Step 1: Familiarisation and rapport building

For the purposes of this module it is being assumed that the process of community monitoring, including the process of community mobilisation is being facilitated by an external civil society organisation. It is necessary that this external agency is familiar with the community and some of the members of the community are also familiar with members of the organization. This can be done through informal meetings with key people (leaders of community, church leaders, any active women from the community, village head if there is one). Once one is familiar with a number of the community it may be a good idea to take a walk through the village to get an idea about;

• General layout of the village.
  
• Different social groups in the village and where they stay.
  
• Service delivery points in the village
  
• Members of the community with specific or important health problems and so on.
  
• Pre existing social groups in the village/ neighbourhood
  

During the familiarisation process it is important to also important to share information about one’s own organization and its activities and the why the organisation has chosen to work with the community. It is important to develop a common sense of purpose with some key members in the community.

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