environment.

The present author as the representative of Okinawa Sri Lanka Friendship Association (OSLFA) participated in meetings with the members of Bright Moon Foundation and the members of the village community of Belungala. These meetings served as forums for expressing and sharing the interests, desires, feelings, grievances, opinions, views and ideas between the local NGO committee members and the village community, and between the local community and the donor institution. These discussions have immensely helped the members of both sides to design, amend and refine the project, and to consider the means to complete the project successfully. To realize the goals of being constant with people’s behavior towards each other, being conscious of mutual responsibilities, and being aware of the roles to be played by each actor, and for the sake of successful execution of the project, a formal contract was signed by the OSLFA and Bright Moon Foundation.

Although the frequent visits and face-to-face conversations held at the temple of Belungala Village, the telephone conversations, the seldom-exchanged letters, and the document analyses were very useful in preparing the ground for building trust between givers and receivers, it was never an easy task for the project leaders to win the trust of the village community. After decades of frustration experienced by the people with the broken promises of politicians, and also ill-conceived occasional visits of governmental and non-governmental organizations, the community seemed not to be ready to believe any further in words or gestures given by outsiders or surveys conducted in the village. With every breach of trust, and the result of this being that their world was shattered, it was a huge challenge for the OSLFA to gain their trust and confidence. “I bet the task will not be fulfilled!” was the utterance we heard being made by a

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man who was one of the most frustrated members of the villagers in an initial survey. Though there was some tension between the man and a local NGO member over this expression, we understood that there was no alternative but to patiently and deeply listen to them, getting the message behind what was said. It was also important to be consistent with our behavior towards them.

The amount of damage referred to above was probably so large that it was only when the construction work had progressed to some extent - that is, towards the end of the tangible project - that we could win their overall trust. Through interviews, personal conversations and public speeches, it became clear that if there was one person who visibly contributed to the trust-building task (other than the Buddhist priest of the village temple), it was a mid-level engineer who voluntarily offered his services in constructing the water supply facilities, meticulously taking care of not only with regard to technical problems, but also vis-a-vis logistical problems and community support. On the special occasion organized to celebrate the opening of the water project, a moving tribute was given by a female leader of the neighboring village on his efforts and dedication to the project. To identify this kind of resource person is a key factor in managing and successfully completing an international cooperation project. This responsibility and honor goes to the local NGO: in this case, the Bright Moon Foundation.

The main pillar of the success of the project was an intangible cultural asset of the village, whose source is the Buddhist temple located on the top of the mountain. The chief priest of the temple who moved to this village to establish the temple seems to believe that the location is an important power spot. A legend thought to have originated and spread among the native people of the province has a peasant hero born to a royal family in this village as its main character, who gains extraordinary skills, overcomes many hardships, and finally ascends to the throne. People gather at the temple on Full Moon Days and every Sunday to hold Buddhist rituals, offering flowers and food to the Lord Buddha, as well as chanting sutras, listening to sermons and doing meditation under the guidance of the high priest. People who experience disappointment, misery and hardship in daily life come to the temple to find solace in ritualistic activities and the specific spiritual environment. The temple represented a rock of inner security on which they could depend in their lives of hardship. We also found that one could solace oneself with the fine scenery and the panoramic view over the mountain there.

This situation makes us aware of an important background factor of development. The spiritual culture that has been developing around the temple with a venerable priest who served as a voluntary social worker was the powerful link in achieving participation, success and development for the local community as well as international community. Although global institutions focus on alleviating poverty, improving living conditions and achieving economic development, the concept of international development has been increasingly associated with the holistic context of human development, including quality of life or subjective well-being and particular socio-cultural features constituting to the social organization of a given country. Cultural and age-old values of a community, which play a critical role in human security and development, have to be considered as important channels for achieving success in participation. This indicates that we cannot divorce international development approaches from local social, historical and cultural contexts.

Although the concept of participatory development is usually used in the context of projects implemented in developing countries, we believe that it should also be used with regard to the activities

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of fund-providing/resource-holding organizations. Figure 2 shows the main activities and events that occurred mainly in Okinawa concerning the water project. Many people, groups and organizations participated in these activities in different forms, in different levels and to different degrees. Some of them organized the activities, others offered to do voluntary charity work, and still others volunteered to offer their valuable time and space, knowledge and resources. Most of the work that required a variety of skills was undertaken by these volunteers. One aspect of Okinawa social capital that makes this possible is Yuimaru spirit. Yuimaru in the Okinawa language means ‘reciprocity’. The concept is rooted in old work-sharing practices where all villagers cooperated to help each other. The Yuimaru spirit is still alive and recalls the need to work together in a project for common benefit.

