rising from within

What can be more powerful than a group of people taking ownership of their own living and working conditions and actively trying to improve them?

This question has led to the development of a special program called “arising from within”.
The program capitalises on the many lessons learned in community building combined with strengthening language or vocational skills. It aims to empower people to become agents of change in their communities. The program stimulates connections between people and the carrying out of small acts of service by more and more people. The program is done primarily by volunteers, while training and coordination costs are minimal, making the program a powerful instrument to start a process of positive change in existing communities.

how does it work?

There are many groups that have great difficulties finding a meaningful place in society. These could be people from minority groups, youth, or less privileged populations. Challenges in communities are oftentimes complex and interconnected, be it about poverty, crime, drugs, family break ups, lack of opportunities, and so forth.

In close collaboration with existing educational institutions, soul.com trains an initial core group of people, who are part of or trusted by the population, as facilitators to start a distance learning process. They are being trained to teach for example language skills or a particular vocation skill. At the same time, they are being trained to start small groups to teach people and to also engage them in an ongoing conversation about the needs of their communities and how they can contribute. Integral part of these groups is the building of trust, strengthening friendships, and carrying out acts of service.

From time to time, these facilitators come together for reflection, sharing experiences and learning from each other. They also gather statistics and examples of the changes that they observe, both within the participants and the communities.

As experience and impact grows, additional facilitators can be trained to form more groups. Gradually, a form of coordination is required to structure and manage the growing distance learning process. In addition, additional training can be offered to the facilitators as the process of community building progresses.

ask a question about rising from within

for who is this relevant?

For communities which initiate a community building process to change their material and social reality. For schools or universities working with local communities. For students who require to carry out community service. For governance who seek to elevate struggling communities.