NAME : ANANDE SITHEBE

Student number :224041317

MODULE : INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THEORY-
TUTORIAL 2
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
CASE STUDY NO. 9
THE DAUGHTER OF HOPE

The (De Beer, S., 2023), case study is about Nomsa, who lived in a village and grew up there
until it was time for her to leave for school in the city. In her return, she was very worried about
many things in the village. In order to address these challenges, she became friends with a clinic
sister and they often met and spoke, either together or with other women. In the course of time,
she conceived a small group of women to originate a vegetable garden, as a way of empowering
them while also developing her village at the same time. Men told each other that only a woman
could be so foolish as to work so hard for so little- they didn’t understand how compassionate
she was for her village, so much that she would even sacrifice herself for it’s improvement.

The garden project went very well. Poor Nomsa had to find out many things so that she could
guide the women in their attempts, she knew what needed to be done and what resources were
needed in order for it to be done. As time went by, the other women started to be interested in
what was being done by this group of women and you would usually see one or many go to
Nomsa’s house for suggestions about something and for more land for gardening and also for her
support in upgrading the school. What people admired about her was that she never tried to tell
them what to do- she never tried to take the place of natural and traditional leaders in the village,
she sustained her village while also improving it. She was always behind the scenes, as if she
knew her place.

Nomsa’s most strongest match to the village is not all the things she has done but rather her
passion towards her village. People said that when she spoke, it made them feel as if they were
able to do things they considered as impossible before, she was human orientated. Even men
started being interested- they easily adapted to everything that was happening. Their woman told
them that they must start doing things for themselves and if they didn’t know how to, only then
they would intervene. They could see for themselves that this woman wanted to help them
without trying to make them feel that she knew better than them.

People liked Nomsa very much. They said that she was aware of her place and yet she gave them
new things to think about. In the women’s prayer meeting, they prayed for her- the daughter of
hope, and in sheebens, her very name was mentioned with smile and fondness.
References:
Wenger, E., McDermott, R. and Snyder, W.M., 2002. Seven principles for cultivating communities of
practice. Cultivating Communities of Practice: a guide to managing knowledge, 4, pp.1-19.
McCabe, A. and Davis, A., 2012. Community development as mental health promotion: principles,
practice and outcomes. Community Development Journal, 47(4), pp.506-521.

Baker, E.A., Homan, S., Schonhoff, S.R. and Kreuter, M., 1999. Principles of practice for
academic/practice/community research partnerships. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 16(3),
pp.86-93.

Lichfield, N., 2005. Community impact evaluation: Principles and practice. Routledge.

Ross, M.G. and Lappin, B.W., 1955. Community organization: Theory and principles (pp. 158-165). New
York: Harper.

De Beer, S., 2023. City-making, Space and Spirituality: A Community-based Urban Praxis with
Reflections from South Africa. Taylor & Francis.