Sustainable Rural Transformation through Empowering the Community to Educate Children, Recognize and use Visionary Approach and Systems Approach to Development

Abstract

The Report presents what emerged during the one-month Practicum in line with the Objectives of;(i) Facilitating the process of enabling people to know that they are key to their own development and come up with community visions and implement community actions plans, (ii) conduct participatory Action research throughout the Practicum process,(iii) enable people develop their own strategies for local self-help and self-reliance through community participation and as well as enabling the people recognize and use the inter-relationship between development concerns in rural technologies, health, Nutrition, Sanitation, farming, water management, income generation, and environment, system thinking so that they have an all-inclusive approach to development and (iv) identify a research topic. The Practicum commenced on the 25th September, 2023 and ended on the 27th October, 2023 and was carried out in Kasozi Village, Kasozi Parish, Kasimbi Sub County in the mid-western Bunyoro region, Kibaale District. During the Practicum, the Intern worked closely with the technical and political staff of Kasimbi Sub County, the Supervisor, EM, and the ]host family and community members at household,institutional and community level to implement actions. The Intern was positioned in the family of Mr.Kwikiriza Ibrahim and Mrs.Bonabaana Veronica with the general Objective: To create a solid and purposeful interface between African Rural University and local communities in the districts of intervention to cause rural transformation; with a Theme: Sustainable Rural Transformation through empowering the community to recognize and use the Visionary approach to holistic development. The methods that were used during the one month Village Practicum in Kasozi Village Kasozi Parish were; The Visionary Approach, Community Action Planning, Appreciative Inquiry, Observation, Participatory Action Research, Structural Tension Chart, frames and interviews. The key results created by the Intern include; mobilization for household, institutions and Community Development through establishment of household and community Visions, Community Action Plans, improved health, sanitation and nutrition, good farming practices and income generation thus the one-month Practicum was vital to the community.