Publications
New manual on Development Education of Equality Studies in UCD, Dier Tong from the Africa Solidarity Centre, the book's author, Helena, and John Farrelly, LYCS Chairperson. Mr. Farrelly, said, "It is great to see a Dev. Ed. guidebook coming from the Community Development sector - there are strong links between the two." Dier Tong noted: "Dev. Ed. is trying to correct the influence of the media. This book helps you think critically about things like power-relations." Incidentally, LYCS runs four distinct programmes: the Community Training Centre, the First Steps Creche, the Adult Education Programme (which includes the Dev. Ed. work), and the Youth Programme. LYCS celebrated its 21st anniversary this year.
By ALLEN MEAGHER IT'S one thing for the voluntary management committee of a local CDP to attempt to understand and come up with answers to the problems facing their own community. But, Lourdes Youth and Community Services (LYCS) CDP go a step further - for ten years the project has been educating people about development issues globally. That's going too far, you might say, and you'd be wrong! In learning about the plight of poor children in Afganistan, people soon begin to reflect on the challenges facing children in their own communities, for example. The degree of challenges faced may differ, but the causes of inequalities are often the same, people find. Around Sean McDermott Street, groups consisting of older women, drug users, street traders and community workers have explored human rights, world trade, violence against women, poverty and many other issues from both local and global perspectives. In October, to satisfy continuing demand for information on how to run these workshops, LYCS published a highlyreadable guidebook to Development Education so other projects may adopt the same approach. The publication is targeted at the thousands of people working with adult learners in hundreds of community education and community development organisations. Titled 'Connecting Communities: A Practical Guide to Using Development Education in Community Settings', the manual includes ten sections, each with recommended group-exercises and facilitator tips. The guidebook aims to encourage those working with groups to introduce a global view when examining the basic things that effect their own marginalised communities. As LYCS co-ordinator, Sarah Kelleher standing on a crate at a podium - explained at the launch: " We do Dev. Ed. because it works." "Why we produced the book is because there wasn't any book like it in Ireland. And it had become labour-intensive explaining to people what Development Education is and how it works. With this book, you can pick it up, walk into a workshop and conduct exercises. "The purpose of any community development work is to introduce change in people's minds and in the community. How do you make people think differently? Well, changing ireland
Development Education, or Dev. Ed. as we call it, succeeds in doing that. "Dev. Ed. makes people think: What we have got in common with other people in the world? What are the differences? It forces people to think about who holds power, who gets to make the decisions that effect their lives. Dev. Ed. therefore has an impact on the individual and on communities." LYCS received funding to publish the book from Development Co-operation Ireland which is concerned that, there are (as Sarah explained) "very few community development organisations doing Dev. Ed. and they wants to see that change." Ms. Kelleher praised the author, Helena McNeill, as "the new Maeve Binchy of the community sector", adding, "She put two years of huge energy, time and work went into the book. It reads very well, flows like silk and is basic and simple." Other speakers at the launch included Kathleen Lynch, author, activist and Professor
The guidebook is available for €15. If you want a copy or want information on running a Dev. Ed. course in your area, contact Riona (who is employed specifically to assist CDPs all around the country to run courses) or Helena (who works with CDPs and community groups in Dublin) at LYCS, Lower Sean McDermott St., Dublin 1. Tel. 01836-3416. E-mail: lycs@eircom.net
10 workshops in one book THE 184-page pack contains a range of informative material and 10 workshops covering such areas as • global inequality; • causes and consequences of debt; • housing, a human need; • a look at health inequality; • exploring work and the economy; • gender and development; • drugs and the international drugs trade; • human migration; • understanding racism; • people and power.
‘Ireland from Below’ magazine
‘IRELAND from Below’ is a new publication reporting from and for community struggles around the island of Ireland and beyond. The first issue includes a four-page spread on the Rossport community's struggle against Shell and the Government; a report on local resistance to privatisation in Ballymun; and an interview with incinerator company boss John Ahern, who describes how his
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company was "terrified" of the communities opposing the Ringaskiddy incinerator. The magazine is looking for articles and information from communities. For more information, contact: ‘Ireland from Below’, 20 Scarlet Row, Essex St West, Dublin 8. Tel. Laurence Cox at 087-9851029. E-mail: irelandfrombelow@yahoo.ie is there another word for synonym?