Building community institutions
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Building community institutions
Fair and equal control of natural resources means that all people have a voice
in decisions about how natural resources are used and shared. Fair and equal
control can take many forms, but all are based in education and organization
of people to work together for change.
Environmental health is always a community issue. People must work
together, as a community, to protect the resources they share in common. To
work together over the long term, people usually form some sort of community
group or institution.
When the cholera epidemic began to spread in Ecuador, Salud para
el Pueblo organized public health committees to raise awareness and get
people to act. To better respond to the cholera epidemic, the public health
committees offered knowledge (how to make rehydration drink) and services
(building new toilets and water systems). They also helped to restore and
strengthen their communities by maintaining a health clinic, and providing
health education and training at schools, parks, and in people’s homes.
And they inspired other people to form groups and institutions, such as the
environmental health promoters and the recycling program.
Salud para el Pueblo also worked with
organizations from outside their communities
to provide money, engineering skills,
medicines, and other resources. They
made sure these resources were used and
managed by the villagers themselves.
The communities were also involved
in the planning and decision making
about expanding the program.
When each village
formed a committee
of health promoters,
they were able to
decide which health
problems were most
important to resolve.
When governments do not provide for the basic needs of their people, the
people must build institutions for themselves, as Salud para el Pueblo did,
to make sure the future is healthy. Often, when communities organize, the
government then responds by fulfilling its responsibilities to the people.
The different resource needs of men and women; of workers, farmers,
foresters, and ranchers; and of industries, land developers, and others, can
bring conflict into your community and your organization. Sometimes
problems can be particularly difficult, such as balancing short-term needs for
income and long-term health needs. Building strong community institutions
often takes so much time because recognizing these differences and trying to
settle these conflicts is difficult. Making long-term health a goal, and finding
ways for everyone to work toward meeting this goal together, can help resolve
difficult conflicts and build strong institutions that protect the common good.
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012