Peace Corps

Idea Book

M0086

Using Participatory

Analysis for

Community Action

PACA
Information Collection and Exchange

The Peace Corps Information Collection and Exchange (ICE), a unit of the 

Offi ce of Overseas Programming and Training Support (OPATS), makes 

available the strategies and technologies developed by Peace Corps Volunteers, 

their co-workers, and their counterparts to development organizations and 

workers who might fi nd them useful. ICE works with Peace Corps technical and 

training specialists to identify and develop information of all kinds to support 

Volunteers and overseas staff. ICE also collects and disseminates training 

guides, curricula, lesson plans, project reports, manuals, and other Peace Corpsgenerated materials developed in the fi eld. Some materials are reprinted “as is”; 

others provide a source of fi eld-based information for the production of manuals 

or for research in particular program areas. Materials that you submit to ICE 

become part of the Peace Corps’ larger contribution to development.

This publication was produced by Peace Corps OPATS. It is distributed 

through the ICE unit. For further information about ICE materials (periodicals, 

books, videos, etc.) and information services, or for additional copies of this 

manual, please contact ICE and refer to the ICE catalog number that appears 

on the publication.

Peace Corps

Offi ce of Overseas Programming and Training Support

Information Collection and Exchange

1111 20th Street, NW, Sixth Floor

Washington, DC 20526

Tel: 202.692.2640

Fax: 202.692.2641

Abridged Dewey Decimal Classifi cation (DDC) Number: 307.1

Share your experience!

Add your experience to the ICE Resource Center. Send your materials to us 

so we can share them with other development workers. Your technical insights 

serve as the basis for the generation of ICE materials, reprints, and training 

materials. They also ensure that ICE is providing the most up-to-date innovative 

problem-solving techniques and information available to you and your fellow 

development workers.


PACA:

Using

Participatory Analysis

for

Community Action

Peace Corps

2005

Information Collection and Exchange

Publication No. M0086

Reprinted __________
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

Peace Corps

Acknowledgements

Numerous field and headquarters staff worked to complete this 

publication, PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community 

Development Idea Book. While it contains original content and updated 

examples, it is also based on field tested resources, including the PACA:

Participatory Analysis for Community Development Training Manual

[ICE Number M0053] and the series of booklets that comprise the 

Gender and Development Training and Girls’ Education Manual

[ICE Number M0054]. The Peace Corps appreciates the contributions 

of articles, ideas and photographs by Volunteers, counterparts and staff 

throughout the world; and the efforts of all those who participated in 

this process.


Contents

Introduction .................................................................................... 5

Chapter 1: The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development ............ 8

What Is Sustainable Development? ......................................... 10

The Role of Participatory Activities in Development ............. 16

What is PACA and How Did it Evolve? .................................. 18

Why is the Gender Connection so Important? ........................ 20

 What are Gender Roles? ................................................... 20

 What is Gender Analysis ................................................... 21

 How to Use PACA for Gender Analysis ........................... 24

Summary ................................................................................. 28

Chapter 2: What Are the Core PACA Tools? ............................. 31

Community Mapping .............................................................. 31

Seasonal Calendars .................................................................. 37

Daily Activity Schedules ......................................................... 40

Needs Assessment ................................................................... 42

Chapter 3: What Happens After Analysis .................................. 48

Development of Activities or Larger Projects ......................... 48

Description of Triangulation .................................................... 54

Example from Senegal ............................................................. 57

Chapter 4: Preparing for PACA ................................................. 62

Skills Needed to Implement PACA ......................................... 62

Practicing PACA: Community Preparation and Follow-up ..... 75

Challenges for Volunteers ........................................................ 80
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

 Peace Corps

Chapter 5: How to Use the Most Common Tools ...................... 85

Community Mapping .............................................................. 85

Daily Activity Schedules ......................................................... 95

Seasonal Calendars ................................................................ 103

Priority Ranking .................................................................... 112

Chapter 6: Using Other Participatory Tools ............................ 121

The Gender Connection and

Keeping Knowledge in the Community ................................. 121

Other Tools and Resources..................................................... 122

Social Network Mapping Tool................................................ 123

Household Livelihood Analysis.............................................. 126

Using a Farming Systems Diagram Tool

for Household Livelihood Analysis........................................ 130

Appendices .................................................................................. 135

I. Bringing the Tools Together: 

 What it Really Looks Like .............................................. 137

II. From Tools to AIDS Action ............................................ 150

III. Adaptation of the Niger PACA Training Handbook ....... 157

Resources .................................................................................... 174
Things to Consider as Introduction

This idea book addresses key concepts in two earlier Peace Corps’ 

publications, Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) 

Manual [ICE No. M0053], and the Gender and Development Training 

Manual [ICE No. M0054]. These previous resources were large 

training manuals that introduced PACA to staff and Volunteers in the 

context of the Peace Corps’ approach 

to development. Since PACA now 

has been used in the agency for many 

years, this idea book was designed to 

give a focused history and description 

of PACA, while sharing excellent 

examples from the field that illustrate 

how Volunteers and their communities, 

host country organizations and Peace 

Corps projects have used these tools 

successfully. It is also intended to 

supplement exercises in the core preservice training manual Roles of the 

Volunteer in Development [ICE No. 

T0005]; or reinforce foun­dational skills during or prior to in-service 

training—complementing The New Project Design and Management 

(PDM) Training Manual [ICE No. T0107].

Although PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for CommunityAction 

was written for Peace Corps Volunteers, their counterparts, and staff, 

the gender-sensitive participatory approach can be used by any group 

or organization. In fact, though Peace Corps Volunteers are sometimes 

referred to as the primary “development workers,” the impact of their 

work can have a wider impact if other community leaders, office managers, youth groups, administrators, educators, or NGOs also understand 

how to use a capacity-building framework to strengthen groups with 

whom Volunteers live and work.

Introduction
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

Peace Corps

Summary of Contents

Chapter one sets the context with a description of the Peace Corps’ 

capacity-building approach to development, the role of participatory 

activities in that approach, and information on how to better understand 

the impact of gender roles and relations in community development. 

Chapter two describes the four primary participatory tools used in 

PACA along with a variety of examples that illustrate how they have 

been used.

Chapter three answers the 

question: “What do you do 

after the analysis?” Conducting 

a PACA activity, or several of 

them, is not the end product. 

Though helping diverse people 

come together to identify their 

common goals can be both 

challenging and fulfilling, using 

the tools with the community 

initiates and facilitates a process 

of planning and acting to achieve 

those goals. This chap­ter also 

shares examples from the field 

using single tools or several 

tools (triangulation) to identify 

and execute “next steps.”

Chapter four identifies the specific skills needed to conduct 

participatory activities, provides guidelines for practicing in actual 

communities, and addresses some of the challenges for Volunteers. 


Chapter five describes in 

detail how to conduct the four 

most commonly used tools: 

community mapping, daily 

activity schedules, seasonal 

calendars, and needs assessment/priority ranking. 

Descriptions in­clude examples of how ques­tions and 

debriefing might be varied 

depending upon the group 

and the purpose for using the 

tool. Rein­forcing the content 

in chap­ter three, a description 

of priority ranking shows how 

to transition from analysis to 

action.

Finally, chapter six describes 

additional activities and 

resources for participatory 

analysis, and discusses key 

factors to help ensure you use 

any tool in a gender-sensitive 

way. The Appendices include 

two detailed examples of how the use of PACA-type tools has led to 

significant follow-up projects determined by the community. 

The participatory activities 

Volun­teers and their host 

counterparts conduct or cofacilitate in PACA are often

referred to as “tools” because 

they are used like tools for 

specific purposes, such as:

• To help different groups 

share information and 

perspectives among 

themselves;

• To enable a community to 

identify their own resources 

and needs;

• To provide a way of 

prioritizing several needs or 

desires; or

• To ensure an activity is 

planned at an appropriate 

time for the intended 

participants.

Introduction
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

Peace Corps

Things to Consider as 

You Read

Chapter 1

The Peace Corps’ Approach 

to Development

The Peace Corps describes development in human, people-to-people, 

terms—helping people develop the 

capacity to improve their own lives. 

By working within a human capacity-building frame­work, the focus 

of Volunteers’ work is on strengthening the capacity of men, women, 

girls and boys to actively participate 

in their own develop­ment. 

Because development activities 

often address specific needs, at first 

glance they may seem to focus on 

expanding small businesses, establishing tree nurseries, initiating 

child immunizations, or improving 

agri­cultural production, among 

many other possibilities. Yet, a 

capacity-building approach focuses 

on em­powering local people to 

be their own decision-makers and 

develop the skills to carry out those 

decisions and improve their lives. 

The follow­ing is a description of 

the Peace Corps’ capacity-building 

frame­work. 

The idea book, Small 

Project Assistance: 

Supporting Sustainable 

Community Development [ICE No. 

M0082] goes through 

the process of 

planning, managing 

and evaluating a 

local community 

development activity 

once priorities have 

been identified. 


Capacity-Building Framework

To be an effective approach to development, capacity build­ing 

needs to happen at a number of levels.

Individual members of the community, project participants: These could be the students in a classroom, farmers in a 

cooperative, or clients served by a nongovern­mental organization

(NGO). Building capacity at these levels is usually a major focus 

of Volunteers.

Professionals, service providers: These could include 

teachers in the school, leaders of the NGO, or managers of the 

farmers’ cooperative. While each Volunteer has an identified 

community partner who may or may not be a service provider, 

there are others at the same level of leadership as Volunteers who 

provide services to the indi­vidual members of the community. 

Strengthening capacities at this level helps ensure local leadership 

for continuing activities into the future. Capacity-building activities 

might include workshops, modeling improved methods, trainings, 

mentoring, or support in a community activity.

Organizations: These could include the school, an NGO, or the 

farmers’ cooperative where the Volunteer is placed. Strengthening 

organizational capacities, such as manage­ment skills within an

NGO, developing materials with teachers for use in a school, or 

helping health workers develop a record-keeping system for a 

clinic, all help root other activities in an ongoing, functioning, and 

supportive environment. 

Communities: These could include the village or neigh­borhood 

in which the Volunteer lives, or the area served by the project 

in which the Volunteer is working, or any school, NGO, clinic or 

other organization with which the Volunteer works. Reaching 

out into communities and building capaci­ties with activities 

such as creating a community health committee, a parentteacher association, or helping students to organize an Earth 

Day clean-up campaign, helps broaden the base of participation

and ensure continuity. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

10 Peace Corps

What is Sustainable Development?

Development is said to be sustainable when it is able to continue on 

its own without outside support. For the Peace Corps, sustainable 

development is a process in which men and women learn to build 

on their own strengths, to take charge of their lives, and to address 

their expressed needs. Many different issues need to be considered 

in working for sustainability from national sector-based projects to 

individual Volunteer and community activities. To discover which issues 

may be at play, ask yourself the question: Is the effort... 

Culturally sustainable? Is the basic approach or concept culturally 

sustainable? Does it fit within and build on local beliefs and traditions, 

or will it be seen as not acceptable when Volunteers leave?

Politically sustainable? When there is no longer a foreign 

development worker in the project, will it be sustainable within the 

sociopolitical context?

Economically sustainable? Will there be sufficient local resources, 

or the capacity to generate them when supportive outsiders, such 

as Volunteers, leave? 

Managerially sustainable? Will there be the local management 

capacity to carry on the work when the Volunteers leave? 

Environmentally sustainable? As the project grows, will the 

environ­ment be able to sustain the use of 

resources?

Sustainability is like a tree with spreading 

branches and deepening roots. The 

branches represent the growing outreach 

of the development activities. Each root 

represents one aspect of sustainability. No 

one root can hold up or sustain the tree. 

The wider the reach of the branches, the 

deeper the roots need to be.
11

Are we building capacity and helping to create 

sustainability?

Read the following three situations carefully. The first part of each 

situation will pose a realistic scenario similar to those you may 

encounter while working with your community in the field. Think 

about each situation and consider what you might have done differently. 

The second part of each situation illustrates how the application of 

participatory analysis for community action (PACA) tools can lead to 

more informed decision-making and more successful projects. Once 

you have an understanding of why PACA tools can be so powerful, it’s 

easier to learn how to apply them in your own work. You will learn more 

about the PACA tools—community mapping, daily activity schedules, 

seasonal calendars, and needs assessment/priority ranking—in the 

chapters that follow.

Situation One

In a region of the Philippines where families are rice 

farmers on small land holdings, development workers 

looked for ways to increase family income. All family 

members had their own roles in rice production, harvest, 

and post-harvest. Additional income-earning schemes 

included the making and selling of straw baskets by 

women and children. Still, there was not sufficient family 

income to permit all children to attend school and to 

provide adequate health care.

To increase family income, the intervention decided upon 

was to increase rice production through an improved 

high-yield strain, as it appeared to be the least disruptive 

to the rice culture already in existence and would not 

require more land. A new “modern rice” (see Figure 1) 

was introduced and, over several years, it was accepted. 

By the end of five years, production had more than 

doubled. However, family income went down.

1

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

12 Peace Corps

Figure 1. A new “modern rice” was introduced....
13

What went wrong? Use your creative thinking skills to generate a list 

of possible impacts on individuals, households, and the community of 

the introduction and successful production of modern rice. 

Consider: What family funds are used for health and education? What 

demands on time and financial resources might have changed?

Applying PACA in Situation One

On closer examination of the rice-producing families and their new 

rice, it was discovered that the new rice had short stalks and so left 

less rice straw after harvesting. Harvesting took more time because 

there was more rice. The new rice also required more fertilizer than 

the old rice did. 

If the development workers had used techniques such as a seasonal 

calendar with both men and women, they may have discovered that 

women did most of the harvesting, and they would have seen how 

long the harvesting took. By looking at when income came in, what 

its source was, and how it was used, they may have discovered that 

income from the rice harvest went back into the seeds and fertilizer 

for production. The changing tasks of women, shown both through a 

seasonal calendar and by developing daily activity schedules, may have 

shown that women made mats and baskets from the rice straw. Income 

from those activities was what increased the families’ expendable 

income—the income used for health and education. 

The additional income from the rice did not compensate for the loss 

of income from the women’s mat- and basket-making from rice straw. 

They had less straw to use, but also less time because harvesting and 

post-harvesting processing now took more of their time.

By using PACA tools with the community in project planning and 

design, these factors may have emerged. If these important factors 

had been considered, a different type of rice that better met the needs 

of all community members could have been chosen.

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

14 Peace Corps

Situation Two

In this situation, education Volunteers were asked to 

plan activities for the summer months when school was 

not in session. They decided that the summer would be 

a good time to hold workshops for teachers, assuming 

that the teachers, mostly women, would have more time 

during the summer.

Would teachers attend their workshops? Why or why not?

Applying PACA in Situation Two

In this situation, the Volunteers and their counterpart teachers attended 

an in-service workshop together. At that workshop, the teachers created 

seasonal calendars. From their tasks outlined for the summer months, 

which included gardening and preserving food for the winter, it was 

clear that the summer months did not provide time for teachers to attend educational workshops. Their identified need during the vacation 

months was child care; the children were not in school and needed 

supervision. Together, the Volunteers and teachers decided that the 

Volunteers could be most helpful by providing summer camps for the 

children. Methodology workshops would be more feasible for teachers 

during the school year when children were in school.

2
15

3 Situation Three

Red Cross workers in Mozambique were aware that 

participatory rural appraisal (PRA) was increasingly 

viewed as a method enabling NGOs and their clients 

to plan programs jointly to reduce community vulnerability. The community of Tete, Mozambique, was in 

the process of reestablishing itself after several years 

in refugee camps in neighboring countries. As part of 

the rehabilitation process, a number of outside organizations had developed programs to help the community 

begin functioning again in its home country. However, 

many of the programs were carried out without a 

complete analysis of the area’s risk profile (especially 

the fact that it is drought-prone). 

Was this well-intended program as effective as it might have been in 

reducing the vulnerability of the community? Why or why not?

Applying PACA in Situation Three

The Red Cross applied several PRA tools in the community (which are 

also used in PACA) to assist in thinking strategically during a time of 

both upheaval and opportunity. Together, the community and Red Cross 

used seasonal calendars, community mapping, and a needs matrix. The 

key findings generated by the PRA methods allowed the Red Cross and 

the community to begin planning a program to build on the existing 

capacity of the community and address its vulnerabilities in order to 

reduce the impact of recurrent drought. In this example, PRA provided 

a wealth of information directly relevant to the risks affecting returnee 

community, and the capacities that could be strengthened to reduce 

these. This type of information is critical if outside agencies are to 

work with communities to develop programs to help themselves.

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

16 Peace Corps

In these examples, the use of participatory activities with the project 

participants facilitated a deeper understanding of household roles and 

responsibilities. The participants could analyze the potential effects 

of development ideas for themselves. Such efforts help develop the 

capacity for self-analysis and decision-making, and support sustainable 

development.

The Role of Participatory 

Activities in Development

Planning for people-centered development requires meaningful 

information about who the people are and how they interact. Groups 

of people are rarely homogeneous. “People” at the most general level 

include women and men, young and old, and individuals of different 

ethnic groups, castes/classes, abilities, appearance and religious 

affiliation. 

Everywhere, and within every 

socio­economic group, the ways 

house­holds function are strongly 

influenced by culture, with differ­ent roles, rights, and responsibilities for men and women, 

girls and boys. Extended families 

may include additional people of 

both sexes and various ages. 

Households may have different 

com­binations of resources, 

including time, land, income, 

know­ledge; and different levels 

of need, including food, shelter,

education, healthcare. Often, those resources are allocated by sex and 

age (as well as ethnicity, class/caste, religion, etc.), as are the responsibilities in providing for needs.

Structure

An organization

with rights, roles, 

responsibilities 

(the “3Rs”)

Needs

• consumption

• income

• health

• education

• etc.

Resources

• land

• labor

• capital

• knowledge

• time

The Household

as a System
17

Discovering this type of information about households can be invasive 

unless it is done carefully. That is why participatory activities have 

been used for many years to help development workers and others 

better understand these issues. In fact, PACA provides Volunteers and 

counterparts with an inclusive approach that uses specific tools to help 

engage a wide variety of individuals and groups to share with each 

other in development activities. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development

Asset-based or Strength-based 

Approaches to Development

The strength-based approach emphasizes the positive attri­butes 

of the community and what has worked well in the past. It provides 

motivation and helps people learn how to repeat successes. Thus, 

information gathering begins by acknowledging what is working 

at the present time, what resources are already available in the 

community and what assets are present for creating change. 

The idea is that participants, in answering these questions, stir 

up memories and stories of energizing moments of success and 

develop a positive, practical approach to change.

From page 7, Programming and Training Booklet 2: How to Design or Revise a 

Project [ICE No. M0067]. 

Experts in a variety of fields have, in the last 10 to 20 years, been

exploring asset-based (strength-based) ways of doing individual 

and community development. This approach emphasizes 

examining strengths and identifying what works. It has been

demonstrated in the lab and field that people often live up to 

the expectations of the outsider coming in to assist them. If an

outsider looks for positive aspects, this expectation will be met; 

if this person looks for negatives, so too will this expectation

be met. One group of theorists in this “strength-based school” 

stresses that the act of asking questions influences the group and 

the outcomes. Therefore, according to this theory, if the goal is to 

improve a situation and leave it stronger, one should always start 

positively. The program manager of the youth project in Tonga 

(Continued on page 18)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

18 Peace Corps

What Is PACA and 

How Did It Evolve?

Early systems, such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA) and rapid 

rural appraisal (RRA) used tools such as community mapping and 

daily activity schedules with representative individuals in the community. Then, a team consisting of various experts, such as economists, 

anthropologists, sociologists, and development specialists would 

analyze the data from the various participatory tools and develop 

strategies to help the community improve its situation. 

The Peace Corps’ participatory analysis for community action (PACA) 

was developed from these earlier approaches. However, PACA focused 

on two aspects that were not originally a part of the other methodologies. 

One was to conduct activities with separate groups making up any 

community.1 These groups might be men and women, boys and girls, 

(Continued from page 17)

1 Many development organizations use variations of PRA and RRA, and some now conduct 

activities with separate groups as the Peace Corps does with PACA. A key difference for 

some is a focus on identifying community assets and strengths to build on as PACA does, 

rather than providing outside funding to complete prioritized projects.

noticed a dramatic increase in receptiveness to the Peace Corps 

by the local people when staff and Volunteers entered a community 

and started by asking what all the “good stuff” was. 

From page 38, Chapter 2 of Working with Youth: Approaches for Volunteers [ICE 

No. M0067]. 

Section 2 of the Community Content-Based Instruction (CCBI) Manual (ICE No. 

T0112) is entirely dedicated to PACA and asset-based approaches to development 

in general and education specifically.

See also pages 39-51 of An NGO Training Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers (ICE 

No. M0070); Booklet 1: The Volunteer as Learner in The Roles of the Volunteer 

in Development (ICE No. T0005); and page 16 of The New Program Design and 

Management (PDM) Manual (ICE No. T0107).
19

people of different ethnic groups, teachers and supervisors, or rural 

and urban students, and so on. 

Once the different groups complete an activity, such as a map or daily 

schedules, they present their products to each other, and together they 

do the analysis.

2

 In this way, the analysis portion of the exercises stays 

with the community, giving members the opportunity to see what is 

important to each member and enabling the community to draw its own 

conclusions. The activities not only reveal important information for 

development workers and community members, but they also show 

community members ways to explore and analyze their own situation—

often communi­cating across traditional barriers (for example, a group 

of young unmarried women’s priorities for the future being heard by 

older generations). Capacity-building at the local level is also enhanced 

for future activities when the community identifies its own resources 

and the strengths to draw upon in meeting its goals.

Still, PACA is not only about analysis and it definitely is not about 

obtaining information so development workers can create their own 

ideas for projects. Rather it is about building a partnership between 

development workers (Peace Corps Volunteers) and community members, and among community members themselves. In the process of 

developing information together, analyzing its implications for the 

community, and planning for action, community members and the 

Peace Corps Volunteers collaborate to ensure that the voices of women 

and men, girls and boys, old and young, are included in deciding how 

they will commit their most precious resources: their time, their energy, 

and their common future.

2 The Peace Corps has a unique presence in host communities that facilitates long-term shared 

planning and analysis with local groups. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

20 Peace Corps

Why is the Gender Connection 

So Important?

Experience and research show that paying attention to and understanding 

gender roles makes development projects more sustainable. Using the 

types of analytical tools that are a part of PACA, gender roles in rural 

and urban households and communities are brought to light and are 

factors in shared decision-making.

What are Gender Roles? 

Gender roles are defined as 

the roles of individuals based 

on their sex as well as other 

social factors such as age, 

ethnicity, and class. Since 

gender roles are socially 

determined, they differ between and among cultures 

and change over time. For 

example: 

1. In Honduras, agriculture 

is considered men’s work; 

while in the Congo, it 

is considered women’s 

work. 

2. In the highlands of Thailand, the Hmong men and 

women have separate and 

distinct roles: women handle household chores, and men are in 

charge of land and trade. In the uplands of the same country, 

Karen men and women do agricultural work together and share 

household chores. 