Figure 2 Activities of the OSLWP

MONTH & YEAR ACTIVITY

August 2012Problem solving activity “What can we do?” after participating in Sri Lanka tour

July 2013 Launching the water project

August 2013 Fact finding trip to Belungala Village

February 2014 Charity lunch at the luxury cruiser Nippon Maru

April 2014 Charity concert at Ryukyu Shimpo Hall

December 2014 Crowd Funding through Internet lunched

January 2015 Charity curry party at Okinawa University

February 2015 Charity curry party at Okinawa University

March 2015Charity bazaar at Yamaganmari Hills;Crowd Funding completed

June 2015 Charity bazaar and concert at Okinawa University

August 2015Water project completed;Attending the opening ceremony at Belungala Village;Children’s workshop

October 2015 Briefing session with details of the water project

November 2015 Received Dream Start Up Prize for Crowd Funding

March 2016 Sri Lanka government support for pipeline work

June 2016Received International Habitation Commemoration Prize from Japan Housing Association

July 2017 Report of the Water Project published

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Throughout the project, we were in constant contact with the local group leaders, including NGO members, the Buddhist priest representing the village community and the key persons of the village. We participated in the project while using participatory observation to collect data. Our efforts concentrated on encouraging them to engage actively in the project and on collecting reliable data, thus enabling Japanese people to participate fully. Conversely, much information on how Japanese members actively participated in discussions about the situation of the village community and the proper way to implement the project, how they were keen on devising fund-raising strategies and organizing campaigns and activities, and so on, was provided to the village community through conferences. However, it was also true that the villagers did not participate in the process of data analysis in a way that would allow them to participate in higher level decision making processes. This brings us to the question of what true participation means.

Participation can be varied from minimal to maximal along a continuum of participatory level. There can be different interpretations of participation as far as the researcher is concerned. Chambers (1995) has delineated three uses of “participation”: (1) using it as a cosmetic label, (2) describing a co-opting practice, and (3) describing an empowering process. It is true that leaders attempted to mobilize local labor by encouraging the community to contribute their time and efforts to a self-help project. However, I don’t think it led to a situation in which “they” (local people) participate in “our” project, as Chambers conjectured. We believe that the Belungala Water Project helped them gain in confidence and empowered them, though not to the extent of enabling them to do their own analysis and to make their own decisions based on such an analysis. Throughout the project, we believed that “we” participated in “their” project. Based on our data, it is not unrealistic to locate the level of participation in between the second and third meanings proposed by Chambers.

6. Participatory evaluation The form of evaluation becomes varied as independent evaluation, participatory/collaborative evaluation, or empowerment evaluation, depending on the extent to which the distance between evaluators and stakeholders is to be maintained (Rossi et al, 2004). Our evaluation approach has been shaped by, and is included within, ‘participatory evaluation’ in a broad sense as all stakeholders including the local community, the fund-providing body and the research team participated in the evaluation process, representatively. Participatory evaluation is considered to be “a partnership approach to research that equitably involves, for example, community members, organizational representatives, and researchers in all aspects of the research process” (Israel et al. 2008). However, it will be hard to achieve the equitable involvement in the partnership by researchers and community members in all phases of the research process. Community members may not be in a position to understand the practical value of evaluation, and the value of academic evaluation, in particular. Although we accepted the need to share power over the evaluation process by all participants equitably and thereby raise collective awareness, it was unavoidable for us to have prepared and designed the evaluation programs before visiting the village community, while being flexible enough to change them depending on the situations arising on the ground.

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The village community was represented by executive members of the Bright Moon Foundation, office-bearers of the newly established Water-Consumption Cooperative Society, some community leaders of the village and the high priest of the village temple. Other than the author of this paper, the research community included three other members of the OSLFA who had familiarized themselves with the village community by having previously visited them in trips organized by the OSLFA. The fact that all the three were female members was an added advantage, as the most active representatives of the village community were also female. It strengthened the partnership between the research group and the village community. For the village community, there was no distinction between fund-providers and researchers. The people never looked at them as a checking or scrutinizing brigade. We never used academic or technical terms in communicating with the community. We wanted to involve the poor people, who were disempowered, whose voice had not been heard so far, and who had been excluded from the grand national development project. It should be admitted that there was a gap between the evaluators and the evaluated because the evaluated, namely the local community, did not possess the means or criteria of evaluation. This being said, it was also true that our research team neither included any evaluation experts nor had thought of proper criteria for evaluation until the project was carried out to a great extent with good intentions. However, we attached much importance to ‘dialogue’ between the fund-providers and the service-receivers, and attempted to delegate the right and responsibility of evaluation to the stakeholders. It was anticipated that this kind of participatory evaluation would enhance the ownership of service-receivers.

