COMMUNITY ENTRY

Community entry may be referred to as the process of initiating and sustaining working relationships with community members which may culminate into sustainable projects. It involves the application of various procedures and tools of community mobilization, identification and recognition of local leadership and reaching and working of community members. 

Steps in community entry

Collection of secondary information and Mapping out of the community with key emphasizes on different aspects of the community. This can be done through the use of various tools such as transect walks, observation, focus group discussion, interviews, social mapping and contacting of local leaders.

Conduct a stakeholder analysis to establish key persons within the community who may be crucial in achieving the objective of the proposed assignment. 

Interact informally with key informants identified higher. The key informants could be people with influence within the society. 

Arrange to meet with the key community leaders first as an individual then as a group. Before the group meeting, clarify on the role of your team. It is very important to recognize the position and roles of the community leaders in order that they will help the external entities to develop ways in seeking their co-operation and support for programme Implementation. In meeting with chiefs and their stool/skin elders, it is important to schedule meeting, times to suit the convenience of the traditional leaders. Follow protocol;

• Meet the chief first and discuss your mission e.g. to know the history of the community and new health programme.
• Meet elders also if possible.

In the community, leadership lies in the hands of a hierarchy of persons ranging from chiefs through town/village chiefs, clan/lineage heads to family heads. Apart from the chiefs and elders, there are various interest groups and personalities in every community who must be identified to serve as contact persons in working with the community. 

At the group meeting, agree on date, roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, venue, time, agenda and other logistics for the open community meeting after obtaining their support for the programme.

Conduct the open community meeting on the site to share programme goals and activities. A major outcome of the meeting is an understanding of the project and issue to be solved. During the community meeting, discussion and decision making takes place. 

This will culminate in the initiation of community projects and evaluation

The development process should be participatory with an objective of sustainability.