Gender Roles are:

• Socially Constructed

• Learned

• Dynamic (they change over 

time)

• Multi-faceted (they differ 

within and between cultures)

Sex is:

• Biologically Determined

• Universal

• Unchanging
21

By understanding gender roles and taking them into account in project 

planning and design, Volunteers can work more effectively with 

community members to ensure that all members’ needs are represented 

and considered. This can be done through gender analysis.

What is Gender Analysis?

Gender analysis examines the roles of women and men in any given 

society or community to provide a complete picture of the factors 

that affect:

Time

Division of labor

Access to resources and information

Power relations 

Gender needs

These factors influence who participates in, and who benefits from, 

any development planning or activity. Identifying and understanding 

these factors during the early stages can help to ensure an activity’s 

success. The chart below illustrates a range of power individuals or 

groups might have in development projects. PACA, as used by Peace 

Corps Volunteers at the local level, seeks to have community members 

actively planning and implementing activities they identify as needs, 

which generally falls within the range of medium to high power. If 

Volunteers arrive in their communities with activities already in mind, 

or develop activities on their own by observing needs—even if those 

activities are valuable and community members benefit—local people 

did not have a role in planning and prioritizing what would happen. 

That puts them in a low-to-medium power situation. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

22 Peace Corps

Power Continuum

Low Power Medium Power High Power

Access to services; Individual access to Ability to initiate 

benefit directly decision-making action and to create 

processes that were decision-making 

designed by others processes that 

influence social, 

economic and 

political systems

Power continuum graphic reprinted with permission from Parker A. R., I. Lozano, L. Messner.

Gender Relations Analysis: A Guide for Trainers. Westport, CT: Save the Children, 1995.

The following is a gender analysis framework developed by Save the 

Children, which is a useful tool in large project or small activity planning, design, and implementation. While the word “framework” may 

sound technical, it is simply an attempt to illustrate the interrelated 

issues that both influence what gender roles are, and determine what 

people need to fulfill those roles. As you will note in the graphic, 

different key components reinforce each other in this process, and 

PACA tools can be used to both gather this information and better 

understand what it means.

1. Gender roles are what a society determines as appropriate behavior, action, dress, etc., based on one’s sex, age, class, and other 

criteria. That is, what are the roles and responsibilities of men, 

women, girls, and boys?

2. Gender roles determine division of labor. That is, who does what?

3. Gender roles and division of labor determine who has access to 

what. That is, who has access to resources, facilities, opportunities, 

organizations, information, and benefits?
23

4. In turn, gender roles, division of labor and access determine power 

relations. Who has power over, power with, power to, power 

within? Who makes decisions over what? Who is able to change 

his or her own life for the better?

5. Taking into account the first four components results in different 

gender needs of men and women, girls and boys. Addressing 

practical gender needs makes one’s gender role easier (for 

example, providing water sources closer to the home eases the 

workload of women and girls when they are responsible for water 

collection). Addressing strategic gender needs can alter gender 

roles (such as, education for girls postpones their marriage age 

and the age at which they have their first child).

The diagram below illustrates how these components reinforce 

each other.

Reprinted with permission from Parker A. R., I. Lozano, L. Messner. Gender Relations Analysis: 

A Guide for Trainers. Westport, CT: Save the Children, 1995.

Gender Roles

Division of Labor

Access

Power Relations

Gender Needs

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

24 Peace Corps

Identifying and understanding these components help Volunteers 

understand the gender-related issues that impact their projects 

and activities. 

How to Use PACA for Gender Analysis3

The tools described in this handbook are useful in a wide variety 

of settings and in every technical sector—including disaster risk 

assessment. These tools enable Volunteers and communities to 

learn about how gender roles impact household and community 

development, and how individual development activities affect men 

and women, girls and boys, old and young, and other subgroups 

differently. By recognizing and identifying these differences, you will 

increase the potential for successful project planning, implementation, 

monitoring, and evaluation.

For example, if you want to encourage more people to use the 

community health clinic, should the established gender roles in the 

community have an impact on your plans to reach the people?

Is it important to learn what services will meet different needs for 

men, women, girls and boys?

If a breast or prostate cancer education campaign is planned, are 

posters, billboards and brochures that describe the issues effective 

if 90 percent of women cannot read because they take care of the 

home and did not attend school? Or, what if the majority of men 

in that culture finds public display of such sensitive health-related 

materials offensive, and they traditionally make all decisions related 

to their families’ healthcare?

3 See also pages 51-56 in the New Project Design and Management (PDM) Manual [ICE No. 

T0107] for a description and example of a gender analysis matrix, charting how a large project 

or small activity might affect different groups based on key elements, such as each group’s 

labor, time, resources and culture in relation to the issue under discussion.
25

Do men and women of some ethnic groups travel extensively and 

others do not? Do they have different health risks, or engage in 

traditional practices that affect their health?

How are services provided? For example, can both men and women 

be treated by male doctors? Does the clinic only accept money as 

payment? Who is responsible for family finances?

The core PACA exercises also provide a structure for participants to 

express, analyze, and understand the needs and priorities of different 

community groups and members. This enhances community members’ 

communication and analytic skills, which increases their capacity to be 

active participants in their own development. It also helps ensure that a 

development project that benefits several groups within the community 

does not negatively affect others. 

The following are examples of how the four basic PACA tools can 

provide the information needed for gender analysis.

Community

Mapping

The community map can provide information on gender roles, 

division of labor, access and gender needs. This is a very good 

way to identify:

what different groups think are local assets and resources—

livestock, grain storage, carts or cars, machinery, banks, 

homes, woodlots, grass for weaving, foundries, etc.

where people go in the community—if different groups 

spend most of the day in specific places, they may draw those 

and leave off lesser traveled areas of the community. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development

(Continued on page 26)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

26 Peace Corps

what different groups or people do in the community—

buildings, fields, roads, churches, water sources, etc.,—

will often be represented differently on maps created by 

different groups in within the same community depending 

on who uses those resources or works in those areas of the 

community in need of attention. For example, lack of a 

local school on a teenage girls’ map may reveal that girls 

are not educated past a certain age in that community, 

and therefore the school is not a prominent feature in 

their lives.

Daily

Activity

Schedules

This tool provides information on gender roles, gender division 

of labor, access and power relations, such as:

out-of-school demands on girls’ and boys’ time, given their 

different schedules and responsibilities. 

women’s and men’s time. If women’s household chores 

prevent them from attending planning meetings held at 

specific times or locations, they will not have input into 

decision-making processes. If men are working in their 

fields during the day, they probably won’t attend a training 

on repairing the communal water pump if it is in the midmorning.

how older and younger men and women from different 

ethnic groups may have different responsibilities for 

livestock, crafts, childcare, field work, sales, or other tasks 

(Continued from page 25)

(Continued on page 27)
27

that mean different access to resources at specific times 

or places. 

how changing one group’s daily routine can affect another 

group’s responsibilities—including if women collect long 

grass, but men weave it for fencing or rope; or if men 

catch the fish but women clean and process them; or if 

young men herd cattle, but older women make cheese and 

butter from their milk, what does it mean to the family or 

community to improve or decrease the efficiency of any 

one group’s work?

Seasonal

Calendars

These can be used to identify gender roles, division of labor 

and access. Yearly patterns of work, resource availability and 

weather indicate when community members and groups have 

time available to participate in training or other activities. This 

is especially true in rural communities.

Needs Assessment

and

Priority Ranking

Needs assessment and priority ranking can provide information 

on power relations and gender needs. In this context, this is 

both the process of determining the desires, wants, and needs 

of different groups, and coming together to look at those needs 

collectively and assess (or rank) their level of priority in the 

greater community. 

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development

(Continued from page 26)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

28 Peace Corps

When PACA tools are used together, they provide the data necessary to 

conduct gender analysis, raising awareness in the community of gender 

considerations in any decisions. This results in more sustainable and 

effective outcomes that meet the needs of all community members.

Summary

The Peace Corps’ approach to 

development involves working directly with local individuals, service providers, 

organizations and communities to help them build the 

capacity to improve their 

own lives. By working within 

a human capacity-building 

framework, the skills, knowledge and understanding 

of available strengths and 

re­sources stay within the 

com­mu­nity, making current 

and future development more 

sustainable.

Gender roles are socially constructed, culture-based rights, responsibilities, expectations and resources within families and communities 

that may vary greatly by age, sex, income level, ethnicity, religion 

and many other factors. These roles result in differing levels of power 

and access to many opportunities, facilities, education and benefits 

for people within a community. Participatory processes, such as 

PRA and RRA were developed over time to provide less intrusive 

tools for gathering, sharing and taking that information into account 

in planning, conducting and evaluating projects. The Peace Corps 

developed PACA based on these earlier methods to promote working 

with all groups in the community, to ensure that sharing and analysis 

In Lesotho

Gender analysis and use 

of PACA tools (e.g., asset 

mapping, community mapping, 

and gender and development 

issues) are covered in preservice training to enhance 

Volunteer activities. Better 

facilitation of community 

approaches with Volunteers and 

deeper involvement with their 

communities were identified 

as results of this PACA training 

during pre-service training.
29

of information was done with and among these groups, and to utilize 

positive approaches to identify local resources and strengths to support 

development efforts.

The Peace Corps’ Criteria 

for Strong Projects

(sector-based projects to which Volunteers are assigned)

Of the Peace Corps’ 10 criteria for strong projects (Program­ming 

and Training Booklet One: The Basics, ICE No. T0113), PACA 

directly addresses the first five and influences most others:

1. Increases local capacity.

2. Strives to address expressed needs of those who have limited 

access to resources and opportunities.

3. Seeks sustainable results that complement other development 

efforts.

4. Has local participants as partners in developing, implementing, and assessing the project.

5. Considers gender relationships and promotes women’s 

participation to increase their status and opportunities.

6. Places Volunteers at the local level where needs occur.

7. Does not displace qualified and available local workers with 

Volunteers.

8. Uses the types and numbers of Volunteers that are consistent 

with available applicants.

9. Has local Peace Corps staff and resources to train and support 

Volunteers to complete their assignments successfully.

10. Has host agencies and communities as partners that support 

the project and the Volunteers.

The Peace Corps’ Approach to Development
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

30 Peace Corps

The four primary PACA tools are community mapping, daily activity 

schedules, seasonal calendar and needs analysis/priority ranking. These 

tools may be used together or individually based on the situation, which 

will be described in more depth in the following chapter.
31

Chapter 2

What are the 

Core PACA Tools?

PACA uses four basic tools 

drawn from other participatory approaches. This does 

not imply that these are the 

only tools that can be used to 

focus attention on subgroups 

such as sex, age, ethnicity, 

and with the analysis done 

by the community members 

themselves. Once Volunteers 

are familiar with the process 

of using tools in this manner, 

they can select and use other 

tools in similar ways (see 

chapter six).

Community 

Mapping

Community mapping is an effective way to locate different spheres 

of activity over the landscape. It can be used in various settings to 

locate current resources, activity centers, institutions, and other areas 

frequented by the groups develop­ing the map. It can be used in small 

geographical communities, neigh­bor­hoods of larger cities, workplaces, 

training centers, classrooms, and organizations. It helps to identify 

differences in perception, needs, access to resources and power centers, 

In Thailand

Many Volunteers have used 

community mapping with local 

partners to survey the town

or village in which they live, 

and to establish relationships 

with local leaders and others. 

These contacts also bring local 

wisdom, history and culture into 

the classroom.

Note: Pages 12-20 of Community 

Content-Based Instruction Manual (ICE 

No. T0112) address the intersection of 

PACA and CCBI. A sample PACA training 

session begins on page 75 of the same 

book and further connects PACA and 

CCBI for education Volunteers.

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

32 Peace Corps

and so on. The setting and the subgroups (men, women, boys, girls, 

managers, etc.) involved will necessitate variations in the instruction, 

the visualization, and the debriefing.

Once the maps are drawn, additional instructions can be given to 

enhance the information. For example, community members may be 

asked to indicate places they frequent daily, weekly, less often; places 

they like to be and those they dislike; what they would like to have that 

is not there (more land, school, clinic, store, transportation, repaired 

roads, and so on). Organizational maps might include locations of 

services, centers of decision-making and power, and so on.

After subgroups have completed their maps, they are displayed and 

each group explains its map. Multiple maps provide a more complete 

picture of the “community,” as each perspective adds to the whole. 

The discussion of the maps can lead to identification of issues to be 

addressed, potential projects to undertake, or simply a baseline for 

measuring the impact of future activities. 

The following are examples of community mapping used in various 

settings...

Rural Communities

In a community in Paraguay, men’s concern about having property 

to pass on to their children was reflected in the oblong pieces of 

farming land they drew, with the number of subdivisions for their 

children. Women drew in detail the area around their homes, other 

structures in their town, and the main road out of town, which, 

among other places, lead to the nearest secondary school. The discussion revealed only boys were allowed to travel to the secondary 

school, so girls’ education stopped after primary school.

In a town in Suriname destroyed by civil war, community members 

drew a current map with the intention of comparing it to a map 

of the former town to decide what to replace and the location of 

future structures.
33

Cities

In a town in Guyana, men, 

women, and girls formed 

sub­groups to map their community. There were only five 

men, but they represented 

several different eth­nic 

groups. Their map­ping experience, in the words of one 

man, “was the most important 

thing he had ever done.” They 

learned the names of streets 

in the part of town where 

other ethnic groups lived, 

drew in buildings and other 

representa­tions they previously had not known about, and 

revealed their own patterns of 

use of, and attitudes towards, 

institutions in their town. The 

picture of the town became more complete with the sharing of the 

maps of the women and girls. 

Boys’ and girls’ maps in the Kyrgyz Republic revealed their different 

perceptions of the areas within their homes-to-school radius. The 

boys drew a very structured map, while the girls visualized their 

lives in more varied ways. Their differences opened channels for 

communi­cating their interests, concerns, and needs.

Work Sites

When employees in Ecuador mapped their training center, the maps 

showed different areas of activities and very different perceptions 

between the men and women about their frequency in, and even 

What are the Core PACA Tools?

In the 

Dominican Republic

As a result of using PACA, 

Volunteers have enhanced 

knowledge and skills in: 

community diagnostics; 

project planning; feasibility 

studies; community mapping; 

and strength, weakness, 

opportunities, threats (SWOT) 

analysis. They also have 

increased their understanding 

of the importance of 

assessment before beginning 

to work or engage in a 

development project.
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

34 Peace Corps

rights to be in, certain locations, such as centers of power and 

recreation areas.

In a training exercise with disaster prevention and recovery experts 

and workers at a hotel complex in subur­ban Lima, Peru, both 

groups were asked to construct a “vulnerability map” in order to 

increase preparedness for an earthquake or landslide. The idea of 

such a map was to start with geographic and physical landmarks 

and then identify both potential hazards (e.g., non-earthquake 

resistant structures) and the capacities or assets that would be 

available in the event of a disaster (e.g., water supply, generators, 

batteries, etc.). The hotel workers (including managers, catering 

staff, housekeeping and grounds staff) completed a complex map 

that had great detail about the service areas of the hotel, including 

underground storage areas, but failed to show even a single guest 

room. The disaster experts’ map, on the other hand, showed 

intricate detail about the guest rooms and social areas of the hotel. 

The striking contrast between the maps stimulated an interesting 

discussion about the need to understand all risks and capacities to 

best prepare for natural disasters.

Schools

People in South Africa used community mapping to understand 

local schools’ and communities’ strengths and the challenges they 

faced. A diverse group of community members came together, 

many for the first time, to participate in the mapping activity. 

School staff and community members, particularly those from 

the school governing bodies, began to articulate the mission 

and vision statements for the schools, define their shared responsibilities, and develop work plans. Community development 

committees were created, with members of the schools and the 

communities represented. 

In Kazakhstan, community maps were used as appraisal tools to 

provide snapshots of the students’ and commu­nities’ daily concerns. 
35

Maps also provided the starting point for a dialogue with students 

about their perceptions of and aspirations for their communities. The 

purpose of using the maps was to explore the types of information 

that emerge in a community mapping activity and to provide 

examples of questions that are helpful in proces­sing a community 

map. As a result of the mapping exer­cise, it was discovered that the 

students were concerned about their relationships and many were 

suffering from self-esteem issues.

Organizations (Businesses)

As a result of a community mapping exercise in Slovakia, a local 

nongovernmental organization was asked to parti­cipate in a pilot 

project managed by the Slovak Ministry of the Environment. The 

purpose of the pilot project was to increase public participation 

in land-use planning since few citizens actually participated in 

public hearings and consequently did not participate in local town 

and land-use planning. This pilot project represented a partnership 

between a local organization and the Agency for the Environment 

who will manage the project for the Ministry. 

In South Africa, many communities where Peace Corps Volunteers 

live formed committees and used mapping as part of the training. 

Both new and existing committees improved management skills, 

increased membership, and forged new links with community 

and national resources (such as with government ministries, local 

community-based organizations, nonprofits, businesses, other 

committees, and donors). In all instances, committees gained 

insights into their ability to identify and resolve community 

problems as an alternative to waiting for outside assistance. 

In Paraguay, teachers use community analysis and mapping in 

parents’ meetings and classrooms. Students enjoy having a greater 

voice through participatory rural appraisal (PRA). Originally, 

teachers tried to direct the participatory activities towards the results 

that they wanted to see. Now, they have realized the value of hearing 

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

36 Peace Corps

what the participants want to say and listening to the solutions that 

are proposed.

Sample Community Map
37

Seasonal 

Calendars

Seasonal calendars trace seasonal variations in labor activities, income 

flow, and expenditure patterns, among other things. They can also 

include: weather patterns; crops and animal production; animal and 

plant diseases; cyclical resource availability; human health patterns; and 

social obligations and events. Many households experience periods of 

economic or other stresses, and these variations may have differential 

impacts on people based on sex, age, and other characteristics. 

Community members are divided into subgroups, as appropriate, and 

each group develops its own seasonal calendar. The facilitator suggests 

what to include depending on the purpose of the groups’ exercise. 

All subgroups post and describe their calendars to create a better 

understanding of the year from everyone’s perspective. 

The following are examples of seasonal calendars used in various 

settings...

At a workshop in Washington, D.C., graduate students were 

asked to construct a seasonal calendar measuring sleep deprivation 

during different times of the academic calendar. They created a 

calendar that revealed the least sleep occurred during mid-terms, 

finals, and shortly before graduation. Then, participants compared 

their calendars with disaster event calendars prepared by the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) which predict 

snowstorms, ice storms, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms. 

Participants were then able to identify which disasters were most 

likely to affect them at pre­cisely the time they are least prepared 

to respond. They subsequently made recommendations to their 

university’s administration about how the disaster preparedness 

office on campus might respond. (Similar calendars could be 

developed in communities vulnerable to natural disasters.)

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

38 Peace Corps

In a community workshop in Namibia, a women’s credit group 

completed a seasonal calendar in order to address food security and 

the potential for the natural disaster of drought. The calendar began 

with the month of the short rains, because that is the beginning of 

the agricultural cycle. Participants recorded usual weather patterns, 

crops and animal production, and patterns of labor migra­tion on 

their calendars. After completing the analysis, the women realized 

that two months of the year were particularly stressful for most 

families due to low rainfall, low crop production, and high levels 

of male migration to South Africa for mining jobs. They decided 

that these months would be the most appropriate to receive food 

aid or new micro-credit loans and the worst time to expect women 

to pay back loans.

The Turkmenistan women’s teaching calendar (see calen­dar on page 

38) revealed their multiple tasks—in school and out—throughout the 

season. It provided the education Volunteers and teachers a forum 

for discussing the best times for in-service training and possible 

summer projects for the Volunteers.
39

Figure 2. Seasonal Calendar – Turkmenistan

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

40 Peace Corps

Daily Activity 

Schedules

The construction of daily activity schedules provides information on 

exactly what individuals and groups do throughout each day—which 

often shows differences by age, gender, occupation, and so on. Most 

households have weekly and seasonal variations in tasks, and schedules 

for different times of year may be needed to get a comprehensive 

picture. This information may be important when determining who 

needs training for a particular project, when in the day (or season) 

meetings and training events can take place, what type of labor-saving 

interventions might be possible, and how changes might impact 

different families and family members.

Community members work in subgroups, as appropriate. The subgroups 

develop typical daily schedules for different periods: teachers and 

students during the school year and vacation; agricultural families 

during different portions of the planting, growing, and harvesting 

seasons; businesses during different times of the year. If participants 

are working in sex-disaggregated groups, they might try and create 

the daily schedule of the other group. Subgroups share their work 

with each other.

The following are examples of daily activity schedules used in various 

settings... 

A community in Uganda used daily activity schedules to identify, 

analyze and address sexual practices that put people at risk of HIV 

infection. The daily activities revealed that men have a fair amount 

of leisure time in which they can and do engage in risky behaviors 

and that women have a disproportionate burden of work. This led 

to a groundbreaking discussion between the men and women about 

workloads and sexual conduct that affected their families’ health 

and welfare.
41

Upper elementary school boys and girls in Guyana created daily 

activity schedules for a school day and a weekend day. A comparison 

of their schedules showed the large amount of household chores 

girls had compared to boys. A discussion about a more equitable 

sharing of household responsibilities led boys to identify several 

tasks that they could easily do.

Employees of an organization in an urban area divided into groups 

of men and women to complete daily sched­ules of a work day. 

Their discussion and sample schedules showed very different focus 

areas. The men’s schedule showed more detail of work tasks, and 

the women’s schedule revealed the use of time before work, during 

lunch periods, and throughout evenings for family tasks like shopping, washing clothes, cooking meals and other activities.

Figure 3. Sample Daily Activity Schedule

What are the Core PACA Tools?

LaCosta

Day: Woman

AM 4:00 Get up

 Sweep kitchen and rooms

 Start fire 

 Wash and dress

 4:30 Collect water for day

 Put water on for coffee

 5:00 Prepare breakfast and lunch

 5:30 Serve breakfast

 Start drying fish

 6:00 Get children up

 Wash, dress, and feed children

 (Children collect eggs)

Noon 12:00 Return home

 Have lunch and nap

PM 2:00 Collect firewood

 3:00 Meet fishing boats

 Carry fish home

 4:00 Start preparing dinner

 Clean fish

 Salt or start drying fish

 6:00 Serve dinner

 Clean-up dinner

 Do handwork, mend clothes,

 while listening to news

 9:00 Shower

 9:30 Go to bed

LaCosta

Day: Man

AM 5:00 Get up and dress

 Collect tools/fishing 

 equipment

 5:30 Eat breakfast

 6:00 Check nets, prepare/repair 

 boats

 Check/mend sails

 Take lunch

 Go fishing

PM 3:00 Return from fishing

 Sell excess fish

 Clean-up boats, nets

 Put away equipment

 5:00 Shower and dress

 Meet with other men

 6:00 Return home for dinner

 Clean-up dinner

 Listen to or watch news

 9:30 Go to bed
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

42 Peace Corps

Needs 

Assessment

Completing a needs assessment, or an analysis of their situation, helps 

community members identify their desires, needs, or problems and 

rank them in order of 

priority. A list of issues 

may be developed from 

a discussion or from 

analyzing the results of 

using other tools, such 

as community mapping 

or seasonal calendars. Prioritized lists created by different subgroups 

are important, as these lists will reflect each group’s own tasks and 

perspectives. The lists are then presented to the whole group. As a 

large group, community members reach a consensus on the whole 

group’s collective priorities.