This was a mixed-method evaluation. The researchers were selected from active members of the OSLFA, the fund-providing institution, as they had the right and the responsibility of evaluating the project, in addition to responsibility towards the donators, well-wishers and support groups, as well as the local community. Considering all the amendments and assessments implemented, the entanglements experienced, and the achievements gained throughout the project, we followed our evaluation centering around on the triangular relationship of process, impact and outcome proposed by Rossi et al (2004).

Process evaluations covered the activities that occurred during the planning, development, and implementation of the project. The process evaluations conducted in 2013 and 2014 were useful in observing progress objectively, in identifying the pitfalls, and in making necessary adjustments. For example, although the initial plan had to be abandoned, at one stage of the process evaluations a new plan was adopted to better suit the topographical features of the village. Although the construction work needed advanced technology and became more costly, it was approved because the amended project would be beneficial to a larger number of people, guaranteeing safe drinking water. At another stage of the project, we also understood that the community members were not participating in the project actively because of their lack of trust and confidence in the overall project.

Impact evaluations focused on the immediate effects of the project components. In the impact evaluations conducted simultaneously, we came to know how the community leaders had tried in vain to urge the Local Council to pass a budget to provide financial support for the project, and how the community leaders formed a cooperative association to maintain and manage the water supply facilities in the future. In addition, we learned that the local engineer’s efforts could have a greater impact on the completion of the project, even though the Bright Moon Foundation had sent a representative to monitor

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the project work regularly. The overall impact brought out by the implementation of the project was confirmed through interviews and conversations held with the members of the local community. Outcome evaluations focused on assessment of the project, with consideration given to how far the objectives and goals have been reached. Our outcome evaluations conducted in 2015, 2016 and 2017 included needs assessment, tracing background factors, supporting future directions, as well as capacity-building and the empowerment of women along the establishment of the Water-Consumption Cooperative Society, youth development, and building community network and facility expansion.

We accepted and confirmed participation as a dialogue between community partners and researchers, as well as between community partners and fund-providers. This dialogue helped us identify the true needs of the people. The residents’ needs and wishes were taken into consideration and negotiated throughout the project. The members of the community were encouraged to participate through the leaders’ strong desire not to resign completely until the goal was achieved. The community members’ awareness of their living environment was increased through their participation. The most heartening step was the role of the Water-Consumption Cooperative Society in strengthening women’s participation and in empowering women and children. It is to the credit of the organizations and the people involved that they have avoided the twin faults and dangers to which most conventional institutions succumb.

The logical model proposed by Rossi et al (2004) serves as a useful tool for visualizing the logical framework of [input → output → outcome], combining the project objectives and the strategies used to achieve them. Any project aims to achieve a final outcome. It is thus evident that OSLFA helped the community of the mountain village of Belungala gain access to safe water through its efforts.

Tracing the background factors was useful in understanding both weaknesses and strengths of the target community. The economic conditions of the village and the marginalized situation of the community were vividly revealed through social surveys. It was amply evident that the implementation and the success of the project, as well as the process and the outcome were socially constructed, with asymmetric relations between various stakeholders. As Mosse (2005) has indicated, asymmetric relations prevail between donors and receivers, between government officials and residents, between local NGO leaders and residents, and between male residents and female members. It became evident that multiple forms of inequality would hamper progress, as well as any tangible achievement of a project, unless adequate consideration is paid to them by project leaders.

Because participatory evaluation puts much emphasis on dialogue, it creates a learning process for stakeholders, opening a space for reflection. Participation in the OSLWP provided the Japanese members a great opportunity to learn about international development and international assistance in general and Sri Lanka culture and life, rural life in particular. Though it might be taken completely for granted, it should be mentioned that there is a complementary relationship between the former and the latter. Understanding rural life and its problems in a developing country is fundamental for successfully implementing an international development project. The Japanese participants became further conscious of profound relationships between Japan and Sri Lanka, which compelled them to reflect on their past life, their present situations and future possibilities.

