“I feel like I have a really good baseline understanding of all the aspects of community development and
I now feel like I’m more capable of applying to an NGO for work experience. Amongst the courses,
although Strategic Planning and Result Based Management were difficult and challenging because I’d
never been exposed to them before, I think it’s really good, practical knowledge.”

My learning for development is to empower the people and change attitudes to break the cycle of
dependence. The way to do this is Bala Vikasa way (ABCD model). You relate people to assets and make
them feel stronger. The recognition of strengths, gifts, talents and assets of individual and communities
are more likely to produce change. As community development practitioners we must step back and
allow the community to lead. Our role is to act as a facilitator. It was quite a moving experience to visit
the Gangadevipalli village and see this approach in action.

Bala Vikasa’s extensive experience in rural development, particularly in implementing women’s and
widows’ empowerment initiatives through community mobilisation, adds significant value to training
programs, making them highly insightful. The exposure from field visits to various development
initiatives gives participants a whole new perspective and also helps them find innovative solutions
to their community problems.