Participatory Action Research Essay

The youth group was started in 2004 after the youths realized something was going wrong in the community and they were the right people to rectify the situation. They then came together and registered with the Ministry of Culture and Social Services Youth Affairs. It’s a non-profit making organization whose purpose is to address the needs of the youths and to improve the living standards of the community. The group brings together youths of both genders and has no ethnic or racial barriers as it believes youths from whatever background experience the same problems and must come together in order to solve them. Majority of the youths are trained in various fields of education and so it’s a pool of educated young men and women committed to be difference makers in other people’s lives. Currently the group has thirty five fully registered and active members but there is room for more members to join them. Since its formation, the group has provided their voluntary services beyond area of operation to improve the well being of the community. Their areas of activities include youths and community mobilization and awareness on HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), guidance and counseling services, education on income generating activities, youth and community education on alcohol and drug abuse, education on leadership and administration, planning and accountability, tree planting exercise and offering voluntary services for the well being of the community. The group is seeking to address the most pressing needs that are affecting them and the community where they are living. These pressing need collaborative efforts as they cannot be solved by the community alone as they need technical expertise and some substantial funding. These needs were prioritized according to their impact in the community and they include; the high unemployment rate among the youth, gender disparity due to the culture, and idleness among the youths leading to irresponsible youth behavior, high infection rate of AIDS and other venereal diseases, drug abuse, poor farming methods leading to food insecurity and afforestation problem.. The members agreed that they had the brains, knowledge and skills and if put together and shared will bring a big change among the group members, other youths and the community at large. Though they have had challenges especially from the elderly community members when discussing on sexual issues, the group is committed to continue working until they have attained their set objectives. Their services to the community have effected some positive changes, which have commended by the community members. The group also works with other major stakeholders who have been helpful to the group in terms of training and financial support. These include the Community Based Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, Religious Organizations, Society and the Government to improve the living standards of the community. These stakeholders have been very helpful to the youth group because they have been offering training without charging them any fee, giving the youths some incentives as well as the community and funding their projects at some level. They have been able to work with the group since it was started and have promised they will continue working with them as long as keep the agreement with them. The possible research question that could be answered if the researcher collaboratively worked the major stakeholders is to find out whether their input into the group has had and positive impact to the youth group and to the community. This research question will be a guide to getting some critical information which will be used by the group to improve on the areas that they are not performing well (The research question could be as follows; What has been your input to the group and has it had any impact to the group and to the society? ) The benefits of doing the work the researcher is proposing is that it could again help the group to be able to identify their weakness and then find out solutions for them. It will also open another door for them to meet other partners through the researcher who will pump in some more useful input to the group. Through their interaction with them some critical issues may rise which could not have been solved, but it will be an opportunity to solve them. In one way the group could be advertising or selling itself and what they are undertaking through these formal discussions as the contents of the discussions will be published somewhere, which will get some support for the group. This could be beneficial to the group and to the researcher as he/she will be able to learn more about how groups work. As concerns to the ethical issues, the protocol has to be followed and the group has to be consulted first before anything happens. There should be respect for the group and any information about the group should be kept secret as it is. The researcher should make sure that he/she work within the guidelines of the group and should she/he need any information should follow the right channels but not go to public and tell the public about the group against their wishes References Luft, J (1984). An Introduction to Group Dynamics (3rd Edition). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Toseland, R& Rivas, R. (2005) Introduction to Group Practice, Allyn & Bacon. New York.