It is not uncommon for donors to return to their base after completing a project and confirming that the expected service has reached the target community in a developing country. In the case of

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the OSLWP, this didn’t happen. With the completion of the project, our team conducted a survey and facilitated a workshop.7 One of the factors that motivated Japanese members into starting the water project, as mentioned earlier, was the children’s water carriage problem. Now that they have gained access to water and can dedicate more time to studies, shouldn’t we support them in realizing their future visions? With this idea in mind, we organized a workshop in which we encouraged each child to draw visual representations of their future goals and to support their goal setting.

The workshop was held at the village temple. The main task was helping children draw “Dream Maps”. Some parents also participated. As a warm-up, a picture book was shown and read to the children. After ice-breaking activity, children were encouraged to draw their “Dream Map” about their future or the future of their village. Having adults and children of varied ages as participants, the workshop provided both parties, local and international, with a fine opportunity to share individual dreams. Empowering women and children and capacity building can be not only the means but the goal of an international project, as the OSLWP demonstrated. Participatory evaluation does create a learning process for, bring empowerment to, and enhance capacity building of, the stakeholders.

Our participatory evaluation process reveals that the tasks of supporting future directions, and capacity building and empowering women through the OSLWP was not limited to the target community in Sri Lanka, but could also be extended to Japanese society - Okinawa in particular. From the beginning, most of the people who designed the project, launched publicity campaigns, and organized the fund-raising activities were female members. Elementary school children, junior high school, senior high school and university students participated in charity events and contributed to fund-raising, seizing the opportunity to increase their awareness in international cooperation, development assistance and volunteerism. After the completion of the water project, five groups of students, including junior high, senior high school and university students from Okinawa have visited Belungala Village, between 2015 to 2017, to see the situation of the village life and have some cultural exchange or some interaction with the village people. Conversations with some of these students have revealed that such interaction has contributed to opening their minds to the world, improving their awareness of international cooperation/exchange and making new channels for intercultural learning available.

When examining the major effects and impacts of the implementation and the completion of the water project, we found that there was a very positive, unintended impact resulting from the direct implementation of the project. According to a document prepared by the Assistant Director of Planning in the Divisional Secretariat, Polgahawela, in 2010, the local public servants had mentioned that construction of a regular water supply scheme for mountainous areas like Mount Yogamuwa, where there is a serious shortage of water, is a remaining problem area with regard to the supply of fresh potable water.8 In fact, Mount Yogamuwa has two villages on either side of the mountain. While the target community of the OSLWP living in Belungala located on one side of the mountain was able to solve their problem with the assistance given by the OSLFA, the community in Atalagala, another village located on the other side of the mountain, was still suffering from the problem. Limited funds allowed the OSLFA to install water supply facilities and provide water only to Belungala consisting of 50 households. However, the Belungala water project was extended to Atalagala in 2017 and now supplies water to the neighboring community. How did this happen?

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The story goes like this: The local government authorities felt guilty and ashamed of being unable to provide water to this poor village, despite continuous requests made by the villagers. According to a rumour, one positive-minded officer declared, “It is a wonderful story, not something we should be ashamed of or embarrassed about. We should take advantage of this opportunity to provide water to the other village.” Meanwhile, the community of Atalagala approached the local government authorities, requesting that they extend the water project to their village. Fortunately, because both communities were patrons of the village temple, the high priest agreed to allow them to share the water tank belonging to Belungala Village. The priest did this using a simple top-down process, leaving no space for any dispute between the communities. The local government agreed to provide funds from the ‘Underdeveloped Village Communities Fund’ for water supply installations, while the administrative cost (3% of the total cost) was made available from the Decentralized Trust Fund of the central government. It was a win-win game: the local government had to bear a minimum cost for installations from the Belungala tank located on the summit of the mountain to Atalagala on the other side of the mountain. In addition, the community of Atalagala gained access to safe water. Figure 3 shows how this development was located within the topography of Mount Yogamuwa by a member of our research team.9 This is a positive change, an unintended impact resulting from the OSLWP. It comes as no surprise that the villagers of Atalagala warmly welcomed the members of the OSLFA and the research team when they visited the village.