Discussion of items on the list leads to better understanding of the 

stresses on men, women, youth, and other subgroups within the 

community. Looking for common needs, or prioritizing all lists, can 

help to inspire action on items of importance for everyone. 

The following are examples of needs assessments used in various 

settings... 

In the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch in Central America, a variety 

of participatory needs assessments were completed by NGOs 

working in several countries. Using different participatory methods 

and working with a variety of subgroups from across the region, 

a range of social groups were identified that were particularly 

vulnerable to the disaster. Such groups included: the non-literate 

because they were unable to read early-warning announcements 

and instructions in temporary shelters; small agricultural producers 

because they were disproportionately located on eroded hillsides and 

most lost their “insurance” in the form of seeds and implements;

Looking for common needs, or

prioritizing all lists, can help to

inspire action on items of

importance for everyone.
43

street children in urban centers since they were not 

ac­com­­­­modated in shelters; 

female-headed households, 

which are more likely to lose 

household assets and are 

slower to return to economic 

productivity; and indigenous 

peoples due to linguistic 

and cultural communication 

bar­riers. The completion of 

this needs assessment led to 

bet­ter targeting of disaster 

res­ponse and better development planning to address the 

root causes of social vulnerability to disaster.

Following war in Mozambique, many refugees returned to their villages to 

begin the process of rebuilding their commu­nities. The 

members of one community 

used a “needs matrix” to 

prior­itize the community’s 

most urgent needs for food, 

water and medicine. 

Drought mitigation 

also was addressed, 

as this was a 

drought-stressed 

area.

In Belize

Emphasis on identifying and 

assessing a community’s 

strengths instead of its 

weaknesses better enables 

Volunteers to establish 

positive linkages with their 

communities. This approach 

has improved attitudes and 

relationships that serve 

both the community and the 

Volunteer in developing and 

implementing sustainable 

projects that meet real needs 

identified by the community. 

A focus on participatory 

practices also allows for 

gender-sensitive community 

needs assessment and 

invites youth to voice their 

concerns and express unique 

ways to participate and take 

ownership in environmental 

programs.

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

44 Peace Corps

In a community in Ecuador, groups of men and women working 

separately ranked perceived problem areas differently. When seen 

together, the lists seemed mutually exclusive. For example, women 

noted access to water as a problem, but men did not. A discussion 

revealed that women were responsible for taking the livestock to 

water and for hauling water back to their households. Men had no 

direct responsibilities for water in this community and therefore 

had not focused on water-related problems.

Imagine you are at a workshop and 

prioritizing your group’s needs. The 

list could be depressing if many of 

the challenges seem out of your 

control—such as negative legislation

or large infrastructure needs. In community projects, this is the time when

groups can re-prioritize according to 

what they can do something about 

and feel empowered to improve their 

situation in practical yet important 

ways.
45

Hints for Urban Uses of PACA Tools

Don’t try to map or “find out” everything. This is especially true in

urban settings because there is just too much going on. What is 

important to the community in which you are working?

What is an urban community?

A group or community within a large urban area

Groups by definable area, unit or affinity:

sub-neighborhood, students, teachers, market workers or 

shoppers, wholesalers, NGOs, peer educators, apart­ment 

tenants, municipal employees.

How could PACA tools be used with an urban community?

Community maps

– Mapping the assets and areas of importance in the 

neighborhood

– Mapping important areas of overlapping use or priority for 

affinity groups 

– Mapping market services 

– Mapping the areas served by peer educators, youth 

outreach or NGO work

Transect maps

– This can be more targeted in Volunteer and counterpart 

“surveying.” 

– Where are transportation centers, markets, entertain­ment 

centers, industry, etc.?

– Especially when working with a school or youth group: 

where are the play areas in relation to school and 

home, eating places, sports supplies or space, learning 

opportunities or libraries, apprenticeship opportu­nities, 

and visible role models?

(Continued on page 46)

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

46 Peace Corps

– Meander versus straight line to see if nearby areas have 

similarities or differences. Why?

– Allows for one-on-one discussion on the way, real 

interpretation by local residents or observation on the 

location of less desirable areas (municipal trash landfills, 

areas of high unemployment, nonfunctional municipal 

services, dangerous play areas for children, heavy traffic 

patterns) in relation to more positive elements (park land, 

functioning municipal services such as trash removal, safe 

shopping and play zones, obvious capital investment in

homes and businesses).

Seasonal Calendars

– School or day care patterns of cost, time and responsibilities 

over time

– Holidays, celebrations or tourist seasons

– Business cycles of planning, annual budgeting, objective 

and periodic benchmark planning 

– Climate and major cyclical patterns of precipitation, storms 

or vegetation

– Labor demand curve by sex, age and other group

– Availability and price of food and other key household or 

group expenditures

– Elections or other important political or organizational 

events

– NGO, professional and organizational work, outreach, 

fundraising and other activities (Kiwanis, Rotary, men’s and 

women’s groups) 

Other tools

– Daily activity schedules for members of groups planning 

projects

– Network analysis between individuals and organiza­tions 

(social, political, family, work, educational, etc.)

(Continued from page 45)

(Continued on page 47)
47

– Livelihood assessment (such as factors contributing to 

thriving or survival of a social group, work organization or 

neighborhood)

– Priority ranking (this is especially important when working 

with affinity groups since they have many different 

associations and relationships, of which the identified group 

is just one)

What are considerations and possibilities for using PACA 

in urban settings?

PACA can be used in Volunteer activities, Volunteer sup­port 

and project planning.

Is the urban community very diverse? Do members of the 

group know each other well? Are extended families visible 

and involved?

Your urban community may be distrustful of strangers asking 

questions; use trusted facilitators.

Urban pace can be “fast” and rapidly changing so participants may have other commitments or interests. They may 

not have much time or willingness to collaborate for long 

periods of time.

Women’s roles are more diverse with possible employment 

opportunities and independence.

You may need more time to gain trust before doing PACA 

activities.

Rural-to-urban migrants: what were expectations when they 

came, what are they now, what are their hopes and aspirations 

for their children?

There may be statistical information and maps available from 

government or other sources to supplement commu­nity 

information.

(Continued from page 46)

What are the Core PACA Tools?
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

48 Peace Corps

Chapter 3

What Happens 

After Analysis

Once a map has been done, or one of the 

other tools used, what comes next? These 

tools can help communities come together, 

share information, prioritize their needs, 

and begin to see concrete possi­bilities for 

improving their lives. Yet once the needs have 

been expressed, how do they achieve their 

goals? Where is the “for community action” part of participatory 

analysis for community action (PACA)?

Next steps can vary. Sometimes the use of one tool will move the 

community to action. Sometimes several tools are used to get a more 

complete picture of the situation.

Development of Activities 

or Larger Projects 

Analysis may lead to simple actions that do not require elaborate 

planning to implement. Others may not be so simple. If the action is 

going to be a fairly complex community project, Volunteers will find 

The New Project Design and Management Manual [ICE No. T0107] 

an excellent source of step-by-step guidance on how to work through 

the participatory design, management and evaluation process with 

counterparts and community members. The New Project Design and 

Management Manual is also available in Spanish [ICE No. T0127] 

and French [ICE No. T0128] and can be downloaded from the Peace 

Corps’ online library (www.peacecorps.gov).
49

Moving from Analysis with One Tool to Action

Using the formulation: What? So What? Now What? the chart below 

shares examples of how using PACA tools has led to action in various 

communities. The next section describes complex projects that have 

used more than one PACA tool.

Relocation after natural disaster 

Peru

What? Victims of a massive flood drew a map to help with 

the disaster reconstruction process. Their community 

map depicted not only their homesteads (which had 

been destroyed by the flood) but also their traditional 

agricultural and pasture lands.

So What? Outside disaster-recovery experts had intended to 

relocate the villagers and provide new lots and homes 

outside of the flood plain and near a small urban center.

Now What? After seeing the map, and interviewing local people 

about their subsistence patterns, the experts realized 

that relocation to an urban area would cut villagers 

off from their fields and pasture lands. As a result, 

relocation plans were redesigned and a different 

location was selected.

Women’s credit group 

Namibia

What? In a community workshop, a women’s credit group 

completed a seasonal calendar to address food security 

and the potential for drought. The calendar began with 

the month of short rains, because that is the beginning of 

the agricultural cycle. Participants included usual weather 

patterns, crops and animal production, and patterns of 

labor migration on their calendars.

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

50 Peace Corps

So What? After completing the analysis, the women realized 

that two months of the year were particularly stressful 

for most families because of low rainfall, low crop 

production, and high levels of male migration to South 

Africa for mining jobs.

Now What? They decided that for these months it would be the most 

appropriate to receive food aid or new micro-credit loans 

and the worst time to expect women to pay back loans.

Targeting groups for workshops 

East Africa

What? In East Africa, pastoralist men and women were asked to 

complete daily activity schedules as part of a participatory 

disaster-prevention process. Because livestock serve 

as their main source of income, the best form of disaster 

prevention in these areas is often the protection of 

livestock from famine, disease, and other hazards.

So What? Development workers used the daily activity schedules 

of men and women to begin understanding the genderbased division of labor in the community. They found, for 

example, that women are generally responsible for small 

stock (goats, sheep) and sick, pregnant, or lactating 

animals of all sizes; while young men are generally 

responsible for herding and accompanying adult cattle 

and camels.

Now What? Teams used this information to design appropriate training 

materials for a series of community workshops focused on 

animal health, vaccination, and animal midwifery.
51

Desire for skill-building and empowerment

Cote d’Ivoire

What? A Peace Corps Volunteer collaborated with the women 

in her village to help them organize their ideas and 

resources to address concerns within their community. 

The women had the potential to help their community 

beyond the normal scope of their fundraising activities 

for community festivals, marriages and funerals. The 

fundamental elements previously lacking in the group 

were the knowledge and skills to organize themselves 

and a strong sense of empowerment.

So What? By using PACA techniques, the women’s group began 

to create a schedule of monthly meetings based on 

the lunar calendar and village market days. At each 

meeting, they could discuss the progress of their work 

and contribute 250 CFA (approximately 33 cents) into the 

group fund.

Now What? Because of the rapid increase in their project activities, 

the group secured a grant from the World Bank, which 

allowed them to participate in a series of trainings on 

cooperative management, simplified accounting, and 

improved agricultural production. By May 2000, the 

group saved more than 500,000 CFA (approximately 

$670). With these resources, the women are building 

wells, which were their most immediate critical need 

as identified by using PACA tools. Some of the group’s 

members have participated in community health worker 

training and now manage “pharmacy boxes,” dispensing 

common medicines in the village. In September 2000, 

they received a donation from the U.S. Ambassador’s 

self-help project to construct the housing for a new mill.

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

52 Peace Corps

Prioritizing Health Problems

Burkina Faso

What? Community health workers conducted a participatory 

needs assessment with their counterparts and 

community members to identify and prioritize health 

problems in the community. 

So What? Topics that emerged from the study included sexually 

transmitted infections (STIs)/AIDS, Guinea worm, oral 

re-hydration treatment (ORT), female circumcision, baby 

feeding, and immunizations, among others.

Now What? The findings of the community needs assessments led 

to action plans for the head nurses, the management 

committees, and the Volunteers. In addition, the 

reports are being used by the health center for other 

interventions and future project evaluations. 

Participatory Needs Assessment

Peru

What? Volunteers facilitated a community needs assessment 

and helped a community make the choice to initiate 

a latrine-construction project. The community had no 

latrines or toilets at the time, but had a population of 80 

families and approximately 400 persons.

So What? The Volunteers played a crucial role in engaging the 

community and developing a common stewardship ethic 

among community members to address their shared 

development needs.

Now What? After conducting the first participatory meeting in the 

community, the second meeting almost doubled the 

number of participants, and ended with the community

(Continued on page 52)
53

requesting a third meeting to advance their planning as 

soon as possible. Along with the latrine construction, 

members of the community learned proper waste 

disposal, personal hygiene practices, public sanitation, 

and public awareness of the importance of latrines. 

Community Needs Assessment

Cape Verde

What? Volunteers mobilized and trained a team of social 

workers to conduct a community needs assessment with 

a group of street youth.

So What? The needs assessment exercise empowered the youth 

to articulate their own priorities and engage in positive 

planning to improve their lives. 

Now What? The analysis resulted in the development of various 

projects that addressed the youth’s self-identified 

priorities and began to meet their most pressing needs.

What Happens After Analysis

(Continued from page 51)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

54 Peace Corps

Description of Triangulation 

After one participatory tool has 

been used, it is often helpful to 

use one or more additional tools 

to complement the information 

gained by the first. This is called 

triangulation. For example, if 

a particular need is determined 

by the community, resource 

map­ping may help identify what 

assets it has to start with or leverage, such as an area of land; 

institutions nearby; access to 

raw materials, labor, or other 

items. Daily activity schedules 

might reveal who has the time 

to do some of the tasks required, 

and when to schedule meetings 

to ensure wide participation in 

planning. A seasonal calendar 

might reveal time periods when 

the labor availability or good 

weather permits the completion 

of tasks, or when there might be 

the income needed to pay for 

required items.

In Togo

Farmers’ cooperatives 

conducted workshops 

addressing integrated 

agriculture. Meetings 

included PACA activities, 

such as community 

mapping, seasonal 

calendars and priority 

ranking to help participants 

conceptualize their 

resources and needs, 

and realize the impact 

their everyday lives and 

agricultural practices have 

on their environment. At 

the end of these meetings, 

Volunteers had established 

relationships and set up 

visits to farmers who were 

interested in working on 

agroforestry, integrated 

agriculture and/or 

environmental 

management. More than 

2,800 farmers participated 

in meetings, 32 percent of 

whom were women.
55

Moving from Analysis with 

Several Tools to Action

Using the formulation: What? So What? Now What? the chart below 

describes how different groups have used several PACA tools together, 

leading to action.

An Unfinished Classroom

Paraguay

What? A participatory needs assessment revealed education 

to be a community concern. Further discussion noted 

that there was an unfinished second classroom of the 

local school.

So What? A seasonal calendar exercise revealed when labor 

would be available to complete the classroom.

Now What? Community members began collecting the materials so 

they would be on hand when the labor was available.

Action Planning

Senegal

What? Volunteers and their host country counterparts used 

several PACA tools to facilitate a community-building 

workshop.

So What? Local counterparts were taught PACA approaches 

and felt that they would be useful in community 

meetings. Village elders realized that all groups 

could join in meetings in culturally appropriate ways 

and provide important perspectives that would 

benefit the community.

Now What? Participants developed a five-year action plan; and the 

role of the Volunteers was defined for everyone.

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

56 Peace Corps

Dealing with Vulnerable Groups

IAP Region

What? A post-disaster needs assessment revealed that some 

members of the community were more vulnerable to 

disasters and their impact than others in the community.

So What? A combination of a mapping exercise and daily activity 

schedules with different community members (men, 

women, children, ethnic minorities) showed that 

poverty, gender, and ethnicity were the main variables 

that were linked to social vulnerability.

Now What? The community decided to create balanced “disaster 

committees” to make sure that the most vulnerable 

people were protected during future natural disasters.

Needs Assessment

Mali

What? Volunteers assisted villagers in conducting participatory 

needs analyses and creating appropriate action plans 

during a PACA in-service training in two communities.

So What? One community developed a detailed five-year plan as 

a result of an in-depth needs assessment process.

Now What? The needs assessment process reinforced the role of 

the sanitation committee in one community and started 

a sustainable development process to meet identified 

needs in the second community.
57

Example from Senegal: 

Using PACA Tools in a Community 

Workshop to Assess Local Needs 

and Create an Action Plan4

Volunteers and counterparts completed a PACA training to prepare 

for a village community development workshop. The workshop was 

held to identify the village’s internal resources, external supports, 

and to create a consensus of community needs. The Volunteers and 

counterparts felt “the community-building workshop introduced, and 

induced, better organizational and assessment skills.” The workshop 

also helped facilitate an open relationship between the community, the 

resident Volunteer, and other development agencies/programs.

Several different tools were used to assess the community’s needs and 

to reach consensus on an action plan that the entire community would 

help construct and support. 

Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative inquiry is a tool that incorporates an asset-based approach by emphasizing 

a village’s internal resources and abilities as 

positive attributes. Appreciative inquiry is 

utilized to encourage community members to 

create a list of their resources. The ques­tion: 

What is good about your village? is asked 

first. Other questions follow such as: What makes your work easier? 

What good things has the village accomplished? What makes your life 

better? What are you proud of? 

What is good 

in the 

community?

4 Resource: Famara Massaly, associate Peace Corps director for agriculture in Senegal and 

Peace Corps Volunteers Elisabeth Wittenberg, Hugh Ewart, Sean Barrett, Jill Tucker, and 

Mike Cherone. Read the full report in Appendix I.

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

58 Peace Corps

Having been asked these questions, the villagers in Senegal created 

a list of things they felt were of value to their community. The list 

included assets such as: corn, rice, peanuts, women’s groups, gardening, 

veterinary work, good soil, mango trees, and a healthcare worker.

At times during the workshop, villagers were quick to place greater 

emphasis on the importance of outside resources, such as money and 

building materials, rather than examining their internal resources first. 

Facilitators referred to the list created during the appreciative inquiry 

phase to remind the group of their internal resources. Reflecting back 

on what is available to the community by outright ownership heightened 

the members’ awareness of their innate value. (See Appendix I for the 

list of valued assets the villagers created.)

Community Mapping

The mapping exercise was the first exercise 

in which the men, young men, and women 

were separated into groups. The groups were 

set apart from each other to encourage open 

discussion within each group. Volunteers and 

counterparts facilitated each group. Three 

questions were asked when introducing the mapping tool: 

How would you draw your village? 

How do you see your village? 

What is important to your daily activities? 

When all the maps were compared, villagers noticed that certain 

village features (the ocean, school, main road, mosques, gardens, and 

salt mines) were included by each group, while others (the cemetery, 

millet-pounding areas, soccer fields) showed up on only one or two of 

the maps. This indicated that every group views the village differently 

depending on their routine. (See Appendix I for maps completed by 

each group.)

How would 

everyone draw 

the community?
59

Daily Activity Schedules by Season

The purpose of this activity, like seasonal 

calendars, is to determine what time of day 

various groups of people are available to 

plan and work on projects at different times 

of the year. In addition, the daily activity 

schedules were used to promote awareness 

of the differences in workload between men, women, and young men 

during two very different time periods: rainy season and dry season. 

One important point that emerged from the daily schedule exercise 

was that while men were busy with fishing and farming all day during 

the peak activity season, women were busy with household tasks 

and income-generating activities throughout the day, year-round. All 

groups had more free time for meetings and village development 

activities during the middle part of the day. (See Appendix I for actual 

schedules.)

What do people 

do at different 

times in the day?

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

60 Peace Corps

Consensus Building

The men, women, and young men developed 

their own lists of priorities for the village. 

When the three lists were examined together, 

it was noted that two items, the health hut and 

the millet machine, appeared on each list. 

These two “advanced” to the next step of the 

process, while a pairwise ranking grid helped the villagers prioritize 

the rest of their needs and wants. (See Appendix I for pairwise ranking 

grid and actual prioritized topics.)

Designing the Action Plan

After completing this needs assessment with 

the villagers, the next step was establishing a 

plan of action. In order to do so, participants 

needed to understand and describe in detail 

exactly what each project would involve in 

terms of money, labor, materials, and so on. 

Also, it was necessary to assign specific tasks to individuals and appoint 

others to monitor the progress. Together, the villagers, Volunteers, 

and counterparts broke down the top five projects into the following 

categories: tasks, cost, village resources, external resources, who is 

responsible, and who will oversee. Checking these periodically to 

ensure they are being accomplished is part of project monitoring and 

management.5

What do all the 

groups agree is 

most important?

How do we 

reach our 

goals?

5 See pages 88-100 of The New Project Design and Management Training Manual [ICE No. 

T0107] for sample action plan and guidance; see 103-114 for step-by-step guidance on 

monitoring and evaluation in community projects.
61

Conclusion

Some of the projects, such as improving 

livestock security, are already underway. 

As for projects like soil improvement, the 

resources and knowledge are already in 

the village: several villagers have learned 

how to make compost and will train others 

upon request. The facilitators and villagers wisely concentrated on 

the village’s top priorities, emphasizing that the village will be able 

to address the others in the future when the first few projects are 

established and generating income.

The PACA methods used in identifying and planning these activities 

were useful to the community members in understanding that they 

had many resources other than money coming in from the outside 

sources. This also led to a certain amount of empowerment and bonding 

within the community. Although much information was collected and 

shared through the process, the most productive piece was the action 

plan formulated by the community. The fact that they have already 

implemented some of it is a testament that the “community action” 

in “participatory analysis for community action” is essential in the 

development process. 

Please see Appendix II for a second example of community action 

related to HIV/AIDS.

Now it’s all 

coming 

together!

What Happens After Analysis
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

62 Peace Corps

Chapter 4

Preparing for PACA

Skills Needed to 

Implement PACA 

Good skills in observation, interviewing, and facilitation are fundamental to learning about others and building relationships, and PACA 

approaches cannot be carried out without them. In new cultural settings, 

old skills need to be revisited, cultural assumptions challenged, and 

new culturally appropriate language and behaviors learned. This section 

gives some background about these needed skills. All suggestions need 

to be modified to fit each culture’s practices and norms.

Filters 

Because we are all individual beings with unique experiences, we do 

not all perceive information or receive messages the same way. You 

may see the exact same interaction or event very differently than your 

neighbor. Filters are biases, values, or beliefs 

that influence the way we think about ourselves; 

and how, when, and why we interact (or do not 

interact) with everyone and everything around 

us. They come from the concepts we learned 

in childhood and have acquired over the years 

through experience. Many of our filters are determined by our culture 

or subculture(s). Others are individual values or preferences. 

Filtering is automatic and will go unnoticed unless you make an effort 

to understand it. Understanding your filters is important because they 

may cause you to distort information, miss seeing things, or interpret 

behaviors differently than they were intended. As a Volunteer, you need 

to identify your filters to ensure they do not interfere with cross-cultural 
63

learning, and to use that knowledge in building positive relationships 

in your host culture. If your filters tend to be overly positive, you may 

need to question their situational applicability, or if overly negative, 

consciously try to overcome them.

Samples of filters are:

Life experiences: what you have gone through in your lifetime. 

Your many small encounters each day combine with larger events 

or actions to influence how you see the world and react to new 

experiences (such as travel, educational experiences, participation 

in sports or other teams, having sustained an injury, serving in 

the military, etc.).

Culture: the norms with which you were raised. 

For example, if a certain culture teaches that cleanliness is very 

important, a person from that culture may have a strong reaction 

to another culture where sanitation standards are not high. That 

same person may tend to listen more carefully to someone who 

is neatly dressed as opposed to someone who appears sloppy.

Respect: whom you are taught to respect and how you show 

respect to them.

If you were taught to respect elders, you may respond and listen 

to someone who is elderly and show a good deal of courtesy even 

if what that person says is irrelevant to your needs.

Self-image: how you perceive yourself. 

A low self-image or an overly high selfimage may hinder your ability to 

objectively perceive what is going on 

around you. For example, a person with 

low self-esteem might take personally a 

comment like: “Our group has trouble making decisions.” A 

people who think highly of themselves might not consider that 

they may be a part of the group’s problem.

