COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP DEVELOPMENT FOR LATIN AMERICAN RURAL COMMUNITIES; TRAINING OF ADVISORY GROUP FACILITATORS TRAINING MANUAL

CAGs assess individual and community needs and promote self-development, community education and development, and national development. Without CAGs or other intermediaries, lower socioeconomic and rural populations, lacking formal education and formal group organizational structures, would remain dependent and subservient to outside controls. This training manual contains instructional methods used to train both CAG facilitators and members. The learning components, objectives, and activities of four instructional units are provided. Unit one, a basic communication unit, discusses one- and two-way communication, human transactions, and self-awareness. The purpose of this communication unit is to acquaint community members with the CAGs potential for personal, social, and economic development. Units two and three, concerning group membership dynamics and group leadership dynamics, describe the interpersonal skills needed by facilitators and members to function in a CAG. These skills include: identifying individual and community needs, learning to communicate in CAGs, and decisionmaking. The fourth instructional unit provides a basic understanding of CAG structure and methods. Topics discussed include the origin of CAGs, a survey to determine community needs, the participation of local organizations to promote CAGs, and the selection of CAG members. Each unit concludes with several related "experience activities", which are group exercises to be led by the facilitator. Because the rural campesino population of Latin America is largely illiterate, this manual relies on oral instruction. The manual is available in both English- and Spanish-language versions.