Figure 3 Sharing water between Belungala and Atalagala

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Finally, as a cursory review of the OSLWP reveals, it would be realistic to say that our evaluations resonate closely with the DAC criteria for evaluating development assistance. Following the criteria indicated by OECD-DAC will be useful for an objective assessment of the project. We have shown that the objectives of the project are valid and that the activities and outputs of the project are consistent with the overall goal and the attainment of its objectives, which proves the relevance of the project. We have described how the objectives were achieved, paying attention to the necessary factors influencing the attainment of the objectives, thereby proving the effectiveness of the project. As we did not analyze the cost-efficiency of the activities, or calculate the outputs in relation to the inputs, efficiency has not been an essential part of our evaluation. The impact of the project was analyzed in great detail. As stated earlier, since the Water Consumption Cooperative Society has taken responsibility for future maintenance and management of the project, the sustainability of the project will not be a problem, even after the withdrawal of the donor funding. However, we cannot guarantee its environmental sustainability. It had been one of our concerns when we observed the installation status in 2015.10

7. Lessons learnedThis study, in which contextualizing and evaluating the OSLWP is discussed and analyzed,

reveals an important lesson about providing development assistance. In developing countries, allocating development funds in areas of basic needs, such as health and sanitation, where simple measures can have huge impact relative to their cost, can have far reaching effects for individuals and communities. In this way, the long-term health and educational performance of children can be improved, and adults can be engaged in more productive, income-generating work.

The data collected at different stages of planning, implementation and evaluation supports the fact that the implementation and success of a development project is socially constructed. There prevails a highly complex structure of power relations, especially with public servants educated under an elitist tradition. Dealing with such power relations is an arduous task that requires patience, a positive attitude and good negotiating tactics.

It is also important to understand the socio-cultural behavior and the deeply rooted cultural habits of the target community. Outsiders in particular need to be alert and determine whether or not their approach is culturally relevant in the context of the host community.

How can researchers and partners co-produce knowledge, albeit of different forms, when they have such different forms of prevailing knowledge, especially when there is a distance between the academicians (researcher) and the community (researched)? This is where participation becomes meaningful and dynamic. Participation puts an emphasis on dialogue not only between givers and receivers, but also between researchers and partners. We have shown that researcher can cooperate with partners through empathetic listening and context-inquiring dialogue, and further work as a facilitator to bring out social change. Reducing the disparity between the academician and the community helps to reduce social inequality.

The effective implementation of a project aimed at achieving social transformation is possible only when those who participate in evaluation processes engage themselves in reflection and are thus able to change themselves based on the meaningful experiences encountered in the field.

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Though I have not touched upon the problems of internal organizational structure in this article, there is one point that needs mentioning. Though it might only be natural for an organization with the membership coming from different generations, there were some disagreements between some members of the OSLFA regarding the way the activities were being carried out. It became evident that value consensus was eclipsed by disagreements. In the end, it was not possible to create consensus across different interests, attitudes and voices within the team. All in all, strongly inspired by the yuimaru spirit of Okinawa, the Sri Lanka Water Project gradually developed into a citizen participation-type collaborative project. The most important thing is that the OSLWP empowered the communities to take control of their water supply and compelled the local government to move forward. As access to clean, potable water is widely considered to be a human right, the lack of this access only widens disparities.

For Okinawan people who were involved in the project, it wasn't just about digging wells and setting up pumps and motors - it was a marvelous opportunity for them to build long-lasting relations while talking to the local community members and government officials to find out how they live and what they need to feel healthy and happy. Aside from hard facts, it gave us a good opportunity to understand the politics of water as well as of development. The project provided good opportunity for youth in Okinawa and Sri Lanka to have an increasing interest in international cooperation, and to find personal fulfillment.

It was further revealed that trust-building, both at local and international levels, is important for the success of a project. Reciprocity - that is, mutual sharing, mutual benefits and mutual satisfaction - is a key factor in achieving positive results. It was also shown that participation in development, evaluation, or research is a factor in ensuring that so much is achieved.

Notes1 Tanigawa Shuntaro: “Boku wa iu” [I say] 2 See D. Chandralal (ed.) “Ou e no michi; A rocky path to the royal palace; Appuwa raja wuu heti” (Tri-lingual book in Japanese, English and Sinhala)3 Courtesy: The Island, Upali Newspapers Ltd.4 The Island, May 30, 20175 ‘Process Consultation’ was proposed by Schein in 1969 as a model of how to work with human systems. See also Process Consultation Revisited: Building the Helping Relationship by Edgar H. Schein in 19986 The Washington Post (July 27, 2005)7 See for detail Regional Studies No.17: 73-878 Report prepared by the Divisional Secretariat, Polgahawela, Sri Lanka9 Sketch by Narumi Heshiki10 See Regional Studies No.17: 73-87

ReferencesChabbott, Collette. 1999. "Development INGOs." In John Boli and George M. Thomas (eds.), Constructing World

Culture: International Nongovernmental Organizations since 1875. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Chambers, Robert. 1995. “Paradigm shifts and the practice of participatory research and development,” in N. Nelson

and S. Wright (eds.), Power and Participatory Development: Theory and Practice. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.