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

64 Peace Corps

Religion: the norms your religion teaches you. 

If your religion teaches “do unto others as you would have them 

do unto you” or “an eye for an eye,” you might approach situations 

differently based on those beliefs. Individuals and cultures vary 

in the ways that religious beliefs influence daily activities and 

social interactions. 

Prejudice: a negative conception that inhibits objective judgment. 

This can be related to certain races, ethnic groups, and social 

groups you may feel strongly for or against. For example, a 

person who is taught that a certain group is lazy might have 

difficulty dealing objectively with a member of that group. Or, if 

a particular group is held in high regard, a person may be unable 

to objectively assist them in analyzing their difficulties.

Bias: judgment is distorted in favor of or against a person or 

thing. 

You may be biased for others who are similar to you, and therefore 

may easily communicate with them. On the other hand, you might 

have a bias against people different from yourself—such as liberal 

or conservative individuals—and thus have some difficulty in 

approaching or communicating with them objectively.

Background: where, how, and with what groups you were raised. 

For example, a person from a very rural town and one from a 

large metropolitan area might have preconceived notions about 

each other that establish barriers even before communication is 

initiated.

Trust: whom you learned to trust as a child. 

The things you learned affect whom you will and will not trust 

as an adult. For example, you may have been taught that it is a 

sign of dishonesty not to look someone in the eyes, or that you 

must be careful of people you do not know because they may 

take advantage of you.
65

Sex and gender roles: the way you react to sexes and gender 

roles. 

This includes ideas about whether or not men and women should 

conduct themselves in certain ways because of their sex or gender 

roles, what type of work men or women should be doing, or who 

should or should not be in positions of authority. 

If you have some time to think about it right now, can you come up 

with more filters?

Observation Skills6

Observation is important because:

rich information can be gathered without being intrusive; 

information gained verbally can be confirmed or questioned;

observers see clues to the reliability and comfort of community 

members who are involved in PACA techniques. 

Observation Practice

Here are two observation practices you can carry 

out on your own that may help sharpen your 

observational skills.

Practice observing your host families or neighbors during 

meals and other “family” times, or during the morning routine 

before they leave for school or work. Observe specific family 

members at these various times: mother, father, children of 

various ages, grandparents, etc. Observe and describe how 

6 Read more about observation activities and techniques on pages 84-92 of Promoting Powerful 

People [ICE No. T0104]; page 85 of Working with Youth: Approaches for Volunteers [ICE 

No. M0067]; and throughout the brief but very useful Learning Local Environmental 

Knowledge: A Volunteer’s Guide to Community Entry [ICE No. M0071]. All are available 

in PDF format in through the Peace Corps’ online library at www.peacecorps.gov. 

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

66 Peace Corps

typical chores are done and by whom. Who washes the clothes? 

Cleans the house? Prepares the meals? Who assists with 

various tasks around the house? Did any of the observations 

surprise you? If so, you may have discovered some of your 

filters.

In your community, observe the neighborhood streets at 

different times of the day, evening, and weekend. Observe 

places like the market, taxi or bus stands, churches, restaurants, 

Internet cafes and so on. Who is there? Are people alone 

or in groups? How does this vary by time of day? Observe 

community members at their workplaces. What are their jobs? 

What are the tasks? What is the daily schedule? What happens 

at the end of break time? Based on what you’ve observed, how 

or when might you work with members of different groups?

Interviewing7

Asking questions, or more formally interviewing people, is an easy 

way to get to know people. Most people use this approach constantly 

as they meet new people. If done well, you can:

1. establish trust;

2. create a human bond; and

3. begin a partnership between ourselves and those we came to work 

with.

What might be the results of inappropriate question asking? 

7 Read more about Interviewing in Booklet 1: Volunteer as Learner in Roles of the Volunteer 

in Development [ICE No. T0005]; on pages 59-70, and 108-116 of Promoting Powerful 

People [ICE No. T0104]; pages 86-90 of Working with Youth: Approaches for Volunteers 

[ICE No. M0067]; and pages 51-55 of An NGO Training Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers 

[ICE No. M0070]. All are available in PDF through the Peace Corps’ online library at www.

peacecorps.gov. 
67

Essential Characteristics of Interviewing

Skills you need to be successful asking questions and interviewing:

Demonstrate respect Listen more than you talk

Develop rapport Read nonverbal cues

Use appropriate, non- Use familiar, non-threatening

threatening question topics

forms

Anyone entering a new community for the first time may be perceived 

as an outsider, foreigner, or both. It is important to try to dispel all 

false expectations, and to be aware that actions can be misinterpreted 

because you are considered an outsider and/or a foreigner. What 

are the attitudes towards foreigners where you work? Do they vary 

accord­ing to where in the country you are? By social classes, religion, 

gender, age, or ethnic groups? Can you think of ways to begin 

developing rapport through behavior, conversation, and questions 

that are non-threatening?

Topics that are familiar and non-threatening differ by cultures and 

unique local history. In beginning an interview with topics that 

people enjoy talking about and which do not pose a threat or break an 

acceptable cultural level of intimacy, you need to identify what those 

topics are in the local cultural context. For example, conversation may 

begin with questions about the well-being of one’s family. 

The form in which questions are asked may be different than you 

expect. Not all people are comfort­able with personal questions, such 

as: “What do you think about the 

health care in this town?” (Asks for 

an opinion.) A less personal question 

form may be more appropriate, such 

as: “What are people saying about the 

health care in this town?” (Asks for a 

generalization.) Does the form of a question make a difference to you? 

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

68 Peace Corps

Does it depend on the topic? This is an area you’ll need to explore in 

the host cultural context.

While interviewing, it is essential to read nonverbal cues. What 

examples of nonverbal cues have you experienced during a conversation 

or an interview? Change of eye contact, hesitancy to answer questions, 

fidgeting in a chair, staring off into the distance? In your experience, 

what do these behaviors mean? Averting one’s eyes in some cultures 

means respect. Is that what it means to you?

Finally, with interviewing it is essential to listen more than you talk. 

How do you feel about silence? Do you become uncomfortable? What 

can you do to keep from “jumping in” with another question when your 

interviewees may just need some time to think and answer? Remember 

that their cultural filters are at work as well, and they may need more 

time than your culture finds comfortable. Pages 91-95 of Culture 

Matters: The Peace Corps Cross-Cultural Workbook [ICE No. T0087] 

provide additional tools to help you learn more about nonverbal cues 

in cross-cultural communication.

Question Structures

Different question structures may help as you develop 

your interviewing skills.

Closed questions (yes or no): Though often 

discouraged because of the limited information 

they provide, closed questions may be the easiest 

to answer, and may help start a conversation or interview.

Either/or questions: These are closed questions in that they only 

offer two choices. The sentence form may be confusing. Instead of 

responding with a choice, someone may answer yes or no.

Open questions (why, what, when, where, how): This form offers 

the possibility of varied answers and more information.
69

Personal question forms: These ask for an “I” form answer and 

may be considered inappropriate. In some cultures with a history 

of repressive government, these types of questions may raise fears 

about how the information will be used.

Generalized question forms: This form relieves the responder of 

answering personally.

Sometimes a yes or no question is a good way to start a discussion, 

followed by open questions. If a discussion starts to falter, yes or no 

questions and either/or questions are a way to get people talking again 

and summarizing what perspectives have been presented. Sometimes 

open-ended questions can be vague and difficult to answer. It may be 

necessary to move back to more closed questions. 

See pages 21-22 in Booklet 1 of Roles of the Volunteer in Development

[ICE No. T0005] for detailed information about question structures.

A final precaution about interviewing: Even the most experienced 

interviewer encounters interviewees who tell them what they think 

the interviewer wants to hear. In some cultures, it is seen as rude to 

provide unpleasant or negative information; or even if the individual 

does not have particular information, he or she may knowingly provide 

an incorrect answer in order to not disappoint the interviewer. 

Practice

Interviewing skills can be developed by practicing. Starting in English, 

develop interviews following the six essential 

characteristics of interviewing noted earlier. Have 

a language instructor or other cultural informant 

assist with how to demonstrate respect and 

develop rapport in your local culture. Practice in 

English with host national training staff, and others 

who speak English. As you develop your language 

skills, create and practice interviews in the host country language.

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

70 Peace Corps

Facilitation

Being effective in development work includes being able to 

communicate with host-country colleagues and communities, 

establishing rapport and trust, and listening to what people want 

and need to do for themselves. Being able to facilitate discussions 

among groups of people is a critical skill; it is the key to using PACA 

methodologies effectively. 

Facilitation is a skill that encourages the members of a group to express 

and discuss their own ideas. It requires the use of questions that elicit 

ideas and probe and that encourage everyone to participate and express 

views. It also requires paraphrasing and summarizing. It demands 

attention to the process of the group, including encouraging quiet and 

reticent people, and controlling dominant or disruptive participants. 

Facilitation uses the skills that were introduced and practiced in the 

interviewing section. 

Group leaders may use different styles with groups, depending on 

circumstances.

Use a leader-centered style to: Act as a facilitator to:

Introduce new ideas Help group process own 

ideas

Lead through series of steps Tap into group’s collective 

knowledge

Test knowledge Manage process, not 

content

Review activity Encourage all to participate
71

In PACA, both types of group leader styles 

are used. The leader(s) may direct the group 

through a series of steps to arrive at information, such as creating a map or a calendar. 

Then the role changes and a facilitation 

style is employed because the group has the 

knowledge; the facilitator helps them discuss 

it, make comparisons, and draw conclusions. 

In this process, you will find it most effective 

to work with and through your host country 

partners who have language skills, cultural 

knowledge and status that contribute to the 

success of PACA exercises.

This section on facilitation complements the 

more in-depth information on group process 

and facilitation now in Booklet 4: Volunteer 

as Co-Facilitator in Roles of the Volunteer in 

Development [ICE No. T0005]. 

Asking Questions, Paraphrasing, Summarizing

Three important skills for facilitating are asking questions, paraphrasing, and summarizing.

1. Asking Facilitators use questions to help group 

questions members bring out relevant information, 

clarify points of view, summarize 

information, and draw conclusions. 

2. Paraphrasing By paraphrasing, the facilitator 

demonstrates that she or he understands 

what participants have said and may clarify 

issues. The process of paraphrasing is 

much like catching a ball and throwing it 

back—and requires very careful listening.

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

72 Peace Corps

3. Summarizing Summarizing pulls important ideas, facts, 

or information together; establishes a basis 

for further discussion; reviews progress; or 

checks for clarity or agreement. It requires 

organization and systematic reporting back 

of information expressed. It also ensures 

that everyone is clear about what has 

transpired. Whenever possible, someone 

besides the facilitator should do the 

summarizing.

Although open-ended questions are the best way to let people express 

their own perspectives, sometimes a yes or no question is a good way 

to start a discussion, followed by open questions. If a discussion starts 

to falter, yes or no questions and either/or questions are a way to get 

people talking again and summarizing their perspectives. Occasionally, 

open-ended questions can be vague and difficult to answer, so moving 

back to more closed questions can be helpful.

In PACA exercises, like all interviews 

and exchanges, people may tell you 

what they think you want to hear. 

In some cultures, it is seen as rude 

to provide unpleasant or negative 

information; or even if the individual 

does not have the information being 

requested, he or she may knowingly 

provide an incorrect answer in 

order to not disappoint anyone. 

Sometimes, answers may be seen as 

a way to receive services or access to 

resources—this is not often malicious, 

but more likely to be an attempt to 

provide for family needs.
73

Practice

Here are some suggestions for opportunities to 

practice facilitation skills: 

In training settings:

Lessons learned in host families, on site visits

Language needs (specific vocabulary, situation)

Cross-cultural encounters, information gathering

Daily/weekly training evaluation

In schools:

Group discussion with schoolchildren about important things in 

their lives, at school, favorite pastimes, aspirations

Discussions with teachers about things a new teacher should know

With host families:

Group discussions about culturally appropriate topics, such as the 

meaning and celebration of holidays

Visit to a club or organization:

Discussion of purpose and aspirations

During agricultural or other work-related field site visits:

Group discussions about crop production, animal health issues, 

access to agricultural inputs; discussion about record-keeping or 

other appropriate process at an NGO or local business

Dealing with Difficult Group Members

Ideally, in a discussion all group members participate equally. Rarely 

does the ideal happen. The term “difficult” is used to indicate group 

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

74 Peace Corps

members who either do not participate or have disruptive or controlling 

behaviors. It is the facilitator’s role to encourage active and equal 

participation, working to keep disruptive or controlling behaviors in 

check so that these members do not prevent the group from completing 

its task(s). 

Look through the guidelines, advice on giving feedback, and charts 

with possible actions to deal with different types of behavior found on 

pages 10-14 of Booklet 4 in Roles of the Volunteer in Development

[ICE No. T0005]. 
75

Practicing PACA: Community 

Preparation and Follow-up

To build confidence in using PACA tools and the skills needed to carry 

out the activities (including the follow up after using them), hands-on 

experience is preferred. Though practice with participatory processes 

in communities is critical to understanding the power of the process 

and the skills needed to carry them out, there are many ethical concerns 

regarding the use of communities for training purposes. The following 

section will help you understand how Peace Corps posts arrange 

learning experiences with PACA, including selecting, preparing, and 

following up with communities and training participants. 

Although finding opportunities for suitable practice is sometimes 

difficult, the list below provides some ideas on how Peace Corps staff 

approach this subject.

If Then

trainees have little practice by leading a discussion in 

experience with training, such as reviewing reading or 

facilitation other assignments; evaluating an 

activity.

use an appropriate technique to 

analyze real training issues: mapping a 

site, daily activities, needs assessment; 

develop actions to resolve issues.

local language practice with English speaking 

fluency is low groups—trainers, Volunteers, training 

staff, schoolchildren.

work with a translator, a Volunteer, 

language teacher, or other bilingual 

person.

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

76 Peace Corps

If Then

helping participants observe others carrying out PACA 

draw conclusions activities and note transitions, key 

and identify a breakthroughs. Review action planning

possible next step steps in Roles of the Volunteer in 

is difficult Development and/or the New Project 

Design and Management (PDM) 

Manual.

create practice scenarios and role-play 

with trainees, training staff, Volunteers.

When practice will be with a local group or community, preparing the 

community for the field practice is key to a successful experience. As 

a general rule, Peace Corps staff contacts the community at least one 

month before the PACA field practice in order to explain the purpose of 

the field practice, elicit members’ voluntary and willing participation in 

the experience, explain the techniques and their procedural steps, and 

prepare the logistics of the field practice. The community should be 

familiar with the Peace Corps and either have a Peace Corps Volunteer 

currently working there or a plan to place a Volunteer there in the near 

future. At least two visits to the community need to be made prior to the 

fieldwork, the second visit within a week of the fieldwork to reconfirm 

all of the arrangements made previously.

Selecting the community or communities

The community should be representative of other communities with 

which the Peace Corps works.

Select a community where the Peace Corps is actively known, 

expects to have a presence, and, if possible, use local Volunteer 

support.
77

For manageability, the commu­nity (rural village or 

urban neighborhood) should 

be relatively small; less than 

300 households is ideal.

When more than one community is used, commu­nities 

with differing charac­teristics 

should be selected in order to 

expand the applica­tion of the 

techniques.

Care must be given to select 

communities in which members are available (e.g., not 

occupied by peak season 

labor demands, feast days, 

etc.).

Both men and women should 

be asked about their availability, time preferences, 

willingness to participate, 

and so on.

Planning tips that work

If two or more techniques are 

applied in a given community, a minimum number 

of available participants is 

re­quired, but not everyone all 

day. If one technique is done 

in the morning and another 

in the afternoon, two groups 

PACA practice and 

training in: 

Ecuador

During pre-service training, 

PACA tools and gender 

analysis are introduced 

and trainees must apply 

this knowledge in their 

community-based training 

communities. They present 

a report about community 

analysis using PACA tools on 

their site visit.

Nepal

Community mapping, 

seasonal calendars, 

daily activity schedules 

and priority ranking are 

introduced to trainees and 

they practice one tool in 

their community before 

conducting their first 

community activity.

Mali

As part of the PACA session 

conducted during preservice training, trainees 

helped villagers identify their 

needs and create or validate 

strategic action plans.

(Continued on page 78)

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

78 Peace Corps

of about 20 men and two 

groups of about 20 women 

will be required—one group 

of each sex in the morning, 

then a second group of each 

sex in the afternoon.

It is necessary to consider 

how well the community 

participants represent the 

diversity of the community 

in order not to exclude participation by criteria of ethnicity, religion, race, age, or 

any other subgroup status.

Two separate meeting areas 

or rooms are preferable, or 

at least enough space so 

that two (or more) separate 

groups can meet without 

over­hearing or disturbing 

each other.

At the end of each session, 

men and women rejoin to 

interpret the results and to 

give recommendations. This 

can be done in one of the two 

meeting areas or in a larger 

accommodation.

If a lunch or dinner is planned, it must be scheduled to include both 

morning and afternoon groups. This is a way to thank the community 

members for their time and to permit a more social environment for 

community members and trainees to be together, unless it would 

Bolivia

PACA community analysis 

tools are put into practice 

through real situations. 

For example, trainees 

were asked to solve a real 

problem with kitchen garden 

projects by developing 

actual seasonal calendars 

on the ground using sticks 

and stones.

Georgia

Demonstrations of 

community mapping, 

seasonal calendars, daily 

activity schedules and the 

gender analysis matrix 

are part of community 

development training and 

cross-cultural training at 

pre-service training.

(Continued from page 77)
79

be culturally inappropriate or set a bad precedent. Funds for a meal 

should be provided in a pre-planned budget.

Other useful planning tips:

Use local informal leadership to prepare the community: perhaps 

invite community representatives to the training prior to the field 

practice. If Volunteers need to co-facilitate at any point, always have 

a host country partner. If possible, have host country staff or other 

qualified individuals facilitate. 

Make sure dates and arrival times are clearly understood, and training 

participants are punctual (though realize host community participants 

may not think the same way you do about literal punctuality, 

depending on their cultural approach to relative time). 

Upon arrival, a selected member of the training group should make 

a detailed explanation of the field practice plan. The community 

should realize the exercises to be undertaken will be helpful to both 

the community and the Peace Corps.

At the end of the day, a selected member of the training group should 

thank the community, talk about the work, and present culturally 

appropriate gifts (if dictated).

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

80 Peace Corps

Challenges for Volunteers

PACA tools look simple in concept: draw a map, write out a daily 

schedule, or make a calendar. However, being 

able to engage and motivate a group to complete 

an activity, working with them to see what 

information the tool has revealed, and 

helping them see how they might use that 

information requires strong facilitation 

skills. So, one chal­lenge is conducting 

the tools in meaningful ways.

Another challenge is doing it in a new 

language! PACA is usually introduced in pre-service training because 

the philosophy of working in partnership with a community is so 

crucial to sustainable develop­ment. For many trainees, struggling to 

make themselves understood in the most basic ways is the challenge 

of language learning in pre-service training. Learning about PACA, 

and learning how to conduct some of the tools, then, usually needs 

to be done first in English. That might include practicing with the 

training group or with a higher-level English class. And then, when 

possible, working with counter­parts, colleagues and more experienced 

Volunteers who have the language capacity necessary to work with 

non-English speakers.

As trainees and Volunteers, you should never conduct these activities 

alone. Not only does it increase trust and the quality of communication to 

work with a host country national, but co-training community members 

to use PACA tools is a part of building local human capacity.

A further challenge is using the tools in an unfamiliar cultural 

setting. It would be easier for trainees or Volunteers to identify 

appropriate circumstances, select the appropriate groups of people, 

and generally use the tools if they were doing so in their own culture. 

It is easy to make mistakes when you are not aware of local power 

dynamics, informal communication systems, culturally defined roles 
81

for men and women, and all the other factors that could have an impact 

on the success of a participatory process. 

The following examples illustrate how Volunteers have encountered 

challenges or adjusted their use of PACA tools based on real-life 

situations.

Senegal: be flexible

Six Peace Corps agriculture 

Volunteers held a three-day 

PACA training-of-the-trainer 

(TOT) for nine counterparts 

to prepare them for a village 

workshop. The overall outcome 

of the TOT experience was 

positive; however, the Volunteers 

needed to take more time than anticipated to ensure the counterparts 

fully understood PACA approaches and the individual tools. In the 

words of the Volunteers and counterparts: “the village workshop helped 

the counterparts visualize all of the tools and learn some more tips for 

facilitation. As a result, it increased their confidence in their ability 

to facilitate village meetings. The group also had a hands-on practice 

session with 70 community members.”

Honduras: address potential barriers

The associate Peace Corps 

director (APCD) for agriculture 

and a group of agriculture and 

environment Volunteers held a 

workshop for their counterparts 

on how to use PACA tools. At 

first, the participants were skeptical about including women from the community as “women do not 

work in agriculture.” The APCD and Volunteers adjusted their schedule 

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

82 Peace Corps

to include more work on the tools that would help them address this 

key issue. After the participants went through the typical day’s exercise, 

they were able to see that the women do, indeed, have a role in the 

agricultural cycle. 

Morocco: look for creative solutions 

An education Volunteer 

as­signed to teach English for 

business purposes to students 

adapted the needs assessment 

from the PACA manual and 

applied it to the university 

setting. The adaptation assumed 

that the underlying philosophy 

and principles of analysis and 

planning could be applied in any community such as a university, 

a business, etc. The adaptation required representatives of the 

university to clearly identify, prioritize, and communicate needs and 

recommendations. It relied on active and full participation of all 

segments of the “community.” However, the Volunteer did encounter 

difficulties. This type of assessment required interviewing all the 

separate groups within the university and facilitating discussion in 

separate and combined groups to negotiate a single recommendation. 

Due to the difficulty in this undertaking, the university suggested 

developing a committee of representatives from all the separate groups 

to represent all aspects of the university’s “community.”
83

Paraguay: build confidence

Ten agroforestry extension 

Vol­un­teers facilitated 11 participatory community mapping 

exercises with 118 farm family 

members; 36 were men and 57 

were women. The use of participatory needs analysis activities posed a real challenge to 

newer Volunteers who did not 

yet feel comfortable with their 

language skills. As a result of the participatory activities, however, 

newer Volunteers gained confidence about their language abilities and 

at least one or more agroforestry-related need was identified during 

each exercise with the farm families.

Niger: look at yourself

After conducting many PACA 

activities, Peace Corps/Niger 

produced a short PACA handbook specifically for use in 

that country.8 Although written 

specifically for Niger, it has 

many helpful anecdotes and 

tips anyone can use. Advice 

that all Volunteers will find useful includes these tips:

be patient, 

be observant, 

keep your temper, 

8 Appendix III is an abbreviated version of the PACA handbook developed by Peace Corps/

Niger.

Preparing for PACA
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

84 Peace Corps

be self-confident and self-assured, even if your language ability is 

not the best, 

be open-minded to better understand cultural differences, 

be polite and respectful, and 

be modest.

