Community Owned Development amongst the Marginalised San Communities of the Kalahari, as Adopted by a San Community Development Organisation, the Kuru Development Trust. Working Papers in Early Childhood Development, No. 22.

The Kuru Development Trust is a development support program that is owned and controlled by the communities in which the organization operates, the majority being San, or Bushmen, communities in the Kalahari region of Africa. Following a holistic approach to development, Kuru is involved in a wide range of activities, including income-generating projects, a savings and loan plan, cultural activities, a training program, and a preschool program. After almost a decade of experience in community development work, the Board members of the Kuru Development Trust wanted to enable their organization to serve a larger geographic area. Recognizing the tremendous problems that are encountered in grassroots community development programs in general, a clear and simple strategy was needed, one that would specifically make space for the cultural aspects of the San people. This working paper describes the efforts that were undertaken to define this strategy. The paper reviews lessons learned by Kuru over the years about community development, and describes the organization's study of different community development programs, particularly the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gilgit, Pakistan. The paper then describes in detail what Kuru decided are crucial aspects of a community development strategy, which it adopted and called "community-owned development" in its move toward becoming a regional support organization. (EV)