Extending HEARD’s reach through partnership
Partnership is the fundamental element in any development initiative. The recipients of development – those whom we seek to help – have integrity and agency. Their individual, family and community lives are expressions of values. They have their own reckoning of priorities; and more broadly, there is no substitute for true local knowledge. At the same time, every organisation of community has concentrations of power and lines of tension – and there is no suitable way of mediating these except through the careful, painstaking work of gaining trust and developing partnerships.
At times, existing local organisations can be strengthened so that their work can be deepened or extended; in other instances, local knowledge can be supplemented and given an accessible and enduring organisational form. It is both a lesson and a benefit of supporting local knowledge and capacity through partnership that we have a great deal to learn as well as to impart.