Haiti: practice asset-based approaches

In Haiti, newly sworn-in 

Vol­unteers are tasked to complete a series of PACA tools 

with their counterparts. During their first three months 

at their sites, they work with 

their counterparts to analyze 

community activities that 

focus on the community’s 

strengths and resources. Working in pairs, the Volunteers and 

counterparts present their findings to the community. This new task 

promotes the asset-based approach of development instead of just 

problem-solving.
85

Chapter 5

How to Use the Most 

Common Tools

Community Mapping9

Mapping is a powerful way of showing different activities in a 

specific area. It can be used in various geographic settings to locate 

current resources, activity centers, institutions, and other areas 

frequented by the groups developing the map. Mapping can be used 

in small communities, neighborhoods of larger communities or cities, 

workplaces, training centers, classrooms and organizations. The setting 

and the subgroups involved will determine variations in the instructions 

and visualization.

If focusing on a geographical area, mapping 

is more appropriate to small villages, towns 

or neighborhoods where there is a clear relationship between residents and community 

resources. Mapping can be used to diagnose 

community issues and/or to provide a visual

record of the community that can be revisited for the purpose of 

monitoring and evaluation of a project and changes in the community. 

If used in work or residential training settings, and schools or other 

institutions, mapping can identify differences in perception, needs, access 

to power centers, and other factors of the groups that use the space. 

9 See pages 12, and 26-27 in Booklet 1: Roles of the Volunteer in Development [ICE No. 

T0005], and pages 80-83 of Promoting Powerful People [ICE No. T0104] for more examples 

of community mapping.

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

86 Peace Corps

Specifically this technique is used: 

To identify the different uses of, and access to, community resources 

by men and women, age or ethnic groups, or different categories of 

workers.

To compare different perceptions of the relative importance of, and 

access to, different community resources.

To identify areas of concern, potential changes desired or needed, 

or additions that the members determine would improve their 

community.

Materials Needed

Mapping can be designed in a number of ways with different 

requirements for materials. Generally, large sheets of paper (newsprint), 

a number of writing tools, a large table, and some physical items (pieces 

of colored paper, for example) that can represent differing degrees of 

intensity or importance are used. Two or more separate workspaces 

with the same materials are required, depending upon the number of 

subgroups doing the activity. Local materials (seeds, rocks, drawing 

sticks, a patch of dirt or sand, or a blackboard) can also be used in the 

absence of purchased materials.

General list of materials for each group:

Flip chart paper

Large markers, several colors

Three sizes of colored circles, one set for each participant (to 

represent ‘relative importance”) 

50 small pieces of three different colored paper (to represent 

“frequency”)

20 additional pieces of two other colors than used for frequency 

(to represent “likes and dislikes”)
87

Two small pads of sticky notes or small squares of paper (to represent “needs”)

Glue stick or tape

Tacks or pins

How to Conduct a Mapping Activity 

In all settings:

Provide an introduction that is appropriate to the setting. For example, 

if you are working with a group that does not know you, introduce 

yourself and describe the purpose of the session. Take time to have 

participants introduce themselves and perhaps do some type of 

icebreaker to make people feel more comfortable.

Depending on the type of mapping activity you are conducting, modify 

one of the following sequences to fit your purpose and the type of group 

with whom you are working.

For geographical location:

Explain to participants that they will be participating in a 

community mapping activity designed to share everyone’s 

ideas of what the area looks like. The activity might reveal 

some interesting perspectives about their community, and it 

should be fun. 

Divide participants into gender groups (or other designations 

previously determined), each with a workspace separate 

from the other, such as separate sides of the same room or in 

adjoining rooms, or even different houses.

Ask each group to:

Draw the designated area, beginning with some central 

feature (road, river, or boundaries) that has been preStep

1

Step

2

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

88 Peace Corps

determined. Encourage everyone to participate, at least 

in determining what should be on the map, if not doing 

the actual drawing. Watch the time; make sure each group 

begins to draw at least halfway through the allotted time.

Allow groups to put in the features they choose, or if 

you wish, give them prompts of things you would like to 

have them include. For example, you might ask them to 

indicate sources of water, transportation options, different 

institutions, markets, and so on.

Once the drawing is done, ask each group to do two or three 

(maximum) of the following:

Put small pieces of colored paper to identify frequency of 

where you spend your time: one color for daily, one for 

weekly, one for monthly or less frequently. You may use as 

many of each color as you wish. Tape or paste the pieces 

of paper down after you have finished arranging them.

Use two other colors of paper to identify places you like to 

be and don’t like to be. You may use as many as you wish. 

Tape or paste the pieces of paper down after you have 

finished arranging them.

Use sets of three graduated circles per person to identify 

“most important,” “second most,” and “least important” 

institutions or resources. Tape or paste down after you have 

finished arranging them.

Use small sticky pads or small squares of paper to draw or 

write things you need or want in your community. You use 

as many as you wish. Tape or paste down after you have 

finished arranging them.

Step

3
89

Ask the individual groups to look at their own map and the 

patterns of frequency, likes and dislikes, importance, or 

whatever they have identified. 

Questions for discussion: 

Why have you identified these places? 

What do you think would make you community better? 

Why?

Have each group select a reporter to describe the group’s map 

to the other group.

Post all maps where everyone can see them.

Have the reporter for each group describe the group’s 

map.

Encourage groups to ask questions of each other, and 

to explain what they discovered about the patterns of 

frequency, likes and dislikes, importance, or whatever they 

have identified.

Look at similarities in the maps. 

Questions for discussion:

What differences do you see in the way the maps are 

drawn or the features included? Why might there be these 

differences?

What do the maps reveal about opportunities, such as 

available natural resources (water, land, forests), human 

resources and institutions (knowledge, skills), infrastructures (roads, types of transport), and so on?

Step

4

Step

5

Step

6

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

90 Peace Corps

Do the maps reveal any constraints, such as places not 

usually frequented, resources unused, distance to needed 

service, and so on?

Are there any patterns to places liked and disliked? Were 

these similar on everyone’s maps? Why or why not?

What did you identify as things you would add to you 

community? Did everyone identify the same things? Why 

or why not?

Questions for reflection:

As a community, what did we learn from this exercise? How 

might we use this information? What might be some next 

steps? (Follow up will probably depend upon the purpose 

of doing the exercise. See sample specific uses for mapping 

[pages 31–35] for potential next step sequences.) 

Thank the community. 

Step

7

Step

8
91

Variations

Variations for Different Groups

Group Possible Step 1: Step 2 

Subgroups Purpose 

School Grade levels; To share Prompts for features

or other boys and girls; everyone’s may include offices,

institution girls; teachers ideas of what resource centers,

and students; the institution classrooms, eating

different looks like areas, bathrooms,

departments, reception areas

supervisors

and 

employees

Small Men and To share their Where people live, 

businesses, women, perceptions produce or manufacco-ops producers on production ture, and market; 

and and marketing sources of needed

marketers of products materials or natural

resources (water, 

credit, parts);

transportation

Farmers Men, women/ To view the Locations of home,

boys and girls; relative location fields, natural 

small and of living, resources, other 

large farmers; production, and resources, sources of 

farmers using marketing; credit, seeds or other 

new seed/ schools for inputs, schools, 

fertilizer and children technical expertise, 

those not marketing

How to Use the Most Common Tools

(Continued on page 92)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

92 Peace Corps

Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7

Same Same Same Opportunities or Follow up may include

constraints may changing policies (who

include equal can use what, adding

access to needed features

resources, (separate study 

relative locations location for girls after

or availability of school; childcare), or 

services providing new services

(training)or facilities

(science lab; nurse’s 

station), and so on 

Same Same Same Opportunities or Follow up may be 

constraints may be researching better 

available natural transport options, 

resources, human changing product to 

resources, better fit situation, 

institutions locating technical 

(knowledge, skills), expertise, and so on 

infrastructures 

(roads, types of 

transport), access 

to services/inputs

Same Same Same Opportunities or Follow up may be 

constraints may be changes in farming 

 availability of land practices, organization

and natural of co-ops, joint 

resources; out-side purchase of transport, 

resources needed improvement of local 

(credit, goods, road, and so on

labor, expertise, 

markets); schools 

for children

Variations for Different Groups

(Continued from page 91)
93

Practice Opportunities

Conducting a mapping exercise with a community or an organization requires skills: language, observation, active listening, and 

facilitation; and knowledge of the technique. Find some opportunities to practice doing mapping to build skills and confidence 

before attempting it with a group that is important to your project.

At the training center, practice mapping your training center 

with several small groups of participants, such as female 

and male trainees, trainers, or site administrators. Have them 

identify the places they like and dislike, and add features that 

would make the site more efficient or comfortable. Have them 

share their maps with each other and discuss their similarities 

and differences. Discuss what changes each would like and 

why. If appropriate and everyone agrees, present an idea for 

change to the site director.

In a school where you can work with an English as a second 

language class, have the students map the school or their 

com­munity. In advance, decide with the teacher exactly what 

you will have the students do, and determine what language 

lessons they can get from the activity: perhaps some new 

sentence structures or new vocabulary.

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

94 Peace Corps

With students near where you live, practice the technique by 

having them map the neighborhood. Try to include a boys 

group and girls group. The purpose might be to show all the 

resources of area, including people who know certain things, 

where to buy items you suggest, and so on. In discussion of the 

two maps, find the similarities and differences in the girls’ and 

boys’ maps in terms of what they know about and how each 

group spends its time. Explore why those differences exist. 

If appropriate, have them create one map of the community 

resources together that can be posted in a community center 

or other central place. 
95

Daily Activity Schedules10

At one level, charting daily 

acti­vity schedules identifies the 

rou­tine labor demands of men 

and women, boys and girls, in 

their daily lives. This information provides valuable insights 

into both the labor constraints of 

each group as well as the areas 

where labor-saving tech­nologies 

might be readily adapted. 

At another level, this technique 

demonstrates the gender-based 

perceptions of the workload of 

each group. In this sense, the 

technique helps to raise awareness of the contribution that 

different groups make to overall 

household welfare. 

Charting daily activities raises 

the awareness of development 

workers as well as the participants that in some cases they are 

actually doing “work” that their 

culture may perceive as only 

a “role.” The concept of work 

varies from culture to culture, 

however there are some fairly 

10 See pages 28-29 in Booklet 1, and page 13 in Booklet 2 of Roles of the Volunteer in Development 

[ICE No. T0005] for more information on daily activity schedules and shadowing.

Shadowing

Shadowing is a related 

activity, but focuses on 

individually accompanying 

someone through his or 

her daily routine. This 

technique may be helpful 

for understanding roles 

and responsibilities of men 

and women as individuals. 

Trainees can get a more 

complete picture of gender 

roles in a community if there 

are organized reflection 

discussions at the end of a 

period of shadowing. Ask 

trainees who shadowed 

women to meet and compare 

notes; and have trainees 

who shadowed men do the 

same. If each group shares 

its observations of gender 

roles and time allocation with 

the other, a more complete 

composite profile of the 

community will emerge. 

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

96 Peace Corps

common generalizations. Typically, productive work is defined as 

income-generating work, food production for income, or paid or wage 

labor. Reproductive work (food production for family consumption, 

housework—washing, cooking, cleaning, gathering firewood or water, 

childcare, and so on) and social or integrative work (birth, marriage, 

funeral observances; other religious observances; caring for the ill or 

disabled; local, regional, and national celebrations; and so on) are often 

called “invisible work” because they are not reflected in economic 

statistics. Clearly, reproductive and social work take time, energy, and 

often funds. These are revealed in daily activity explorations.

Daily activities and seasonal calendars are key tools in capturing 

information on division of labor and access, while providing insight 

to all phases of gender analysis. 

Finally, the information recorded can serve as a point of future 

comparison to monitor the impact of project activities on people’s 

time allocations.

Materials Needed

Daily activity schedules can be designed and carried out in various 

ways. Generally, however, each group has:

large pieces of paper (one sheet to represent each day developed, 

such a weekday and a weekend day, or a high-intensity labor 

period (school year for teachers, students; planting or harvesting 

for agriculturalists) and a less intensive period (school vacation 

periods; crop maintenance periods)

writing implements (such as marking pens)

How to Create a Daily Activity Schedule 

In all settings:

Provide an introduction that is appropriate to the setting. For example, 

if you are working with a group that does not know you, introduce 
97

yourself and describe the purpose of the session. Take time to have 

participants introduce themselves, and perhaps do some type of ice 

breaker to make people feel more comfortable.

Based on the type of situation, modify one of the following sequences 

to fit your purpose and type of group you are working with.

For geographical location: 

This technique generally is done with a minimum of two groups—one 

group to represent the men in the community and one to represent the 

women. Additional subgroups might be boys and girls, or men and 

women of different ethnic or religious groups, occupations, and so 

on. Each group works in a separate space (such as at different tables 

in a school room) with its respective set of session materials. These 

groups must be chosen carefully and with attention to the representation 

of the group selected. If only the wealthy men, or only the men of a 

dairy cooperative, or only the women with migrated husbands are 

selected, the routine activity schedule may not be representative of 

the community, though it will represent their particular segment of 

the population. 

How to Implement the Technique

Explain to the whole group that the purpose of the activity 

is to explore and share everyone’s daily schedules to get a 

better idea of who does each of the various tasks within the 

community. 

Divide the participants into groups of women and men and 

move them to separate workspaces (plus groups of boys and 

girls, or other subgroups invited). 

Ask the groups to consider a routine day during the year. If there 

are great differences by season or work period—for example, 

teachers, agricultural workers, and seasonal wage laborers—they 

may need to repeat the exercise once for each period. 

Step

1

Step

2

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

98 Peace Corps

Beginning with the time that the day begins, ask each group 

to reconstruct a normal day. If you are trying to identify 

blocks of time and how they are used, then details like “work 

in the garden” is enough. If you want to know what tasks 

need to be done during that block of time in the garden, more 

details are needed, such as “weed,” “plant,” “water,” etc. 

These activities should be associated with a rough estimate 

of the time block necessary for each activity. Remind 

participants—particularly women—to consider time 

periods when multiple tasks are performed (e.g., cook, care 

for babies, or help a child with schoolwork.)

If two time periods are being explored (such as school 

year and school vacation period), repeat first two steps on 

a separate sheet of paper for the second time period.

Each group should select one person to explain its schedule 

to the other groups.

(Optional)

If time allows, it is often revealing to have groups reconstruct 

a schedule for the other groups right after they have completed 

their own schedule, going through the same process as above. 

This may be difficult for some groups, but the discussion of what 

they think the opposite gender does (or does not do) is useful.

Bring the groups together and post the schedules. 

Each group reports out its results. 

Ask the assembled community to interpret the similarities 

and differences with questions like:

– What are the similarities and differences in labor 

demands? What are your perceptions of work load?

Step

3

Step

4
99

– What would reduce some of the workload? (Closer 

source of water, machinery, childcare, for example.)

– When would be the best times of days for things like 

meetings or training? Is it the same for men and women? 

For all groups within the community? Other?

Questions for reflection:

As a community, what did we learn from this exercise? How 

might we use this information? What might be some next 

steps? (Follow up will probably depend upon the purpose of 

doing the exercise. See sample specific uses for daily activity 

schedules [pages 40–41] for potential next step sequences.) 

Thank the community. 

Step

5

Step

6

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

100 Peace Corps

Variations

Variations for Different Groups

Working with a Farming Community 

or Farm Families

In agriculture, daily activity schedules can be especially valuable, 

as some cultures do not formally recognize women’s contribution 

to the agricultural process, either as farmers or as farm labor. This 

lack of awareness of the different contributions being made by all 

members to overall household and community welfare makes it 

difficult to plan projects that will effectively include all members 

of the community. By looking at families’ daily activities, it is 

possible to get a sense of how women, men, and boys and girls 

must collaborate in the agricultural process, including tasks such 

as: purchasing seed or equipment, planting, weeding, harvesting, 

post-harvest processing, transporting water, value-added activities, 

and selling products in markets or elsewhere. This also shows how 

time spent on other responsibilities results in less time to work on, 

for example, expanding an agricultural market strategy, or planning 

for improved disaster preparedness. 

Daily activity schedules also help to raise awareness of the different 

skills each gender role requires based on division of labor, and 

what types of projects could make tasks easier or improve their 

effectiveness in order to meet gender needs. Remember the gender 

analysis framework in chapter one? It also shows how conducting 

a project or initiating training with any member of the family (e.g., 

a daughter and son taking time to increase reading comprehension 

with other girls and boys in a literacy project) will have a positive 

or negative impact on the other members’ time. If all participants’ 

daily activities are not considered, all participants may not be able 

to engage in the project.

Follow the same five steps outlined above. 
101

Working with students

If you work with students, daily activities calendars can help you 

understand: 

The different before- and after-school activities that boys and 

girls from various social and ethnic groups engage in that have 

an impact on their study time and participation (or lack of) in 

class activities.

Options to address common challenges—e.g., is there a way 

of providing homework options or adapting coursework to 

ensure the most mentally-challenging subject matter is done 

at the most advantageous time for all groups?

If certain after-school activities or responsibilities reinforce 

lessons or detract from learning. Can they, or complementary 

activities be leveraged using a community content-based 

instruction (CCBI) approach across groups, or would that 

exacerbate an existing imbalance?

What the number and types of daily activities show about 

determining reasonable amounts of time available for students 

to complete schoolwork. What do they say about their interests 

and what might engage them in active learning?

Follow the same five steps outlined above.

Working with office staff or members 

of an organization

Daily activity calendars reveal information that allows the group 

or its leadership to analyze: 

the distribution of work throughout offices or NGOs; 

the time spent on various tasks;

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

102 Peace Corps

if teams are coordinated and progress-oriented;

where process breakdowns or successes occur across positions 

or collaborating teams; 

areas of overlap and duplication of effort; and 

if resources and equipment are allocated effectively to achieve 

results.

Done appreciatively, this exercise is not a way to identify who is 

not “pulling their weight,” but a way to celebrate and acknowledge 

everyone’s contributions and monitor progress towards organizational goals.

Follow the same five steps outlined above.

Practice Opportunities

At the training center 

– with trainees—map a typical trainee week day and a 

weekend day

– with trainers, grouped by men and women—map a typical workday and a weekend day

At a school 

– with students, grouped by boys and girls—map a typical 

day at school and a weekend day

– with teachers, grouped by women and men—map a 

typical school day and a weekend day

At a farmers’ meeting—map a typical day’s work for men and 

for women
103

Seasonal Calendars11

This technique traces seasonal variations.

Household well-being often fluctuates seasonally during the year in 

terms of food security and income availability and in the demand on 

household resources. Many households experience a “hungry season” 

or periods of economic stress, and these variations may have a different 

impact on men and women, and boys and girls as individual family 

members. Some times of the year are busier for one group or another. 

Creating a seasonal calendar is designed to identify these seasonal 

variations in household well-being from the perspective of women and 

men, girls and boys. An understanding of these seasonal variations is 

important to the development and implementation of a community 

action plan and individual projects.

In cooperatives or businesses, seasonal variations may be different 

types of labor demands, sales and income, needs for credit or loans, 

effects of seasonal weather on transportation, and so on.

Schools might experience seasonal variations in attendance due to 

weather, illness cycles, labor demands on children (such as assisting 

with harvesting), and periodic national or religious holidays that might 

interrupt regular curriculum or time demands on staff or children.

Seasonal calendars are very helpful in combination with other 

participatory activities. They often provide the data that will help 

determine when participants might have disposable time, income, or the 

weather conditions to undertake activities or projects that they identify. 

Engaging various age, ethnic or racial groups, economic groups, and 

men and women, boys and girls will give a more complete picture of the 

seasonal variations important to the development and implementation 

of community activities.

11 See pages 93-102 of Promoting Powerful People [ICE No. T0104}, and page 14 of Booklet 

2 in Roles of the Volunteer in Development [ICE No. T0005] for more information on 

seasonal analysis.

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

104 Peace Corps

Materials Needed 

Note: You may wish to gather the materials suggested below for a 

calendar that can be displayed, but consider sustainability. By using 

locally available materials (such as a sand pit or piece of ground with 

loose dirt and drawing sticks, or drawing on a piece of wood, wall 

or blackboard), the community members will be able to recreate the 

activity in the future without expensive or scarce materials. 

Flip chart paper

Large marking pens several colors

Small marking pens several colors

Scissors

Glue stick

Tape

Tacks or pins

40 small rectangles of paper (2” x 3”)

How to Conduct a Seasonal Calendar Activity

In all settings:

Provide an introduction that is appropriate to the setting. For example, 

if you are working with a group that does not know you, introduce 

yourself and describe the purpose of the session. Take time to have 

participants introduce themselves, and perhaps do some type of ice 

breaker to make people feel more comfortable.

Explain that you are going to be asking a number of questions to create 

a seasonal calendar. Then, with any necessary modifications for the 

group or purposes of your activity, follow the steps below to develop 

a seasonal calendar on flipchart paper, using information supplied to 

you by the participants.
105

For geographical location:

The seasonal calendar technique emphasizes that during the course of 

any year, households face different levels of difficulty and demand on 

their resources. Furthermore, these demands may be felt differentially 

by different members of the household. For this reason, forming 

groups—men and women, boys and girls, or subgroups of different 

occupations, ethnic or racial groups—who meet in separate areas will 

develop a broader look at the community.

Steps to develop the seasonal calendar

Describe the purpose of the activity: To identify the variations 

among the seasons, and examine how the changes in the 

seasons affect community members’ lives. 

Use the participants’ notion of the beginning of the year 

to start the calendar. Ask the group what it considers to be 

the “beginning of the year.” It may be different for different 

groups—teachers, for example, may determine that the 

start of the school year is the beginning of their calendar. If 

participants have trouble determining this, ask them to identify 

some spheres of activity that are common to all households 

(such as agricultural production or the school year). This may 

elicit the cultural (rather than the calendric) beginning of the 

year, such as the rainy season or an important religious period 

like Ramadan. This can become the reference time period 

for defining the entire year. Based on members’ decisions, 

demonstrate how they might label the months of the year 

across the top of the page. Suggest that when they go to their 

small groups, they prepare a similar page on which to enter 

their ideas. 

Divide the participants into the pre-planned groups, giving 

each group space to work. 

Step

1

Step

2

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

106 Peace Corps

Provide the materials and have them prepare a calendar. (Some 

may wish to do more than a year, such as 18 months, depending 

on how they view the cyclical nature of their lives.)

Ask participants to identify some of their daily and seasonal 

tasks that are devoted to earning money and maintaining 

the home and family. (Include productive, reproductive, and 

integrative [social] work, paid or unpaid.)

a. Have each group draw or write each task on small pieces 

of paper or write them directly on a large piece of paper.

Note: Two ways the entries might be put on the 

calendar:

1. The facilitator (or one of the participants) enters, in a 

linear fashion, all the tasks and activities associated 

with a sphere of activity (e.g., land preparation, planting, weeding, harvesting; or purchasing raw materials, 

manufacturing, transport to market, sales, etc.) as the 

community members describe them.

 The facilitator elicits another sphere of activity (such 

as domestic work) and begins a second linear entry 

of the relevant tasks throughout the year. This process 

continues until all the labor demands on the household 

have been recorded. Seasonal variations in labor 

demand (or supply) can then be interpreted vertically 

on the graph.

2. Alternatively, the community members take the small 

squares of paper and draw representative symbols of 

the activities, using colored marking pens. Then one 

activity symbol is taped where it belongs and all the 

related tasks and activities (in pictures or words) are 

entered on a line that extends across the calendar 

months during which there is activity. Then, a second 
107

sphere of activity is started, and carried to its conclusion, etc.

b. Example:

(Optional)

Asks groups to identify which member of the household does 

each task. In the discussion when both (or all) groups are 

together, they may further define who does what.

