“CAP tools allow us to identify our problems and find strategies to solve them”, Chief of Village Uma Boco, Natarbora, Manatuto
CAP stand for Community Action Plan (PRA: Participatory Rural Appraisal in common known). CAP process is an activity to analyze and to identify local resources within a selected community. The objective of the cap process is to raise community awareness to their own resources and to promote community sense of ownership to their local resources. The process uses analysis tools such as, storytelling, social map, matrix gender, transect walk, seasonal calendar, story from time to time, Venn diagram and FGD (focus group discussion).
CAP process in Natarbora was done once in 2008 by NGO ETADEP with support from RWSSP. The CAP process was done for about two weeks. Community members were enthusiastic, as they expected that NGO ETADEP would run the program implementation and that the program implementation would be done according to their recommendations gathered during the CAP process. However, the clean water program failed to involve community members as the implementation of clean water program was done by a private company (Linoel, Ltd). Moreover, the implementation program was not done according to community’s recommendations.
Participants of CAP process in suku UmabocoCommunity members in Natarbora were then skeptical and doubtful with any CAP process. Many believe that CAP process is a wasting of time. This became a serious obstacle for DWASH integrated team before doing another CAP process in June 2010, as it is imperative to involve community members in the CAP process.
However, through a good coordination with local community members and local authorities and an effective socialization during the community engagement program, DWASH integrated team was finally able to engage community members,
local authorities and representations from the community in the CAP process. The DWASH CAP process was done for about one week only (proposed by community members during the engagement process) as they believe that they have had good knowledge of CAP process.
Participants of CAP process in suku Abat OanCommunity members involved in all activities during the CAP process. We have good gender balance, women were active during the CAP process and many recommendations from community members became references and were included in the technical design and the implementation program. We formed new GMF (Grupo Maneja Facilidade) or local committee for water supply management and two GOUF (Grupo Organiza e Utiliza Facilidade) or groups that organize the clean water system in two villages.
