One of the most powerful tools that nonprofit organizations have access to is the hidden forces and power animating informal networks of people. While force is an unfettered energy, it can be harnessed and utilized in different ways to produce power. An example from nature was humankind figuring out how to harness the hidden force of a river’s current by building dams. Ancient civilizations used dams to divert flood waters from rivers like the Nile and Tigris for irrigation, to protect crops from flooding, and to create easy access to stores of water. Eventually, dams were used to produce hydropower. None of this would have been possible without the collective efforts across networks of people.
It is important to engage with local networks of people affected by a social problem, supporting them while they become an integral part of the solution to that problem. Stable networks include, at a minimum: Interactions occurring between leaders, supporters, activists, government workers, non-profit organizations, everyday people, and generous people with big hearts.
It is by becoming part of the solution to a problem that the unfettered force animating networks of people and things can be transformed into the collective will and power to identify and implement power-filled, sustainable solutions. This always involves forming partnerships with diverse actors to begin the process of making positive changes in the environment and people’s lives.
Join with CIMISS as we work to support communities of people to become the solution to problems that undermine the health and wellbeing of women, children and families in South Sudan.
Thanks for visiting CIMISS
Dr. Z