Identify when during the year income flows into the household 

by identifying the sources of income. Income sources, not the 

quantities, and the times of the year when income tends to flow 

into community households, is what is important. Although 

there may be great fluctuation among households, this 

technique seeks more general patterns of income that would 

apply to most, if not all, households in the community (e.g., 

when teachers are paid, when crops or handicrafts are sold, or 

when the men go to the coast to work on plantations).

Indicate variations in household expenses by identifying 

periods of special expense, such as the beginning of school, 

Step

3

Step

4

Step

5

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

108 Peace Corps

holidays, religious festivals, etc. High expenditure periods 

should be noted on the calendar.

Indicate patterns of household health and welfare. For 

example, are there certain times of the year when a particular 

illness is common? Are there hungry times? Indicate weather 

patterns as well—rainy or cold seasons, dry periods, very hot 

weather, etc.

Indicate cultural patterns, such as holidays and religious 

festivals. 

Each group should analyze its own calendar looking vertically 

at patterns of labor and expenses, and so on. The vertical 

interpretation of the calendar reveals major periods of 

difficulty, periods of relative ease, labor bottlenecks, and so on. 

This permits a more systemic appreciation of the constraints 

and opportunities which households face.

This discussion helps to summarize the information on the 

calendar, which will be presented by one group member in 

the next step.

Bring the groups together and post calendars where everyone 

can see them. 

a. Ask one person from each group to explain the group’s 

calendar.

b. Ask the groups to interpret the information on the 

calendars with regard to:

– Opportunities, such as free time for other activities 

(e.g., repairs, new projects).

– Constraints, such as periods of high expenditure, 

intense labor, illness, or cultural practices.

Step

6

Step

7

Step

8

Step

9
109

– Other specific purposes determined by the facilitator 

or needs and desires of the community. For example, 

are certain times better than others for women to be 

involved in training programs? Are there ways to 

mitigate or eliminate illness periods by taking nutrition 

or health measures earlier in the year?

Coding

To show the interrelation of tasks, coding for gender and age, intensity 

of work, and so on, may be introduced. This kind of mapping might 

be useful in an area where tasks vary seasonally. For example, in an 

area dependent on agriculture, intensive farming periods might require 

hiring additional labor. Families may need to plan ahead to have 

payment on hand for that period, and the map can help them predict 

and plan accordingly. 

Create a symbol to represent each category to be coded. Use colors 

or separate colored pieces of paper could also be used. Creativity 

and working with appropriate symbols for the community is key. For 

an example of a map that has been coded, please see Appendix II. 

Examples of categories that could be coded:

Adult Male Continuous Activity

Male Child Sporadic Activity

Adult Female More Intense Activity

Female Child

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

110 Peace Corps

Variations

Variations for Seasonal Calendars

Agricultural Cooperative

This is an example of using seasonal calendars when there are 

no gender groupings, although it can also be used with gender 

groups. This technique traces seasonal variations in the cooperative 

members’ labor supply and demand, income flow, and expenditure 

patterns. Some times of the year are busier for the members. This 

technique is designed to identify these seasonal variations that 

cooperative members experience throughout the year, and offer 

them insight into possibly reducing labor, increasing their access 

to services, or to collectively take “action” on an overriding 

important issue like building a bridge or road that will connect 

them to markets. Another example could be to evaluate their labor 

constraints to take on a funded project from an outside source like 

USAID, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), or a national or 

international NGO. An understanding of these seasonal variations 

is important to the development and implementation of any new 

projects.

For schools

Seasonal calendars can be used by faculty and students to look at 

the entire school year, including exam periods, religious or national 

festivals and holidays, sports seasons, and so on. Out-of-school 

demands on children or faculty, such as agricultural tasks, can be 

included. These calendars can be used for various purposes, such 

as determining when additional special events can be planned for 

the school and/or community (health fair, special tutoring or study 

clubs, community projects related to curriculum—see Community 

Content-Based Instruction Manual [ICE No. T0112] for more 

education-related ideas). 
111

For developing strategic planning 

and teamwork within an organization

Seasonal calendars that reflect the labor tasks, peaks and slower 

periods, and demands beyond the usual work hours of personnel 

at various levels and from various departments promote a better 

understanding of opportunities and constraints for the whole 

organization. If individual departments complete calendars 

and share them with each other, the interdependency, including 

constraints and opportunities for each department, will assist in 

strategic planning for everyone. Careful placement of new projects 

based on existing demands may contribute to their viability.

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

112 Peace Corps

Priority Ranking12

From Analysis to Action

Participatory priority ranking is an activity that helps the community 

list, discuss, and finally prioritize its ideas for making members’ lives 

better, selecting a project to work on, or identifying a problem to solve. 

Ideally, priority ranking would not be used until other participatory 

tools have been used and discussed. While other tools focus on analysis, 

priority ranking forms the bridge to action.

If other tools have been used, there will be shared knowledge of:

1. what the community has and what it lacks (through mapping);

2. what the seasonal variations are in terms of workloads, availability 

of labor, resources—both in-kind and financial—weather, health, 

and so on (through seasonal calendars); and

3. when men and women and boys and girls would have time to attend 

meetings, to be trained, or to devote labor to a project (through 

daily activity schedules).

Refer to these tools, if they have been done, when creating lists of 

items to prioritize.

List of Items to Rank

Priority-ranking activities are participatory approaches to determining 

the relative importance of items in a list. 

12 See pages 103-107 of Promoting Powerful People [ICE No. T0104] and pages 44-56 of The 

New Project Design and Management Manual [ICE No. T0107] for training sessions and 

more information on participatory sorting and prioritizing. Pages 50-52 in Booklet 5 of the 

Gender and Development Training Manual: PACA Tools have examples and guidance on 

pairwise ranking.
113

Lists may be generated for different purposes: to raise consciousness; to 

define desires, needs, or problems of a group; to identify what activities 

or projects to undertake; and so on. 

The questions used to generate lists are important. The items on the 

list will be influenced by the tone of the questions. For example, the 

question: “What are the problems in our community?” is not the same 

as: “What would make our community better?” 

Usually, there is a mixture of desires, needs, and problems when 

community members consider what would make their lives better. 

Desired changes are not necessarily based on “problems.” It may be 

overwhelming and disempowering to focus solely on problems. 

Thoroughly discuss items that a group plans to rank order before 

actually ranking them. Several items may be related and clarification or 

combining is necessary (e.g., two separate items listed as “education” 

and “completion of local secondary school” may be combined into one 

item). Items may not be clearly understood or distinguishable from 

others (e.g., the items “lack of money” and “access to credit” may 

mean different things to different people). Discuss the lists based on 

one of the following factors in order to clarify the options:

Urgency

Level of interest or need: men/women, boys/girls; other differences 

within the community

Resources: locally available or need grants, loans, gifts

Cause-and-effect analysis (both causes and effects may be in 

the list)

Scope/complexity: time involved, outside expertise or resources

Risk (how likely are we to be able to complete the project or make 

the change?)

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

114 Peace Corps

Links to other projects, other organizations working on the issue, 

sources of support/information

Ranking criteria may vary. “Which is most important?” is not the 

only possible question. Though useful to know which item the group 

thinks is most important, it may be that the most important items are 

not within the power of the group or community to address. A second 

ranking using one of the suggestions below might bring to the top of 

the list more achievable project ideas.

Which can we do within a year?

– complex vs. simple

– short-term vs. long-term

Which can we do with our own resources?

Which will benefit the most people?

Which might bring the biggest impact?

Which do we need to do first in order to prepare for others?

Which most closely link to our mission? (for committees or 

organizations)

Ranking Techniques

Ranking techniques need to take into account tradition, influences on 

voting, and the types of choices being made.

Traditional methods of decision making (those that are culturally 

known and appropriate) may dictate a particular process. For example, 

it may be community tradition for each person to state his/her opinion 

aloud to the group, before an elder or group of elders makes the 

ultimate decision.
115

Consensus discussions: In 

consensus building, everyone 

must be convinced of the top 

priority. Those supporting a 

prior­ity must make their case of 

why the idea is the most urgent, 

needed, or achievable. Voting is 

not an option.

Voting methods include:

Physically placing objects 

next to pictures or objects 

representing choices (useful 

in illiterate populations). Can 

be done secretly by dropping 

objects in envelopes attached 

to the flip chart.

Raising one’s hand (once, or 

several times, as agreed upon 

in advance).

Secret ballot

Pairwise ranking.

With the pairwiseranking method, each 

item is compared to 

every other item to 

see which seems to be 

most important. 

Remember!

Always consider the 

composition of the group 

when choosing a voting 

method. For example, if 

there are three nurses at the 

meeting and each person 

present has one vote, the 

health clinic might get the 

highest vote. Consider using 

a consensus discussion for a 

group with this composition. 

Or, if the group members do 

not read, represent items with 

objects or drawings. If a list 

has several items, you may 

give participants more than 

one vote, so they can choose 

their first and second priority. 

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

116 Peace Corps

Pairwise Ranking Example:

Step 1:

Using information generated by the community, list ways to 

address improving community health:

Education about clean water, nutrition

Build health clinic

Local community health worker

Access to pre- and post-natal care for women

Build latrines

Step 2: 

There are two alternatives that can be used to compare items 

against one another for Step 2. The group may choose to work 

with a charting method (alternative “a” below), or use a listing

method (alternative “b” below).

a. Charting

 On a chart, rank items by a previously agreed upon criteria, 

for example, which is most achievable, or most important, 

or would benefit the most people?

Education Build Local Access Build

clinic health for latrines

workers women

Education 

Build Education

clinic

Local Education Local 

health health

worker worker 

Access for Education Access for Access for

women women women 

Visiting Education Visiting Visiting Access for

nurse nurse nurse women
117

 (Half of the chart is blocked out to avoid comparing the 

same items twice.)

 Compare two items where they converge on the chart. 

Write the most important in the block. (Example filled 

in on chart.) By looking at the example chart, you can 

see that “education” was compared to “build clinic” 

and education was considered more achiev­able by the 

participants. “Education” is then com­pared to every item 

below, and a choice is made. Repeat this process with 

every item on the list.

 (1) Add up the number of times each item was 

chosen.

Education 5

Build clinic 0

Local health worker 1

Access for women 3

Build latrines 2

b. Listing

 Write each item on the list

 (1) Compare education to each item below it on the 

list. Use hatch marks for votes.

Education | | | | |

Build clinic

Local health worker

Access for women

Build latrines

 (2) Compare education with the next item.

Build clinic

Local health worker |

Access for women |

Build latrines |

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

118 Peace Corps

 (3) Repeat step 2 until you reach the last item.

 (4) Count votes for each item to have rank order.

Adapted from The New Project Design and Management Manual [ICE No. 

T0107] Peace Corps, Washington, DC.

Steps in Conducting Priority Ranking

Divide into appropriate subgroups: men, women, girls, boys; 

elderly and youth; different ethnic or religious subgroups; 

teachers and administrators; etc.

Ask each group to:

a. Develop a list of items using a question that all the groups will 

use. For example, list items that would answer the question: 

“What would make our community better?” (Remember: 

All groups must be using the same question.)

b. Discuss the items on the list, combining similar items, 

eliminating items if they do not seem relevant, and so on. 

Everyone in the group should be clear about each item 

before ranking begins.

c. Use a priority-ranking method (see above) to identify the 

top five items. All groups should use the same ranking 

method.

d. Select a reporter.

Bring all groups together.

a. Ask each small group to present its original long list 

and its five priority items, giving the key points of the 

discussion.

Step

1

Step

2

Step

3
119

b. Lead the large group in a discussion about the similarities 

and differences found on all the lists. For example, why is 

lack of water only on the women’s list? (Perhaps women 

are responsible for hauling water.)

c. Look for and discuss related items. For example, which 

items are related to poor transportation?

d. Look for items that will meet the needs or desires of most 

people. For example, if we build a community center, will 

that provide a place where girls can study, training classes 

can be held, and the health worker can see patients?

e. Consider if any items are shorter-term that could be done 

fairly quickly and inexpensively.

f. If possible, and if the group is ready, agree on one or two 

items for long-term priorities, where planning can begin 

now.

g. Before ending the session, determine next steps: create a 

committee to begin planning, determine who will gather 

additional needed information (such as who might donate 

building materials), and so on. Schedule the next meeting 

to discuss progress.

Practice Opportunities

In a training setting:

Have trainees list, discuss, and rank order ways to improve the 

training site, ways to improve the training schedule, ways trainees 

can take more responsibility, etc. To experience combining lists, 

have male and female trainees do original lists and rank order 

separately.

Have training staff list, discuss, and rank order ways trainees can 

take more responsibility, ways to improve the training site, etc.

How to Use the Most Common Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

120 Peace Corps

In other settings:

With an education or a youth 

development Volunteer, determine a topic on which students could do a priori­tizing 

activity. It might be on a 

topic they are studying, such 

as what are the most effective 

energy sources for their community; or it could be related 

to their own lives, such as 

how can they im­prove their 

grades/study more. This 

might be an opportunity for 

students to practice their 

English.

If you work with children 

in your community, what 

could they do to clean up 

public spaces, how could 

they help the community in 

other ways, or what steps 

could they take to improve 

their futures?

In Armenia

Volunteers have launched 

community development 

projects in cooperation with 

the local administration 

and NGOs in their sites. 

Community members 

participated in needs 

assessment activities 

and in doing so learned 

how to plan, organize and 

conduct their own needs 

assessment. The participants 

reported that they felt better 

equipped to identify and 

solve problems their own 

communities faced.
121

Chapter 6

Using Other 

Participatory Tools

The Gender Connection and 

Keeping Knowledge in the 

Community

In any process of community 

change, it is important to consider people’s empowerment, 

community participation and 

gender-sensitive approaches. 

PACA tools reveal gender and 

social issues to help parti­cipants 

understand the perspectives and 

needs of all community members. In particular, PACA tools 

are intended to include less 

powerful or vocal groups. 

Current development theory 

suggests that a valid development approach to address issues 

of sustainable livelihoods as 

well as justice and equity must

begin with the perceptions and 

interests of all people involved 

in a community. In the past, 

gender relations in the context 

of resource use, access and 

control and decision-making 

Using Other Participatory Tools

In Georgia

Volunteers conducted 

participatory assessments 

with various segments of 

the population (teachers, 

students, community groups) 

to learn about and identify 

issues and concerns facing 

their communities. They 

have reported success in 

utilizing PACA and other 

participatory tools to gather 

information. As a result, 

community members learned 

how to identify, analyze, 

and prioritize their needs, 

and design projects to 

meet those needs using 

participatory methodologies 

and activities. Community 

members participate in 

(Continued on page 122)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

122 Peace Corps

power have largely been ignored 

and changing the institutions 

that inhibit women from controlling their lives has not been 

a priority.

When using participatory tools 

it is important that any information collected from PACA or 

other tools and processes stays

within the community. Doing so 

can help integrate social analysis and parti­cipatory methodologies. This can give voice 

to those who have tradi­tionally 

been excluded from the decision-making processes in some 

communities—women, young 

adults, children, ethnic and religious groups, among others. Maintaining 

this knowledge base within the community facilitates the process of 

moving from analysis to community action, with the development 

worker as a partner, not an outside expert.

Other Tools and Resources

Other tools have been developed and adapted since participatory analysis was introduced in the 1970s. Below is a short list of additional tools 

along with references to sources for more information. Remember: 

There is no exact blueprint to gender-sensitive, parti­cipatory development. Rather, using the tools as needed in different ways at different 

times for different contexts may bring communities and development 

workers the results they seek. The two tools marked with asterisks are 

described in this chapter as examples.

Social Network Mapping *

meetings to discuss social 

issues and problems in their 

villages and towns and form 

groups and committees 

to design interventions 

to address solutions. 

Community youth voices 

are heard and embraced as 

children and young adults 

are now included in decisionmaking processes.

(Continued from page 121)

In Georgia...
123

Household Livelihood Analysis * 

Activities, Resources and Benefits Analysis 

Gender Analysis Activity Profile 

Institutional Diagramming and Analysis 

Landscape/Lifescape Mapping 

Personal and Household Resources 

Problem Solving: Trees, Ranking, Assessment 

Timeline Variations 

Transect Mapping 

Wealth Ranking 

Social Network Mapping Tool

Purpose 

Donating, loaning and exchanging materials, labor and other resources 

occurs in many communities as a result of complex economic, social 

and cultural ties. Mapping these relationships can help development 

workers and community members discuss them more openly. More 

importantly, it allows everyone to see which (if any) families are 

excluded from these networks. The tool reveals the most important 

items of exchange and can be used to understand ties among subgroups 

(ethnic, religious, class, extended families) and between adjacent 

villages. 

Custom generally dictates initial contact with the chief or village 

leaders. From initial meetings, it may appear that the village is one 

united community or homogeneous entity. When it is appropriate to 

Using Other Participatory Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

124 Peace Corps

use it, the social networking tool can unfold the more heterogeneous 

aspects of the community.

Materials 

Large sheet of paper

pieces of cardboard

markers

paste or tape 

or 

colored chalk

chalkboard

Time 

At least two hours 

Process 

As the social networks of women and men often differ, it may be 

appropriate to make two separate maps. Networks may also differ 

according to religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status or other factors. 

Organize participants into groups as appropriate for the purpose of 

the activity.

Ask a representative group (e.g., three women, three men) from 

the community to define a household or a family within the 

specific country or regional context. Ask the same group to list 

the most important resources exchanged among households. 

Select no more than eight households for the mapping. Write 

the name of the head of household or one of its members on 

a card for the exercise. 

Step

1
125

Draw the community boundaries, compass headings, and 

neighboring communities. Paste the cards on the paper 

according to the households’ actual location in the community, 

but leave some blank space between cards. Or, if it makes it 

easier to understand the exchange networks, place the houses 

in a circle rather than at their precise locations. 

Ask each representative which kind of relationship links his 

or her family has with others. List the types of resources that 

women or men exchange. Using colored pens or different 

types of lines, indicate what the member of each household 

exchanges with the others. Draw arrows at both or one end of 

these lines to show reciprocity or a one-way exchange. 

Remember: 

Use this tool with representatives of no more than eight households. 

The choice of households is important. The purpose of this tool is not 

necessarily to reveal every last detail about the exchange network, but 

to see whether there are households excluded from this network. 

Step

2

Step

3

Using Other Participatory Tools

Note to

Volunteer: 

You may have noticed that this social 

network mapping tool example does not 

include a final step with an analysis and 

action piece. It is important to remember 

that these two steps are key to PACA 

and to a community’s empowerment 

for its own development. 
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

126 Peace Corps

Household 

Livelihood Analysis

From the 1990s to the present, development theory has shifted from a 

material perspective focused on food production to a social perspective 

focused on the enhancement of people’s capacities to secure their own 

livelihoods. Much of this thinking is derived from the participatory 

approaches like PRA, RRA, PACA, among others. These approaches 

have been integrated into various implementing agencies’ activities 

for project diagnosis and design.

But what is “livelihood?” A number of agencies share common 

definitions.

Livelihood. A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets and activities 

required for a means of living (Chambers and Conway 1988).

Sustainable livelihood. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope 

with and recover from stresses and shocks and maintain or enhance its 

capabilities and assets both now and in the future without undermining 

the natural resource base (Chambers and Conway).

Household livelihood security. Household livelihood security is 

defined as adequate and sustainable access to income and resources 

to meet basic needs (Frankenberger 1996).

Because Peace Corps Volunteers work primarily at the grass-roots 

level, this section will concentrate on household livelihood security. 

The ability to carry out one’s livelihood is influenced by many 

factors. Household livelihood analysis facilitates the identification 

and under­standing of a broad hierarchy of causes that affect the 

livelihood of a household at several levels. Some of these include 

geography, political policy, religious beliefs, health, economic policy, 

social mores and customs, influence by community members, social 

and economic castes, friends and extended family, as well as the 

individuals themselves.
127

Although this analysis can be adapted to all of the meanings of community that have been discussed in this manual, it was originally 

designed for use at the household level in either a rural or urban setting. 

Having community members’ diagram their livelihood helps capture 

the full range of activities showing the complexity of the livelihood 

system to the household and the community. The diagram below is 

one example of the internal and external relations that influence a com­munity and individual households’ livelihood security at the macro, 

or highest, level.

It is not essential to undertake a macro mapping of livelihood in a 

community, as suggested by the diagram below. However, it can be 

a good introduction to the overall process for when the community 

undergoes its analysis at the household level. Household livelihood 

can give a more in-depth picture of a household’s assets, entitlements, 

economic activities, and knowledge base.

Source: J. Stuckey. 1999. “Raising the issue of pesticide poisoning to a national health priority.” 

CARE Advocacy Series, Case No. 1. Atlanta, CARE USA. 

Using Other Participatory Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

128 Peace Corps

Level of 

analysis

Community-level 

environmental and 

economic analysis 

Methods

• Resource mapping 

and focus group 

discussions around 

resource map 

• Historical timeline 

• Seasonality 

calendars 

• Venn diagramming 

• Matrix ranking

Key information 

collected

• Infrastructure, key 

services, land use,

farming systems, 

land tenure, 

natural resource 

base, availability, 

access, quality, 

historical changes 

• Historical analysis, 

changes over time, 

trends, past efforts 

• Seasonal farming 

activities, income, 

expenditure, stress 

periods, coping 

and adaptive 

strategies 

• Institutional 

identification, 

operation, 

interaction, level 

of service, 

performance 

• Economic 

activities, 

priorities, 

performance, 

trends, gender

Case Study: 

Livelihood Assessment in Malawi 

In July 1998, CARE underwent a participatory household livelihood 

assessment in Malawi. The table below lists methods used and key 

information collected.

(Continued on page 129)
129

Using Other Participatory Tools

Level of 

analysis

Household-level 

social analysis

Problem 

prioritization, 

analysis and 

opportunity 

identification 

(synthesis)

Methods

• Identification of 

livelihood indicators 

• Identification of 

livelihood 

categories 

• Livelihood category 

profiles 

• Social mapping 

• Case study and 

household 

interviews

• Problem 

identification 

analysis 

• Cause-effect 

analysis 

• Opportunity 

analysis

Key information 

collected

• Economic, social 

and environmental 

criteria used for 

classifying 

households by 

well-being 

• Difference by 

gender 

• Location and 

names of 

households 

• Proportional 

livelihood status 

• Vulnerability, 

shocks, stress, 

coping and 

adaptive behavior 

• Potential 

opportunities 

• Validation

• Prioritized 

problems by 

gender 

• Problem linkages, 

causes and effects

• Previous efforts, 

successes, failures 

• Roles and 

responsibilities 

• Potential 

opportunities and 

strategies

(Continued on page 128)
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

130 Peace Corps

Methods

Household livelihood analysis methodology grew out of RRA/PRA 

methods but focuses specifically on the multidimensional issues 

of livelihoods and vulnerability. Field methods for participatory 

information collection broadly consisted of focus and large group key 

informant interviews. These were used with participatory techniques 

such as maps, timelines, calendars and Venn diagramming, as well 

as more analytical participatory techniques such as problem tree 

analysis and concept mapping. This activity can be as simple as 

a household survey, or much more in-depth, such as combining a 

quantitative household survey interview and a livelihood category 

profile diagram (below). 

