A fairy-tale about the vision for Local Economic Development inspired by the Participatory Appraisal of Competitive Advantage (PACA)

1. Houses of Reed
A fairy-tale about the vision of PACA, inspired by a
consultancy mission in El Salvador, in February 2003
The small city
was located at a
wide river.
The people lived
in solid houses
and pursued
their daily work.

2. Life went on until the
day of the big
earthquake.
For three days and
nights the ground
trembled and shivered
so that even the
strongest buildings
collapsed like card
houses. Those who
could not escape in
time were buried
under the ruins.

3. While the
earthquake was
still going on,
everyone tried their
best to rescue the
victims.

4. The women and men
of the small town
immediately set up an
improvised hospital
and shared the
remaining food
supplies.

5. After a few days,
helpers came from
nearby cities and
even from far away
countries.
The support was
more than
welcome. The
people, who had
lost their houses,
now lived in
provisional tents.

6. After some time,
when the first need
was eased, the
helpers left the
place.
The citizens did not
know what to do
and wondered:
“What will happen without further help?”

7. People living in tents complained:
“We still lack real houses! Without outside
help, we are lost! In winter with the cold and
the snow we will freeze to death!”

8. As the helplessness
and fury reached its
climax, a small girl
asked:
“Why don’t we try
to build our houses
by ourselves?”
After a short silence, everybody laughed at the child.

9. ”What a stupid idea", growled the fat merchant,
“for building houses we need expensive bricks
which we cannot afford without the help of other
cities and rich foreign countries.”

10. At this moment a
young craftsman
raised his voice:
“If we don't have any
bricks, why don’t we
build our houses from
reed that grows in
abundance here."

11. This had never been heard of before, and the
director of the urban planning authority grumbled:
“Such an utter nonsense! We have always built our
houses from bricks.”

12. The old master of the
craft guild seized the
word:
“Only because
something has never
been done, doesn't
mean that it is not
possible."

13. “You just have to weave it properly in order to
create a load-bearing structure”, said the
female basket maker.

14. The focus of the discussion turned and the whole
assembly warmed up to the idea. Some already talked
about the practical realization and finally a group
agreed to build a sample house of this new type.
The next day
craftsmen and
female basket
makers met to
discuss how the
reed house
should be built to
be solid and look
beautiful.

15. After some heated debates, the group came to an
agreement and the farmers showed their enthusiasm by
supplying the necessary reed.
With joint strengths,
craftsmen, basket
makers and farmers
started the work and
after three months
proudly presented their
new reed house.
It was greeted with
curiosity and also with
some skepticism by the
citizens.

16. The young craftsman’s family moved into new house.

17. We must confess: it was not yet perfect, the wind
whistled through the walls and the roof leaked.
However, these insufficiencies stimulated the creative
spirit of the craftspeople, who found new solutions.

18. As the reed house became ever more comfortable,
other citizens wanted to possess such a house as well.
More and more reed houses were built and soon all
families had a roof over their heads again. .

19. After the reed houses survived another earthquake
undamaged, the remaining doubting spirits were convinced.
No one missed the old brick houses.

20. The whole town was proud and people came from
everywhere to look at the reed houses.
The craftsman, not as young anymore, already thought
about selling the reed houses beyond the borders of the
small town for good money... The End.

21. The tale “Houses of Reed” was inspired by a
consultancy mission in El Salvador in February 2003
Idea and text by Ulrich Harmes-Liedtke
Illustrated by Arnoldo Baltodano Cuadra
with the support of German Technical Cooperation
(GTZ)
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua 1/2004