As a student of international development, one topic rarely discussed in readings or the classroom is relationships. How do you build trust in the community where you will be working? How do you navigate the personalities of a community’s leadership? How do you empower without patronizing? These are questions that Project Honduras had to consider at every step – before, during, and after its recent visit to the Balfate community.
La Colonia Balfate is an unplanned community composed of mostly mainland Hondurans who have settled in the rugged interior of the island of Roatán. The constant trickle of new settlers, both entering and leaving the community, can give it a sense of impermanence that hinders the unity of the town.
Adding to this is the topography: positioned mostly on steep hills and with very precarious pathways between homes, simply paying a visit to a neighbor can be a strenuous affair. In this context, the reaction of many community members to an American student knocking on their door, sweaty, rain-soaked and breathless, is often a mix of suspicion and disbelief. At times, building the team’s visibility and gaining the trust of such a disjointed community can literally be an uphill battle.
Building a good relationship with the community’s leadership – a town council known as the Patronatos – can also be grueling. The greatest challenge is turnover in the membership of Project Honduras, along with the Patronatos themselves. Yet strong personal relationships with community leaders are crucial to the project’s efficiency and flexibility.
Even with these challenges, the organization’s relationship with the people of Balfate continues to strengthen. Among the larger community, this has happened simply with time and effort. Students have now visited every house at least once while implementing the group’s water filter project. In doing so, they have been able to introduce themselves and share a smile at each home – small but essential investments. This year’s team was especially strong in its Spanish fluency, enabling more conversations with community members and earning goodwill toward the project. Even those team members who do not speak Spanish were conscious that a smile and a “buenos días” are the most essential ingredients for a positive interaction.
For the Patronatos, seeing has been believing. They have now had the opportunity to see the difference the water filters make first-hand. And, of course, receiving a grant to help the community with a major capital improvement to their water system obviously has brought the PH team added goodwill. For the first time in March, council members did not insist on accompanying survey teams to homes – a clear sign that trust has been established.
At the end of the day, building trust with Balfate has been about repetition. On the last night of the recent trip, a large meeting of the Patronatos and nearly half of the PH team was convened to solidify plans for the capital improvement project. After the agenda was fully covered, the council President closed the meeting with a statement about what matters. “Other groups have come to this community in the past and said they would like to help, and then we never hear from them again,” she said. “But you keep coming back.”
Established in 1995, the Georgetown Public Policy Review is the McCourt School of Public Policy’s nonpartisan, graduate student-run publication. Our mission is to provide an outlet for innovative new thinkers and established policymakers to offer perspectives on the politics and policies that shape our nation and our world.
Well said Joe.