Using multiple methods permits triangulation (cross-checking and 

confirming findings), and each adds some perspective that the other 

cannot. The use of multiple methods is an iterative process, and the 

sequencing usually depends on how much information is already 

known, which may be appropriate for some PACA activities.

Source: M. Pareja. 1997. Preparing for a Rapid Livelihood Security Assessment. Nairobi, CARE 

East Africa. 

Using a Farming Systems 

Diagram Tool for Household 

Livelihood Analysis

Purpose

The farming systems diagram helps explain how rural household 

livelihoods are assembled. It is a diagram designed to highlight the 

farming system, including on-farm activities such as crop production, 

off-farm activities such as fuel collection, and non-farm activities such 

as marketing. The diagram also shows the flow of resources to and 

from the household and who is involved, by gender. 
131

When household members diagram their farming system, this helps 

capture the full range of household activities and shows the complexity 

of the livelihood system. These diagrams also often show how livelihoods may depend on many different types of agro-ecosystems, many 

of which may be common property resources such as forests, grazing 

lands, rivers and streams.

Farming systems diagrams can also illustrate that women and men 

each have specialized knowledge about particular crops, animals or 

tree products—knowledge that can be built upon for development. 

Process

Select two households from each of the socioeconomic groups 

identified in the social map. Visit each household individually. 

After courteous introductions, tell the family that you want to 

learn about their farming activities (no need to mention mapping at this point). Ask the women and men in the house­hold 

to walk with you through their farm. This helps people feel at 

ease as it allows household members to show their knowledge. 

Make sure to cover the housing area and common property 

areas. As you walk along, ask questions about the activities and 

resources you see. Ask about what happens in other seasons 

and in places too far to visit. 

After about 30 to 40 minutes of walking, gather together 

as many household members as possible—men, women, 

children—to discuss what you have seen and talked about. 

Then stop and suggest to the family that the information they 

are providing is too much to keep in your head and might 

be better recorded by drawing the information on a piece of 

paper. Continue the discussion but ask those present to help 

you make the drawing. As soon as you can, let the family take 

over the drawing. Soon you will just be asking questions and 

listening. 

Step

1

Step

2

Step

3

Using Other Participatory Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

132 Peace Corps

Materials

Paper

Colored pencils or pens

Notes to

development

worker: 

The concept of a farming system is often easier 

to express in a diagram than in words. The diagram 

should include activities that take place in any season 

and in any location, but it should not attempt to document 

all the details. With this tool, you just want to learn the

 typical or the general circumstance. Concentrate on 

getting an overview of the whole system.

As the household members progress with the drawing, 

ask questions to explore the labor and resource flows in 

the farming system. Be sure that the diagram shows 

roles and responsibilities by gender, and also age 

and household position (head, husband, 

first wife, sister), if appropriate. 

Some Questions to Ask While Facilitating 

the Drawing of Farming Systems Diagram

What are the major on-farm activities? Crop production? Livestock 

production? Poultry production? Fruit and vegetable production? 

Who has responsibility for: plowing (land preparation), planting, 

weeding, irrigation, applying chemicals, harvesting, threshing, 
133

drying, initial post-harvest, grinding or pounding cereals, using 

post-harvest products (such as rice straw or corn husks to make 

baskets, weavings, etc.), selling produce, etc.?

What are the major off-farm activities? Who has responsibility 

for fuel collection? Water collection? Fishing? Buying inputs 

(farm implements, chemicals, seed, etc.)? Transporting produce to 

markets?

What are the major non-farm activities? Marketing? Waged labor? 

Who has responsibility for each?

Which activities and resources contribute most to meeting the basic 

needs of the household?

How do the diagrams from the different socioeconomic groups 

compare? Which households have problems meeting their basic 

needs? Why?

Which households have the most diversified livelihoods? Which are 

the most vulnerable (i.e., depending on only one or two activities 

or resources)?

Identify the key linkages between the different kinds of activities 

and resources, such as between forest products and livestock 

production.

Sample Diagram from 

the Dominican Republic 

The farming systems diagram on the next page shows the gender-based 

division of labor and resources for a community in the Dominican 

Republic. The diagram illustrates how the community’s livelihood 

consists of a number of activities and resources that depend on different 

agro-ecosystems. It also shows that women and men have overlapping 

interests, such as tobacco production and processing; and distinctly 

separate interests, such as women’s small animal production. 

Using Other Participatory Tools
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

134 Peace Corps

Gender Resources Map from 

Zambrana, Dominican Republic

Source: Rocheleau and Ross, 1993.
135

Appendices

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

136 Peace Corps
137

Appendix I

Bringing the Tools Together: 

What it Really Looks Like

Using PACA Tools for a Village 

Community Workshop in Senegal 

to Assess Community Needs and 

Create an Action Plan

(This is a full report of the example given 

in Chapter 3, page 57.)

Volunteers and their counterparts had recently completed a PACA 

training to prepare for this village community workshop. Having 

been trained to use four of the PACA tools, they engaged in a 

community development workshop in the village of Gagué Bocar. This 

workshop was held to facilitate the recognition of the village’s internal 

resources, external supports, and to create 

a consensus of community needs. 

The Volunteers and counterparts 

felt Gagué Bocar was a prime 

site for such a workshop because 

the community had proven its 

ability to combine its resources 

to obtain desired outcomes. They 

felt that “this community building 

workshop introduced, and induced, better organizational and assessment 

skills.” Another benefit was that the workshop helped facilitate an open 

relationship between the community, the resident Volunteer, and other 

development agencies/programs.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

138 Peace Corps

Tools Used and Lessons Learned

Several different tools were used to assess the community’s needs and 

to reach consensus on an action plan that the entire community would 

help construct and support. 

Appreciative Inquiry 

The asset-based approach, which emphasizes a village’s internal 

resources and abilities as positive attributes, is incorporated into 

appreciative inquiry. This tool was utilized on the second day of the 

workshop. The main objective was to encourage villagers to create a list 

of village resources. The question: “What is good about your village?” 

was asked first. Other questions followed, such as: What makes your 

work easier? What good things has the village accom­plished? What 

makes your life better? What are you proud of? Having been asked these 

questions, the villagers were able to create a list of things they felt were 

of value to their community. The following list was created according 

to what villagers deemed valuable about their community. (Items with 

an * were marked by the facilitation team as village assets.)

1. corn, sorghum, rice, cotton, peanuts 10. solidarity*

2. women’s groupement* 11. firebreaks

3. gardening 12. tailor

4. veterinary work 13. mosque

5. good soil* 14. wheelbarrows

6. mango trees 15. clean village

7. skilled health care worker 16. cows for money*

8. bulletin/chalkboard 17. vaccinations

9. bank account*

At times during the workshop, villagers were quick to place greater 

emphasis on the influx of outside resources, such as money and 

building materials, rather than examining their internal resources first. 
139

The list, created during the appreciative inquiry phase, was referenced 

by facilitators in order to refocus the group and remind members of 

their internal resources. Reflecting back on what is available to the 

community by outright ownership heightened the village’s awareness 

of its innate value. 

Mapping

The mapping exercise was the first exercise in which the men, young 

men, and women were separated into groups. The groups were set apart 

from each other to create a more relaxed atmosphere where people felt 

they could speak openly. Volunteers and counterparts facilitated each 

group. There were three questions asked when introducing the mapping 

tool: How would you draw your village? How do you see your village? 

What is important to your daily activities? 

The men’s map featured things like village boundaries (the ocean, roads 

to other villages), the school, family compounds, religious structures, 

meeting places, gardens and wells. 

The women’s map also included areas outside the village, such as the 

fields they farm and where they collect firewood. They included areas 

within the village where they pounded millet as well.

The young men came up with their own map of the village. Their 

map was the most detailed of the three, containing trees, compounds, 

gardens, orchards, roads, and religious structures.

When all the maps were compared, it became apparent that certain 

village features (the ocean, school, main road, mosques, gardens, and 

salt mines) were included by each group, while others (the cemetery, 

millet pounding areas, soccer fields) showed up on only one or two of 

the maps. This indicated that each group viewed the village differently 

depending on its routine. The maps were not as different from one 

another as had been expected, perhaps because the whole village made 

a similar map last year with a German NGO.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

140 Peace Corps

Men’s Map
141

Women’s Map

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

142 Peace Corps

Young Men’s Map
143

Daily Calendars 

The purpose of this activity, like seasonal calendars, is to determine 

what time of day people are available for work on projects. In addition, it 

was used to promote awareness of the differences in workload between 

men, women, and young men. Below is the list for each group.

MEN

Rainy Season Dry Season

Early morning—fishing

Mid-morning to midday—farming

Lunch, rest

Mid-afternoon—farm work 

Evening—fishing

Eat breakfast

Early morning—wake up kids

Mid-morning—work in gardens

Midday—lunch, rest

Afternoon—cut wood, garden

Dinner

Bed

WOMEN

Rainy Season Dry Season

Early morning—pray, pound, 

pull water, sweep

Morning—cook breakfast, 

wash dishes, go to fields

Midday—come home, cook 

lunch, start dinner

Afternoon—pound, pull water, 

go to fields

Evening—wash kids, cook dinner

Early morning—pray, pound, 

pull water, water gardens

Mid-morning—breakfast, 

laundry, start dinner

Afternoon—pound, pull water, 

housework, water gardens

Evening—cook dinner

YOUNG MEN

Rainy Season Dry Season

Early morning—fishing

Mid-morning—farming

Midday—lunch, rest

Afternoon—farm or fish, soccer

Evening—fishing

Night—social activities

Morning—garden

Mid-morning—hut repair 

Midday—rest, fishing, lunch, cards

Afternoon—garden

Evening—fishing

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

144 Peace Corps

Some important points came out of the daily schedule exercise. The 

schedule showed that while men are busy with fishing and farming all 

day during the peak activity season, women are busy with household 

tasks and income-generating tasks no matter the time of year. They 

prepare food, pull water, pound millet, clean house, care for children, 

work in fields and gardens, and other activities throughout the day. During the dry season, young men tend to livestock and repair huts while 

older men pray and rest. All groups have more free time for meet­ings 

and village development activities during the middle of the day. 

Consensus Building

The men, women, and young men each developed a list of priorities 

for the village. When the three lists were examined together, two 

items—the health hut and the millet machine—appeared on each list. 

These two “advanced” to the next step of the process, while a pairwise 

ranking grid helped the villagers prioritize the rest of their needs and 

wants. The results are as follows:

Priority:

Number of 

Times Preferred:

Final 

Ranking:

Health Hut 12 1

Millet machine 11 2

Fishing Project 8 3 (tie)

School Improvement 8 3 (tie)

Salt Intrusion 8 3 (tie)

Soil Improvement 8 3 (tie)

Village Organization 6 7

Forage 5 8 

Animal Security 4 9 (tie)

Village Layout 4 9 (tie)

Gardening 2 11

Seed Bank 1 12

Soccer Team support 0 13
145

Example of Pairwise Grid, or Ranking Matrix

(resulting in the rankings shown on page 144) Health Hut Millet Machine Fishing Project School Work Salt Intrusion Soil Work Village Organize Forage Animal Security Village Layout Gardening Seed Bank

Soccer Team

Health 

Hut HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH HH

Millet 

Machine MM MM MM MM MM MM MM MM MM MM MM

Fishing

Project FP SI SW FP FP FP FP FP FP FP

School 

Work SCW SW SCW SCW SCW SCW SCW SCW SCW

Salt 

Intrusion SI SI SI SI VL SI SI SI

Soil 

Work SW SW SW G SW SW SW

Village 

Organize VO VO VO VO VO VO

Forage F F F F F

Animal

Security AS AS AS AS

Village 

Layout VL VL VL

Gardening G G

Seed 

Bank SB

Soccer 

Team

At the beginning of this exercise, the “village organization” was a priority for the village. The men’s group considered that “it is very critical 

to strengthen village organization. Without it, nothing would work.” 

However, at one point during the all-village meeting, an influential 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

146 Peace Corps

member of the community stated that “Gagué Bocar could work on 

its own organization, and that residents should use this exercise for 

activities requiring outside assistance.” From then on, participants did 

not choose village organization over other options.

Designing the Action Plan

After completing the needs assessment with the villagers, the next 

step was establishing a plan of action. In order to do so, the villagers 

needed to understand and describe in detail exactly what each project 

would entail in terms of money, labor, materials, and so on. It was also 

necessary to assign specific tasks to individuals and appoint others to 

monitor the progress. Together, the villagers, Volunteers and counterparts broke down the top five projects into the following categories: 

tasks, cost, village contributions, external contributions, who is responsible, and who will oversee. The following are examples of some of 

the tables from Gagué Bocar’s action plan.

Health hut

Activity	 Task	 Village 	 External	 Who will do?	 Oversee?

contr.	 contr.

Hut 

construction Mason labor 35000 Abass Ba

Bricks 30000 Mamadou Keba Ba

Grass 56250 Diallo Issa Ndiaye

Roof beams 24000 Resource Seekers

Doors zinc 15000 Resource Seekers

Carpenter 5000 

Door wood 9000 Issa Ndiaye

Cement (15) 48000 Ablaye Toure

Transport 3750 Call

cement

3 kg nails 3000 Meeting

Locks 5400 

Hinges 3000 Mamadou 

Paint 3600 Ndiaye

Sand (25 loads) 10000 Building
147

Latrine Cement 6000

(2 bags) 

Metal bars 4000 

Wire 500 

Labor 10000 Keba Ba

Fencing 3000 

Training Matrons 12000 

Staff 12000 

Medicines 100000 

Materials Benches (3) 16000 Go Ba Babou

Beds 20000 Asimou Ba Thiare

Table 3000 (buy supplies)

Armoire 15000 

Chairs (4) 2000 

Buckets (2) 2000 

Mattresses (2) 16000 

Sheets (4) 10000 

Scale 20000 

Lamps (3) 6000 

Scissors 5000 

Gas tank 15000 

Pot 2500 

Beignoirs (2) 3000 

Shovel 2000 

Blouse fabric 15600 

Tailor 24000 

196500 379100 

Total 575600 

5 % 

unexpected 

costs 28780 

Project total 604380 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

148 Peace Corps

Millet machine

	 Activity	 Tasks	 Village	 External

	 	 contribution	 contribution

Building Cement 

for machine (16 bags) 48000

Zinc 36000

Metal beams 6400

Door wood 3300

Roof beams 24000

Nails 1kg 1000

Locks 2800

Hinges 4300

Sand 

(60 loads) 24000

Labor 75000

Materials Lamp 2000

Beignoirs (2) 3000

Cloth cover 1400

Bench 5300

20L jugs (2) 2000

Gazoil 20L 8000

Oil 5L 6500

Training 

Machine 1750000

253000	 1750000

Project total 2003000
149

Conclusions

Some of the projects, such as improving livestock security, are already 

underway. The residents of Gagué Bocar and several nearby villages 

have received approval from the equivalent of their “county board” to 

build a security hut on one end of their bridge and staff it with a guard. 

They hope to cut down on animal theft since this is the only point of 

access for the area. As for projects like soil improvement, the resources 

and knowledge are already in the village: several villagers have learned 

how to make compost and will train others upon request. The facilitators 

and villagers wisely concentrated on the village’s top priorities, 

emphasizing that the village can address the others in the future when 

the first few projects are established and generating income.

The PACA methods used in identifying and planning these activities 

were useful to the community members in understanding that they 

had many resources other than the money coming in from the outside 

sources. This led to empowerment and bonding within the community. 

Through the daily activity exercise, men could see and acknowledge 

that women’s labor was much different than their own. The daily activity 

also pointed out the differences between older/younger men’s labor. 

Although much information was collected with this process, the most 

productive piece was the action plan formulated by the community. 

The fact that they have already implemented some of it is a testament 

that the “community action” in “participatory analysis for community 

action” is essential to the development process. 

Resource: Famara Massaly, Associate Peace Corps Director for agriculture in Senegal; and 

Peace Corps Volunteers Elisabeth Wittenberg, Hugh Ewart, Sean Barrett, Jill Tucker, and Mike 

Cherone.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

150 Peace Corps

Appendix II

From Tools to 

AIDS Action 

Experiences from Rural Uganda

The Rakai AIDS Information Network (RAIN) used participatory rural 

appraisal (PRA) methods to help community members identify and 

analyze factors that put them at risk of the human immunodeficiency 

virus (HIV) infection. This article describes the different methods 

used and what community members and program staff learned about 

community HIV risk factors.

HIV Infection in Uganda and Rakai District

Of Uganda’s 19 million inhabitants, more than 1.5 million are estimated 

to be infected with HIV. The first known Ugandan cases of AIDS 

appeared in 1982 in a small fishing village in Rakai District. Rakai is 

a rural district located in southwest Uganda two hours by road from the 

national capital, Kampala, and borders on Tanzania and Lake Victoria. 

HIV prevalence rates in Rakai have now reached epidemic proportions. 

The overall HIV prevalence rate in the district is 13 percent; however, 

rates vary considerably by geographic locale. For example, it is 

estimated that 39 percent of all adults in main road trad­ing centers are 

HIV positive, 25 percent in rural trading villages on secondary roads, 

and 9 percent in rural agricultural villages (Wawer, 1991).

The major modes of HIV transmission in Uganda are through heterosexual contact and from mother to child (vertical transmission). The 

nature of HIV transmission in Uganda, the devastating impact of the 

disease on geographic communities, and limited government resources 
151

made it essential that communities be involved in promoting sexual 

behavior change and sustaining AIDS prevention programs.

The Rakai AIDS Information Network

The Rakai AIDS Information Network is a Ugandan NGO with the goal 

of reducing the spread of HIV infection in Rakai district. It is run and 

managed by health-care providers, health educators, counselors and 

trainers from Rakai district. The organization’s strategy is to provide 

integrated AIDS prevention interventions within a community-based 

health-care framework. Its programs include community-based health 

care (CBHC) which trains village health committees, community health 

workers, and traditional birth attendants. The training includes basic 

community health care, but with a special emphasis on HIV prevention. 

RAIN also conducts a peer education program for village youths, 

consisting of a three-day training on HIV prevention and condom 

promotion. Finally, RAIN has an HIV counseling, testing and medical 

treatment program that operates through eight decentralized subclinics. 

Both the CBHC and peer education programs are community based, 

with community members selecting from among themselves the participants to be trained. Community members are also responsible for 

implementing program activities within their own communities.

In 1993, the chairman of RAIN attended a Ugandan CBHC Associa­tion/World Neighbors participatory rural appraisal training. The train­ing 

focused on using PRA for general community health. However, the 

chairman thought the methods might be particularly useful in helping 

community members and program staff explore factors that put people 

at risk of HIV infection. Thus, in 1994, RAIN facilitated PRA sessions 

in two rural areas with high HIV prevalence.

Methods Used and Lessons Learned

In order for community members and program staff to assess community HIV risk factors, we used several different PRA methods. These 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

152 Peace Corps

included mapping, seasonal calendars and men’s and women’s 24-hour 

activity clocks.

Mapping 

Participants organized themselves by village. Each group then drew 

a map of its village on the ground, using locally available materials 

such as ash, beans, maize and stones. They first identified the physical 

features of their communities such as hills, swamps and roads, 

followed by social features such as homes, churches, schools, and 

agricultural lands. For each house, participants also identified residents 

by age and sex and the number of deaths that had occurred in the past 

12 months. Participants were also asked to identify which deaths 

were caused by AID, but declined to do so because of the stigma still 

attached to the disease.

The village maps were transferred onto paper, and then presented 

to the group at large. By identifying the number of deaths in the 

past 12 months, participants realized that there had been at least one 

death in each home. Although the causes of death were not identified, 

participants knew that many were caused by AIDS. By seeing the 

amount of death, participants came to realize the prevalence of AIDS 

within the community and the implications this had for the community’s 

survival. Next, participants identified specific locations that might put 

them at greater risk of HIV infection. For example, they identified 

drinking establishments where residents often drink alcohol and take 

outside sexual partners. They also identified isolated areas, such as 

wells and wooded lots, where women are at risk of being raped.

As solutions to these problems, men proposed that all drinking should 

be done during the day and that they come home early in the evening. 

Women suggested that they should go in groups to collect water and 

firewood, and thus decided that no water should be collected at night. 

Some men also offered to accompany their wives and one even said: 

“I shall do the collecting of water to avoid the risk.”
153

Seasonal Calendar

A group of 12 community members also created a seasonal calendar to 

identify seasonal health risks. Participants marked the 12 months of the 

year on the ground and then indicated the amount of rain or sunshine 

within each month. Under each month, participants then identified the 

prevalence of both malaria and diarrhea. When finished, participants 

transferred the chart to paper (below).

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Rain or 

sunshine ## \ \\\ \\\\ \ # ### ## \ \\ \\ \

 m

Malaria mm o o m o mm mm o o o o m

Diarrhea d ddd d x x d dd d x x x d

 h hh

HIV h h hh h h hhh hhh hhh i i i ii

Key: # = amount of sunshine m = prevalence of malaria

\ = amount of rainfall o = absence of malaria

 d = prevalance of diarrhea

 x = absence of diarrhea

 i = prevalance of HIV transmission

While analyzing the chart with the group, knowledgeable participants 

related the prevalence of the two diseases to the amount of rain or 

sunshine. Many participants were surprised. They had previously 

thought that malaria and diarrhea were caused by eating certain foods, 

such as maize or mangos, which are present at specific times of the year. 

The facilitator then asked: “Does HIV transmission have a season?” 

He expected participants to say no because transmission occurs 

throughout the year. However, program staff and many community 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

154 Peace Corps

members were surprised when a village elder stood and said: “Yes, in 

our own community here, we have found that when it is harvesting time 

and men have money, even a lady...will accept (to have sex) because 

she knows he has money.” To investigate this further, the facilitator 

added a third row to the chart and asked participants to indicate the 

prevalence of HIV transmission in each month. They said transmission 

was greatest in June, July and August. The facilitator asked why and 

participants explained that these are the harvesting times for maize, 

beans and coffee. Therefore, these are the months men have money to 

spend on alcohol and additional sexual partners. Participants added 

that transmission is also higher in March and December. This is 

because men often sell their stored crops to prepare for the Easter and 

Christmas holidays.

Community members, and particularly housewives, then realized that 

there are certain times of the year when they are at greater risk of 

becoming infected. To counteract this risk, members proposed different 

solutions. As one woman said: “I have learned that ... during harvest 

season, people need to safeguard one another.” Another woman said: 

“Men should take precautions; they are the ones going out.” This 

finding also has important implications for RAIN’s programs. As said 

by a staff member at the exercise, “This is new to me. Now I know we 

have to intensify educational efforts and distribute more condoms at 

specific times of the year.”

Twenty-four Hour Activity Clocks

The final exercise was for women and men to create their own 24-

hour activity clocks. The purpose was for participants to identify the 

differences between the amount of work women and men do and reveal 

leisure time that might lead to risky behaviors. Men and women formed 

separate groups of about 15 people each. Each group discussed what they 

generally did for each hour of the day and an elected person took notes. 