Chandralal, Dileep (ed.). 2010.Ou e no michi; A rocky path to the royal palace; Appuwa raja wuu heti (Tri-lingual book in Japanese, English and Sinhala), Bungeisha.

Chandralal, Dileep and Goto, Aki. 2016. “A Survey Report of Water Supply Project in Belungala Village, Sri Lanka.”

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In Regional Studies No.17: 73-87. The Institute of Regional Studies, Okinawa University.Israel, B.A., Schulz, A.J., Parker, E.A., Becker, A.B. 2008. “Critical Issues in Developing and Following Community-

Based Participatory Research Principles.” In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-Based Participatory Research for Health (pp.47-62). San Francisco, CA Jossey-Bass.

Gebreselassie Yosief Tesfamichael, 2005. “In Africa, Just Help Us to Help Ourselves.” The Washington Post (July 27, 2005)

Geere, J. 2016. Access to Safe Drinking Water: Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Global Health. Retrieved from http://www.fairobserver.com/

Mosse, D. 2005. Cultivating Development: An Ethnography of Aid Policy and Practice. London: Pluto Press.Peterson, Lindsey. 2014. “A Gift You Can’t Refuse? Foreign Aid, INGOs and Development in the World Polity.”

Studies in Emergent Order 7:81-102.Rossi, P.H., Lipsey, M.W., & Freeman, H.E. 2004. Evaluation: A systematic approach. London: SageSato, Kan. 2005. Kaihatsu enjo no shakaigaku [Sociology of Development Assistance] (in Japanese). Sekaishisousha.Schein, Edgar. 2009. Helping: How to Offer, Give, and Receive Help. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.Swiss, Liam. 2016. “A Sociology of Foreign Aid and the World Society.” Sociology Compass 10(1):65-73Weeraratna, C.S. 2014. “Reducing water shortage.” The Island (March 29, 2014).

AcknowledgementsThis paper was developed from the ones given at The Kyushu District Council Meeting Study Conference for 2016 of the West Council of the Library Association of Private Universities (Okinawa University, September 2, 2016) and The 1st International Forum of the Faculty of Foreign Studies, Meijo University Discussions for Sustainable Development and Culture – Lessons for and from Emerging Asia (Meijo University, Nagoya, October 9, 2016). The author is grateful to the members of the research group, especially to Aki Goto, Narumi Heshiki and Makiko Gima for their enthusiastic participation in survey research. My sincere thanks go to Dr. Christopher Bradley whose comments invaluably coutributed to the improvement of this paper. I would also like to thank everyone involved in making the OSLWP such a huge success. Note that this study is part of the research project supported by the Institute of Regional Studies, Okinawa University.

論文名：国際協力と参加型開発―水プロジェクトを通してみる沖縄とスリランカの互恵的関係の

構築の試み

要約

本稿は、沖縄スリランカ友好協会が 2013 年から 2015 年までに実施した「スリランカ命の水プ

ロジェクト」を参加型開発プロジェクトとして捉え、開発援助の計画、立案、実施、評価のすべ

ての段階においてどのような「参加」があり、どのような課題にぶつかり、どのような効果を発

揮できたのかを分析し、開発援助のやり方に示唆を与える。実施状況は「参加型開発」の概念を

通じて、そして評価過程は「参加型評価」の概念を通じて分析する。本研究は、沖縄のユイマー

ル精神とスリランカのお寺を中心としたコミュニティー精神が当プロジェクトの実施、成功、効

果に大いに貢献し、沖縄とスリランカの互恵的関係と自立型の国際協力の試みに役に立ち、グロー

カルな絆を築くことができたことを証明した。

キーワード：assistance, development, community, participation, evaluation

Documents

International Cooperation and Participatory Development : Author(s) Dileep…okinawa-repo.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp/bitstream/20.500.12001/22349/1/no21p1.pdf · Dileep Chandralal ([email protected])