Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
human health were some of the criteria given by some of the participants in some
villages. In five of the six villages, no consensus was obtained on this issue. The
workshop in Gitangu village, the first indicators workshop to be held, was the only
one to reach an autonomous consensus. The debate was as follows:
Participant 1:
In my group, we agreed on how we could tell if our village is becom-
ing healthier. We agreed that if we have plans as a community, and
those plans are being implemented properly, then our village is
headed towards a more healthy status.
Participant 2:
But even thieves and conspirators have plans and they succeed. …
sometimes more often than not.
Participant 1:
But their actions are harmful. Everybody can see that!
Participant 3:
It is not easy to detect negative effects of some of our actions. When
you are cultivating, it is a good thing because you get a harvest.
But quite imperceptibly your soil keeps deteriorating. Some of it is
slowly carried away by runoff. You will not know until many years
later. In any case, people are likely to complain even when a good
thing is happening. A good example is when a doctor prescribes an
injection for your child. You help in restraining the child, and you
know it is a good thing. But that does not stop the child from com-
plaining. Does it?
Participants:
Of course not! The child will cry.
Participant 2:
I think being aware of the consequences of our plans and actions
and being ready to deal with them is a very important component of
the health process.
Participants:
That is very true.
This description was offered to participants in all the workshops and a sup-
plemental question was asked: How can we determine the consequences of plans
and actions? Participants used the terms
Kuona mbere
,
Guikia maitho kabere
, and
Guthima
to describe the processes. The first two terms translate roughly to projec-
tion into the future or prediction, (direct translation: “seeing into the future” and
“throwing eyes ahead,” respectively). The third term translates to “measuring” or
“monitoring” and is also used to refer to the procedures that are carried out before
a doctor makes a diagnosis. The following excerpts from the village workshops
illustrate the context in which these terms were used and the communities' under-
standing of indicators.
We need to know—and prepare for—the consequences of our actions by projecting into
the future [Guikia maitho Kabere]. For example, if we were to continue with our current
rate of land subdivision we better start learning how to make storied buildings.
In the history of this village [Gitangu] [there is] a record of what we are talking about.
During the 1956 land demarcation, our forefathers had seen into the future [Kuona
mbere]. Of their own consideration, they decided to spare some land for a cemetery in
the village. There were no dairy cattle then, and no one in the village had the need for
a dip, but they spared some land for a dip. They had no teachers, and only a few of them
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