Members of the two groups then transferred the notes onto paper and 

presented them to the group at large for analysis and interpretation.
155

The clocks revealed that in the morning hours women generally wake 

up, “play zigido” (a reggae-type of dance used as a euphemism for 

sex), clean the house, prepare tea, cultivate, collect firewood and 

water, and prepare lunch. In the afternoon, they usually eat lunch, 

make handicrafts or play zigido, cultivate, collect firewood and water, 

and prepare dinner. At night, the women continue preparing dinner, 

feed their children and husbands, eat, sleep, and play zigido. In the 

morning, men generally wake up, play zigido, take tea, cultivate, trade, 

fish or repair bicycles. In the afternoon, they bathe, eat lunch, and rest. 

Some will then continue work or “go boozing,” play board games or 

“go looking for sexual partners.” At night, men listen to the radio, eat 

supper, sleep, and play zigido.

After each group presented their clocks, the general question: “What 

have we learned?” was asked. An elderly man stood and said: “I have 

learned that women have more activities than men.” Another said: “We 

give them all the work and I only realize that now.” A lively debate then 

ensued about what constitutes men’s and women’s work. Some men 

saw the need to better share the work and started to negotiate with the 

women. One man said: “If she goes for firewood, I will go for water.” 

But another man added: “We need to help one another, but do not let it 

lead to conflict. If we get water then don’t tell us to also get firewood.” 

A woman then boldly added, “Men, we work and work and work and 

then you ask for sex. We are tired. Men should reduce the time for 

zigido.” A man then asked, “Women, which should we reduce, sex or 

work?” Another man said, “We need to sit together with our wives and 

decide ... We should schedule the activities—including sex.”

By comparing their activity clocks, participants also identified several 

HIV risk factors. First they saw that men have a lot more leisure time 

than women, and some of this time is spent drinking alcohol in local 

bars and having outside sexual partners. The facilitator pointed out that, 

“You men leave all the work for the women and then you go out and 

bring back the virus.” Men also came to realize that they sometimes 

go to other women for sexual satisfaction because their wives are so 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

156 Peace Corps

tired. As one participant said, “The women because of all the work get 

old soon and look not so nice so we go for other women.” However, the 

group realized that by having partners outside of their marriage they 

put themselves and their wives at greater risk of HIV infection.

The proposed solution was, again, for husbands and wives to sit together 

and decide how to better share activities. That way women would be 

less tired and the men more occupied.

Conclusions

PRA methods were useful in getting community members and program 

staff to identify, analyze and address sexual practices that put people 

at risk of HIV infection. Through mapping, participants were able 

to identify physical locations where they would be at greater risk. 

By creating a seasonal calendar, participants saw that they might be 

at greater risk at certain times of year. The 24-hour activity clocks 

revealed that men have a fair amount of leisure time in which they 

can and do engage in risky behaviors and that women have an unfair 

burden of work.

These methods enabled community members to identify problems and 

find solutions themselves. This, in turn, may lead to more sustained 

behavior change than conventional education information campaigns. 

Staff also learned more about local sexual practices and were then 

able to make educational and condom distribution programs more 

appropriate. Finally PRA provided the means for men and women to 

discuss and even negotiate the sensitive issues of work and sex.

Source: Joseph Ssembatya, Anne Coghlan, Rachel Lumala and Deo 

Kituusibwa: Rakai AIDS Information Network, Uganda. From: PLA 

Notes 23, June 1995, pages 6265. (The authors wish to express RAIN’s 

gratitude to its donors DANIDA, USAID and World Learning, Inc.)
157

Appendix III

Adaptation of the Niger 

PACA Training Handbook

Background

The PACA Manual is a great resource for learning about the PACA 

system approach, PACA philosophy, techniques and process. However, 

the experiences mentioned in that manual do not reflect the reality in 

Niger. Village communities are often illiterate, and the traditions are 

very strong, so we developed a training module that conforms to the 

reality in Niger. 

A PACA training evaluation workshop was organized for Volunteers, 

host country nationals and language instructors who have participated 

in at least one PACA training session. The workshop reinforced 

collaboration among Volunteers and host country nationals as well as 

the staff in Niamey and the trained teams.

At the end of the workshop the following recommendations were 

made:

The appropriate/ideal period to train a Volunteer is between the fifth 

and the twelfth month in his/her post. This permits the Volunteer 

to gain better local language skills and better knowledge of the 

community with which he/she is working.

The best period to conduct a PACA training in a village is the time 

between the end of harvest and the beginning of the rainy season 

(in general, from November to early May). This is the time period 

when villagers are less occupied. During the rainy season, villagers 

spend two-thirds of their time in their fields.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

158 Peace Corps

Give a period of time of two to three weeks between the first and 

the second stage of practice and one to two weeks between the 

second stage and the action plan. This provides time for the team of 

facilitators to rest a bit, and for the villagers to rethink about what 

was previously experienced. However, too much time between the 

different stages can cause a loss in the momentum.

Introduction

Since April 1997, Peace Corps/Niger has been implementing PACA. 

The training is done in teams composed of Volunteers, host country 

nationals and Peace Corps staff. The gender and development (GAD) 

program assistant conducts all the PACA training with the assistance 

of some language instructors.

This training module has three main steps: 

1. Teach trainees the basic notion of PACA during pre-service 

training. This step is done in two sessions: a theoretical session 

that covers basic PACA skills and a tool exercise that is done with 

partners (e.g., the school community). 

2. Implement PACA tools in a real environment. There is one 

theoretical refresher session for Volunteers and one with their 

counterparts. This permits counterpart groups to acquire the same 

level of PACA information as Volunteers. The field practice is done 

in two phases: exploratory phase and analytical phase.

3. Create an action plan with the community members. This 

includes learning how the action plan facilitation is conducted 

and what the role of the Volunteer should be during the action 

plan implementation.
159

The fourth chapter of this module demonstrates how a PACA team is 

organized and explains the work process.

Finally, this manual provides some advice to the PACA facilitator on:

Facilitation skills

Attitude and behavior

Cultural diversity within a facilitator team

Situations (case studies)

I. STEP 1: PACA BASIC NOTIONS

Trainees are taught basic PACA theory and skills during preservice training.

1.1 First Session

The first session covers:

The background and importance of a participatory 

approach

PACA philosophy, methodology and process

Field work and cultural aspects

PACA tools

Facilitation techniques

Exercises (role plays among trainees)

1.2 Second Session

The second session consists of an exercise in the field 

with a real village community. We often work with the 

junior high school community as partners. For example, 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

160 Peace Corps

one time the “problem tree” tool was used to debate the 

issue of girls’ education in Niger. We worked with four 

groups: male students, female students, male teachers, and 

female teachers. During this exercise, we worked with the 

language instructors who facilitated the discussions. We also 

encourage trainees to facilitate if they choose. 

II. STEP 2: PACA TOOLS PRACTICE

This step consists of Volunteers and their host country colleagues 

implementing PACA tools with the village communities where 

Volunteers work. 

These tools have already been previously described. We do not 

consider the community members as laboratory specimens and 

for this reason the field ground work is always conducted in a 

village where a Volunteer is posted. This way, after the facilitator 

team’s departure, the host Volunteer and his/her PACA-trained 

counterpart can continue the process by implementing the 

activities listed in the action plan together with villagers. 

2.1 The Theoretical Stage

Before the field work starts the host country nationals receive 

a full day of training and the Volunteers receive a half day 

of training.

2.1.1 Half Day With Volunteers

The half day with Volunteers is an overview of the 

following topics:

– Volunteers summarize what they learned about 

PACA during pre-service training 

– PACA tools and their goals (including handouts)
161

– Explanation of the training process and how the 

practice will be done in the village

– Role of the facilitator (review)

– Highlight of the facilitation techniques (review 

and explain the difference between facilitating and 

guiding)

– Case studies and cultural advice on how to behave 

in the village as a facilitator

– Team building

2.1.2 One Day With Host Country Nationals 

The training of the host country nationals covers the 

following:

Session 1: “What do we know about Peace Corps?” 

• The three goals of the Peace Corps

• The Volunteers and their roles

Note: Sometimes host country nationals don’t know 

exactly what the Peace Corps is and what a Volunteer’s 

role is. As PACA training/work needs to be done in a 

team, it is necessary that both Volunteers and host 

country nationals know each other’s work and roles. 

This avoids mistaken expectations and frustrations 

and can reinforce collaboration.

Session 2:

• Brief summary of the participatory approach 

systems

• Introduction to PACA

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

162 Peace Corps

• The notion of gender

 - the difference between gender and sex

 - the impact of gender in development 

 projects

• Philosophy and the PACA process

• The notion of filters

• The PACA tools

• The role of the facilitator

 - facilitation techniques

 - the difference between facilitating and 

 guiding

• Team building

• Cultural advice

 - case studies

 - how to react or behave as a facilitator

• Role play on implementing the tools

Usually the different members of the team get together 

for a lunch or a party to introduce themselves.

2.3 Field Practice

After participants learn basic PACA theory, the team moves 

to the field for practice. Field training consists of using the 

different tools with real community members. 

This training module has eight tools:

1. Daily activities schedule

2. Historic profile (village/community history)
163

3. Community/village map

4. Transect walk

5. Seasonal calendar

6. Community foundation/social map

7. Needs assessment

8. Problem tree

Note: Only four of these tools are detailed in the PACA 

Manual, the others are tools used in PRA. 

The work is conducted in small, separate group meetings, 

and both community members and facilitators gather for a 

“restitution meeting.” At the end of each small group meeting, participants choose one representative who shares with 

the other groups what is discussed in his or her group. This is 

common to all the groups: women and men, young and old. 

Each day the team uses a tool with the different members of 

the community in small, separate groups. A big meeting for 

sharing is always planned at night with all the community 

members. This is common for all the tools. That makes a 

total of eight days of practice in the village, carried out in 

two different phases.

Two phases compose the field work:

1. Exploratory Phase. This phase consists of implementing 

the first four tools (daily activities schedule, historic 

profile, community/village map, transect walk) with the 

community members. This phase is called exploratory 

because it is more about discovering the community 

through members daily habits, backgrounds, and local 

resources.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

164 Peace Corps

2. Analytical Phase. This phase utilizes the last four 

tools (seasonal calendar, community foundation, needs 

assessment and problem tree). This phase is called 

analytical because it’s the diagnostic part. This phase 

looks for why, how, and when something happened. 

Villagers think about their needs and constraints by 

trying to find out the reasons behind these needs and 

constraints, the impact they have on the community’s 

well-being and development, and what the community 

should do to address them. Villagers often prefer this 

phase because:

• They have used and understand the PACA process 

(especially women who feel more and more comfortable talking in front of a crowd); and 

• The tools focus on the villagers’ everyday activities, 

their problems and/or their needs. 

This phase was described by a villager in eastern Niger 

one day: “We were laying down before; now, we’ve 

woken up.”

2.4 Preparation at Village Level

PACA training is a team effort that involves different people 

and considerable logistics—the village hosting the event 

needs to be well prepared. Inform the village community 

well in advance to allow for preparations. The host Volunteer 

should call one or two meetings to explain the following to 

the villagers:

Goals and objectives of the training

How the training will be conducted (e.g., people will be 

split up into groups according to age and/or sex—old 

men, young women, old women, young men)
165

The different groups should decide on the time when 

they are free to work with the PACA facilitator team. 

(Note: It is important to follow the community members’ 

agenda rather than imposing the facilitator’s agenda on 

the community)

The importance of people listening carefully to each other 

(e.g., men to women, young to old) 

The villagers should provide lodging for the facilitator team 

(often two houses; one for men and one for women)

III. THE ACTION PLAN

The action plan is a four-column chart. Its objective is the 

resolution of the problems identified by the community itself 

through community action. The action plan consists of developing 

a work plan of some achievable tasks that the villagers choose to 

work on because of locally available resources and abilities for a 

period of time that they set by themselves. 

Unlike the process of using the tools, which consists at first of 

small group discussions and then in larger groups, the action 

plan is created in a large group (with all the community members 

sitting around a circle). 

3.1 Facilitation of Action Plan

The facilitator should be patient and observant because this 

is an important part of the training. There should be good 

communication from one group to another so that people 

can talk and give their opinions freely on the different 

components of the plan. Also, it is important to let people 

express their feelings completely without being interrupted 

or influenced. 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

166 Peace Corps

Each group should explain how it intends to work not only on 

its own activities but also the activities of the other groups: 

that’s what community action is about.

3.2 Role of the Volunteer in Working on the Action Plan

During the PACA process, a partnership is formed between 

villagers and Volunteers. Through PACA, villagers understand that Volunteers and technical agents should not be the 

only people spending their efforts and energy on community 

development. The PACA process is like the well-known 

Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. 

Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.”

However, the villagers may need external help once they 

encounter difficulties or when they run out of resources. 

Volunteers can serve as a link between the community and 

other funding sources such as NGOs and associations (both 

local and foreign), projects, and funding partners. These 

NGOs and associations can fund certain activities. It’s good 

for Volunteers to have the list of development services 

working in their region and also to know their requirements. 

Volunteers have the responsibility, whenever the need arises, 

to send a project proposal requesting funding. Other members 

of the team should help the Volunteer as much as they can for 

a good and effective follow-up of the action plan.

IV. TEAM ORGANIZATION AND WORK PROCESS

In the village, the team members live in two separate areas provided 

by the community: one for men and another one for women. 

Meals are taken together. The facilitators should split up into small 

groups: sub-teams composed of two to four people to help the 

villagers practice the tools according to their work time.
167

4.1 The Sub-Teams

A sub-team is often composed of:

Facilitator. Facilitates discussion in the local language. 

When practicing this role, remember and apply the facilitation techniques and strategies learned. Also consider the 

cultural advice mentioned during theoretical training.

Observer. Observes the skills of the facilitator as well as 

the reaction of the members of the group. This person 

should note all observations and share them during the 

facilitator team meetings.

Note-taker/reporter. Takes notes and reports all 

symbols, drawings and figures that result from the 

group discus­sion. 

The other members of the group should participate in the 

discussion and activities. 

4.2 The Facilitator Team Meetings 

After the small group meetings, there should be time for 

the facilitation team to sit down, share appreciations, make 

suggestions, and give feedback. It is also an opportunity to 

clarify certain details and give advice if necessary. 

4.3 The Restitution Meeting

The restitution meeting is the big group meeting involving 

all the members of the community and the facilitation team. 

During this meeting, the chosen representatives of the small 

groups show their work to the other members of the community (e.g., their village map), share their discussion conclusions, and give clarification by answering any questions 

asked by the other groups. 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

168 Peace Corps

(Note: This is a big, important, and difficult step, especially 

for women. They often do not have access to speaking in 

public, they are rarely asked for an opinion, and they usually 

do not participate in community decision-making.)

Someone from the facilitation team conducts the restitution 

meeting. After each practical phase, each member of the 

facilitation team should go through the following tasks: 

facilitation, note-taking and observation. Volunteers are 

also invited to go through these tasks according to their 

local language level. Usually team members help them to 

prepare useful words and expressions for the facilitation. 

Sometimes the Volunteers can work in pairs with a native 

speaker for facilitation.

4.4 Training Evaluation

An evaluation meeting is held at the end of each practical 

phase to let people talk freely about:

What they learned from the training

Any assistance they got from the training

What they found difficult

Strategies, ideas or techniques to be used next time

Strategies to reinforce team building

Logistics

Any other comments about the training

This evaluation session should be open, fair and clear. Give 

the team the choice to evaluate verbally or in writing. 
169

V. SOME ADVICE TO THE PACA FACILITATOR

5. 1 About Facilitation Skills

The facilitator plays a critical role in the PACA training 

process. Even though all the information generated through 

the PACA process already lives within the community, 

PACA tools help community members identify this 

information and arrive at conclusions that are relevant, and 

not always obvious. 

Sometimes people think that being able to speak a local 

langu­age perfectly means they can facilitate a discussion in 

a PACA working group. While language skills are helpful, 

a facilitator needs interpersonal skills as well as language 

communication skills. A good facilitator knows which questions to ask and how to ask them.

Facilitators should try to be:

patient

observant

able to keep your temper

self-confident and assured (even if their language ability 

is not the best)

open-minded to better understand cultural differences

polite and respectful

modest

5.2 Attitude and behavior

Local government officials are generally considered by the 

villagers as high-class citizens. The reason is clear: these 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

170 Peace Corps

government officials or Mouchés are educated people who 

live mostly in the big towns and cities. They have salaries and 

higher incomes that make their living conditions better. They 

dress nicely. These officials, once they get to the village, 

have a certain attitude that confirms these impres­sions. All 

this creates a complex relationship between the officials and 

the communities they are supposed to serve.

PACA urges full participation of different community 

groups. Facilitators should be able to overcome any barrier, 

any obstacle they may come across while fulfilling the 

group’s work. Facilitators should always consider their role 

as a facilitator for group discussion. They should create a 

relaxed working atmosphere to make the group members feel 

at ease. That’s the best way to get accurate and spon­taneous 

information from villagers.

To meet that need, here are some tips. 

Follow the village protocol when introducing yourself to 

the community members.

Participate in any social event or ceremony—happy or 

sad—that may occur. while you are in the community 

(go to fatiha for social ceremonies or go to a funeral 

for condolences).

Make a tour of the village and say hello to people.

When you come to a meeting, if people offer you a 

chair humbly refuse it and sit down on the ground just 

as they do.

Don’t be judgmental; listen carefully to what community 

members are saying.

Take control of the discussion in a polite way.
171

Watch out for cultural offenses.

When leaving the village, facilitators should follow the 

cultural protocol as they did on the first day when they 

introduced themselves.

5.3 Cultural Diversity Within the Group of Facilitators. 

Usually, a PACA team is composed of Volunteers and their 

counterpart host country nationals. These host country 

nationals are often government employees working in the 

same domain as Volunteers (e.g., agriculture, environment, 

health) or literate villagers. In both cases, a Volunteer should 

consider some criteria before choosing someone to be trained 

in PACA. Qualities such as motivation, patience, dynamism, 

and flexibility are required. 

Host country counterparts represent different ethnic groups 

and backgrounds. It is important to consider people’s 

background and differences. For example, if a Volunteer 

values punctuality and sets punctuality as criteria to choose 

someone for PACA training, he or she may be disappointed 

that host country nationals value patience ahead of 

punctuality. Volunteers should challenge themselves to 

accept people no matter where they are from and what their 

cultural and ethnic backgrounds are.

5.4 Situations

There are situations when a PACA facilitator may feel 

uncomfortable and may ask questions such as: What can I 

do? How should I react? Such situations are unpredictable 

and unavoidable. Below are three examples. Read these 

situations carefully and work them out to find appropriate 

responses/solutions.

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

172 Peace Corps

SITUATION 1

 During a PACA training in a village, facilitators are 

conducting the transect walk tool with a group of young girls 

when two old men slip into the group and take full control of 

the discussion. The situation makes the girls uncomfortable 

and embarrassed and they refuse to answer any question 

they are asked. The facilitator gets frustrated and tries to 

resolve the problem.

Question: How can the facilitator react in such a situation 

and deal with the matter? 

SITUATION 2

While presenting the village history during a PACA session, 

a dispute breaks out when people recount sad events that 

divided two families in the village. People get on each other’s 

nerves and the situation starts to get out of control.

Question: What should the facilitator do in a situation 

like this?

SITUATION 3

While presenting a PACA tool with a group of men, a 

participant completely interrupts the conversation and takes 

control of the session. Carefully and tactfully, the female 

facilitator interrupts the man. The man persists and refuses 

to be quiet. He is apparently shocked because a woman 

asked him to be quiet. 

To avoid any misunderstanding, the facilitator gives up 

on the matter. A colleague from the facilitating team asks 

the angry man to keep on talking. The situation then turns 

from bad to worse and the tension gets high in the group of 

Volunteers. The female Volunteers are deeply shocked by 
173

the intervention of the second (male) facilitator who told the 

man to keep talking. They think that the facilitator should not 

contradict his female colleague. The Volunteers consider the 

intervention of the second facilitator to be disrespectful and 

unsupportive of his female colleague. To attempt to settle the 

matter and make everything clear, the facilitating team meets 

in private. People at the meeting try as hard as they can to 

give an explanation but the Volunteers do not agree.

Question: If you were in this group of facilitators how 

would you calm the situation? How would you deal with 

this example of culture shock?

CONCLUSION

PACA tools are used for data collection and analysis as well as for 

action planning. They can also be used for evaluating finished or 

ongoing projects. The PACA process is an ongoing cycle that facilitates 

community integration in every step of the development process. 

PACA helps people be aware of their local resources, how much 

they use them to their benefit, and how they can use them effectively. 

Commu­nities develop more autonomy and the cycle of dependency 

on development projects and organizations can be broken. PACA 

creates a partnership between the development agent/Volunteer who 

uses it and the community with which she or he is working. PACA 

allows Volunteers to know their community and its members better, 

understand the community’s daily and seasonal occupation/calendars, 

recognize constraints and needs, highlight their resources and their 

ambitions, and more. 

Appendices
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

174 Peace Corps

Resources

Reference Listings 

Famara Massaly, Associate Peace Corps Director for agriculture in 

Senegal; and Peace Corps Volunteers Elisabeth Wittenberg, Hugh 

Ewart, Sean Barrett, Jill Tucker, and Mike Cherone.

Joseph Ssembatya, Anne Coghlan, Rachel Lumala and Deo Kituusibwa: 

Rakai AIDS Information Network (RAIN), Uganda. From: PLA 

Notes 23, June 1995, pages 6265. (The authors wish to express 

RAIN’s gratitude to its donors DANIDA, USAID and World 

Learning, Inc.) 

Pareja, M. “Preparing for a rapid livelihood security assessment.” 

Nairobi, CARE East Africa, 1997. 

Parker A. R., I. Lozano, L. Messner. Gender Relations Analysis: A 

Guide for Trainers. Westport, CT: Save the Children, 1995.

Stuckey, J. “Raising the issue of pesticide poisoning to a national 

health priority.” CARE Advocacy Series, Case No. 1. Atlanta, 

CARE USA, 1999.

ICE Listings

Community Content-Based Instruction Manual [ICE No. T0112]

Gender and Development Training [ICE No. M0054]

Nonformal Education Manual [ICE No. M0042]

Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) [ICE No. 

M0053]
175

Programming and Training Booklet One: The Basics [ICE No. 

T0113]

Roles of the Volunteer in Development [ICE No. T0005]

The New Project Design and Management Manual [ICE No. 

T0107]

Tools for Community Participation: A Manual for Training Trainers 

in Participatory Techniques

Working with CCBI: Volunteer Workbook [ICE No. M0073]

List of PRA/PACA-type Websites

African Development Bank

www.afdb.org

AGRALIN Desktop Library Community Research & Development 

Information via the University of Wagenhingen in Holland

www.cordis.lu.en.esbpop

Asian Development Bank Group

www.adb.org

CARE International

www.care.org

Clark University

www.clarku.edu

Consultive Group on International Agricultural Research

www.cgiar.org

Inter-American Development Bank

www.iadb.org

Resources
PACA: Using Participatory Analysis for Community Action

176 Peace Corps

International Food Policy Research Institute

www.ifpri.org

International Institute for Sustainable Development

www.iisd.org

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

www.fao.org

The World Bank

www.worldbank.org

United Nations Development Programme

www.undp.org

Winrock International

www.winrock.org