From the rural community to the state. action research in the everyday practice of the cambodian ong "krom"

The article deals with the intervention of integrated development (economical, social and individual) carried out by the Ngo Krom Akphiwat Phum in the northwestern area of Cambodia. The intervention started in 1993, in the aftermath of the war that caused bloodshed in the country for more than 20 years. The immediate aim was the restoration into the cambodian society of the displaced persons coming back from the refugee camps set on Thailand borders. Subsequently, they offered the necessary tools for the development of the so formed new communities, and the development of a social movement that could connect with the Government in a democratic and participatory way. Throughout these processes, Krom has used action-research methodology: continuously presence of social workers in the villages, direct participation of the population in the analysis of issues, in the choice of the solutions and in the formulation of the development projects. The outcomes have been superior to those of other Ngos, particularly in terms of empowerment and self-sufficiency of the population. Critical issues appeared with time and because of the higher and higher complexity of the interventions; in particular with regard to the relationships between the social workers and the Ngo’s organization. From a recent external evaluation, three main critical issues emerged: 1. the lack of clear roles and specific professional skills makes the turnover between the different tasks of the Programme Management Team inefficient and unable to offer support to the staff members; 2. the lack of an external point of view and outside consultants for the support of staff members who are showing signs of burn-out from having interacted only among themselves for too many years; 3. the vague concept of power, that constrains the Ngo to reconsider what the correct structure (authoritative or democratic) should be in order to work at its best.

Maddalena Gregori, Dalla comunità di villaggio allo stato. La ricerca-azione nella prassi operativa quotidiana dell’Ong cambogiana "krom" in "RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA " 3-4/2009, pp 235-248, DOI: 10.3280/RIP2009-003014