On May 20, 2015 Mano a Mano hosted a workshop titled "Reframing Community Development: A Conversation among Faith Leaders in the Twin Cities." The workshop was hosted by Mano a Mano co-founder Joan Velasquez, Ph.D., and Janel Kragt Bakker, Associate Director of Collegeville Institute (http://collegevilleinstitute.org/); and used Mano a Mano and sister church relationships as case studies to discuss international community development. This presentation was the basic framework for the event on May 20th at the Mano a Mano office in St. Paul. Thanks to those that attended! If anyone is interested in doing similar events with Mano a Mano, we would be happy to discuss.

1. Reframing Community
Development: A Conversation
among Faith Leaders in the Twin
Cities
Joan Velásquez, Co-Founder of Mano a Mano
Janel Kragt Bakker, Associate Director of Collegeville Institute

2. Case Study 1:
Mano a Mano
International
Case Study 2:
Sister Church
Relationships
Best Practices
Challenges
Opportunities

3. creating partnerships with rural Bolivian communities
to improve health and increase economic well-being
Case Study 1

4.  Partnering Relationships
 Driven by Communities
 Mutual and Collaborative
Cross-cultural Experiences
 Focus on Strengths and
Assets
 Sustainable Development
Over-Arching Themes

5. Integrated Programs Respond to Needs
Identified by Communities
 Health care
 Education
 Sustainable Agriculture – Base of Rural
Economy
 Access to other Communities and Markets

6. Results Related to Health
Distributed over 4,000,000
Pounds of Surplus
from U.S. to Bolivia

7. • Built and Co-administer 151 Medical Centers
• 1,000,000 Patient Visits Yearly
• All Center Salaries Paid by Bolivian Sources

8. Maternal and Infant Mortality Reduced
by 90% in High Andean Rural Communities

9. Results Related to
Education
Built 54 Schools and
Housing for Teachers
Old School
New School

10. Results Related to Economic Development:
Water and Food
Built 8 Water Reservoirs:
Serve 40,000 Rural Residents

11. Built 1,200 Miles of
Arterial Roads
to Markets
Connecting
Communities
to Each Other

12. Air Transport to Support Programs
2,681 Patients Airlifted to Hospitals

13. Training for Sustainable Agriculture:
Integrates all Mano a Mano Programs

14. Four Bolivian
Organizational Partners
 Mano a Mano Bolivia:
Health and Education
 Mano a Mano Nuevo Mundo:
Infrastructure for Sustainable Food Security
 Mano a Mano Aviacion:
Air Support for Programs
 Mano a Mano Internacional: Hosts Visitors,
Raises Funds and Pilots New Initiatives

15. Our Project Partners
National Ministries
Communities Municipalities
Mano a Mano

16. Long-Term Mano a Mano Goals
 Create/develop Bolivian capacity to build and
sustain infrastructure that communities
need to meet basic needs and
thrive on their own land.
 Create deep and long lasting commitments to
respectful relationships that add hope and
meaning to lives of all involved.

17. Case Study 2: Sister Church
Relationships
Research project was
designed to study North
Americans’ experiences in
sister church
relationships, probing
attitudes and behaviors
regarding international
religious engagement.

18. Research Parameters
Studied international parish partnerships of 12
congregations in the Washington, D.C. area. Research
subjects represented a broad swath of American
Christianity.
•3 Roman Catholic parishes
•3 African American Baptist congregations 3
mainline Presbyterian
•3 evangelical Anglican
Method was ethnographic case study consisting of:
•Interviews with 72 congregational leaders and
parishioners
•Interviews with 18 representatives from
denominational and parachurch mission agencies
•Participant observation at worship services,
committee meetings, and sister parish-related
events

19. • Sister parish relationships
illustrate the contemporary
processes of globalization.
• Sister parish relationships
reflect the restructuring of
North American religious
institutions.
• Sister parish
relationships reflect the
post-colonial turn in
Christian mission efforts.
• Sister parish
relationships reflect the
growth and maturation
of the church in the
global South.

20. Best Practices
Fostering Mutuality
Fostering Dignity and
Empowerment
Fostering Sustainability

21. Fostering Mutuality
• All partners contribute.
• Projects arise out of relationships,
rather than the reverse, and
relationships are esteemed more
highly than projects.
• Bi-cultural mediators help bridge
differences.
• Decision-making processes are
established jointly, and a shared
understanding between partners
develops surrounding
expectations.
• Respectful conflict is welcomed as
an opportunity for growth.
• Trust develops mutually—each
partner giving and receiving, and
each partner accountable to the
other.

22. Fostering Dignity and Empowerment
• Communities identify their own
needs, assess how those needs should
be met, and make requests.
• Power and privilege are taken
seriously. Disparities in socio-
economic status are acknowledged
and when possible, subverted.
• Transfers of material resources are
handled carefully and discreetly, and
criteria for use are explicit.
• Whenever possible, transfers of
material resources are channeled to
employment, lending, and investing.
• The partner with greatest contextual
knowledge of the setting is primarily
responsible for decision making about
that ministry.

23. Partners Sign Formal AgreementFostering Sustainability
• Partners jointly
establish a written
covenant/agreement
which specifies the
length and terms of
engagement.
• Partners spend time
together and
maintain regular
contact.
• More than one or
two people in each
party take
“ownership” of the
relationship.

24. Challenges in the Partnership Model
Working across
national/racial/cultural
lines
Disparities in access to
power and resources
Balance of leading and
following
Difficulty of sustaining
relationships over time
and distance
Accountability: to whom
and for what?

25. Opportunities in the Partnership Model
taking advantage of
globalization processes
bridging ideological polarities
capitalizing on the
restructuring of North
American institutions
building social capital

26. Questions and Answers/Group
Discussion

27. Guided Table Discussion
1. We often face wide disparities in available material resources
when working in our local communities as well as when
working internationally. How do we/how can we best address
these issues?
2. We tend to emphasize accountability from those to whom we
make resources available. How should we be accountable to
them?
3. The principle, “getting to know the other and their point of
view,” has guided the work presented today. When working on
a project through your church or other community, how have
you applied this principle and how might you consider
applying it in the future?
4. Discuss one practical “take away” in relation to a ministry or
community development initiative in which you are involved.