Frequently Asked Questions

1. How long will it take to build a self-reliant village?
   At present WVI is two years into a phased project calculated to take about ten years. However, depending on funding availability, major construction could be completed in as little as two more years. Training ox teams and training workers, developing sustainable local industries will take longer and will be ongoing, but our plans are for the entire town to be self-sustaining and self-managed within eight years from now.
    
2. How much will it cost?
   Food costs are a major portion of labor compensation in Africa. Thanks to the fact that WVI has already achieved very substantial progress in food self-sufficiency, we calculate that the infrastructure for the entire town - houses, workshops, schools, administration, methane digesters, public health facilities - can be completed for just under $2 million.
   
   
3. How can a model based on Village Self Reliance bring peace to a war zone?
   The natural desire for young people is to find work and a home and peacefully raise a family. But when war and extreme poverty make it impossible to find homes or decent work, young men become frustrated and may see joining a local gang or militia as their best option.
   
   WVI's basic plan for peace is to provide people with training, job and house. Our workers right now are from different ethnicities. We're already finding that once people are working together as a team and are able to provide for their families, ethnic problems start to dissolve and friendships begin to grow. People are already coming from neighboring villages and asking us to come work in their village, but we need to make sure our pilot project is firmly established before we branch out.
   
   
4. Can the Village Self-Reliance model really make an impact on the desperate economic and social situation in Africa?
   By focusing on the introduction of appropriate technology and building the economy with a comprehensive and logically consistent economic model, Working Villages is in a unique position to open the door to a dramatic improvement the social and economic realities in Africa. In the face of collapsing urban infrastructure, WVI believes its model of rural village self-sufficiency will provide the best hope to answer many of the world's current economic, social and environmental problems.
   
   
5. Violence to women in Congo is becoming recognized as a tragedy of immense proportions. What is the situation of women at WVI's Ruzizi Project?
   Two factors go a long way toward improving the situation of two of society's most vulnerable groups, women and children. First of all, by providing work and hope to men, violence is automatically reduced, and they are able to focus their energy on peacefully providing for their family.
   
   Second, it is the WVI policy that the workforce should be 50 percent men and 50 percent women, thus offering women additional respect and security. This is especially important for women whose husbands and brothers have been killed in the war, and are now heads of their own households. The peaceful situation of the men and women and of children whose parents work at our project is in exemplary in Congo.
   
   Just as with the men, the women working on our project are among the most advanced organic farming workers in central Africa. They are dedicated workers and quite capable. The more funding becomes available, the more we plan to help them gain expertise in new areas. Ironically, although the war has created a horrendous situation for women in general, it has also created new leadership opportunities for women, both in government and in the area of labor. Even as we are able to eliminate the violence towards women, we hope to be able to make the gains in their social position permanent. Several of our assistant managers are women and they do a very effective job.
   
   
6. Do you have a school?
   WVI takes a different approach than most other organizations, in that we stress building an economy first, and then developing other services, as funding becomes available. At present the Catholic church runs a local school, and we have good relations with them. But that particular order will be leaving within a couple years. At that time, as funds become available, we hope to teach not only reading and math, which are offered now, but also ecology courses, as well as vocational skills for older children.
   
   
7. What is your security situation in Ruzizi Valley? Is it dangerous?
   The instability and violence are not over. About a 1000 Congolese continue to die each day as a result of the war. And yet our project is peaceful. We have no fence or armed guards around our property, nor any locks on the doors. There are U.N. forces stationed nearby, and we have carefully built our relationships with various local leaders. However, our most important source of security and safety is simply the support of the local people who have demonstrated that their commitment to this project.
    
8. What about fighting between different ethnic and religious groups?
   Most fighting between so-called ethnic and religious groups is actually just class warfare encouraged by opportunistic political leaders, more than by any fundamental difference in the values of the people, which are fairly similar. We have a policy of including people from all different groups and not tolerating instances of ethnic discrimination. But the biggest thing that promotes peace is that people get to know each other by working together as team mates, and that all groups are participating, so they all have a stake in helping this exciting peace project succeed.
   
   
9. What is the difference between Working Villages and other non-profit charities working in Africa?
   Both types of charities are important. Most charities in Africa address acute needs for food, shelter and medical care caused by regional crisis. Some also work to provide primary education. These specifically focused areas are all important short-term needs. But too often, once people are given food or medical care or even basic education, they are sent back to war and impoverishment. They have no work and they have no alternative except to remain dependent on aid from outside.
   
   Working Villages International is different because it addresses the next stage of need. WVI's holistic program of job training, sustainable agriculture, appropriate technology, and energy self-sufficiency, addresses the long-term need to build a stable economy and community where people can take pride in providing for their own needs by their own skills and labor.
   
   On the other end of the scale, some projects focus on macro-economic development (large scale construction projects) with the hope that economic benefits "trickle down" to the poor. But in Africa, there is practically no "trickle down" effect. Instead, the "trickle up" effect often causes substantial amounts to be lost to administrators of large programs. Again, the result is long-term dependence on outside aid.
   
   WVI is unique in that we focus on a holistic workable plan for economic self-sufficiency at the community level. This alone can break the stranglehold of aid dependency and permanent indebtedness that is currently crippling African economies and wreaking havoc on its environment. Our self-reliant villages will exhibit sustained economic growth and improvement in the quality of life. Whatever money is donated will not simply be used up and disappear. Since donations are in effect seed money for capital development, their effect will instead increase over time.
   
   
10. What is the Village Self Reliance development model? Why is there a need for a new development model?
    Present development models all depend to a greater or lesser degree on access to cheap petroleum. Since the price of gasoline in Congo is now $12/gallon, and the average yearly income in Congo is $100, the economy has essentially collapsed. It has become impossible for the people to afford basic food, clothing and shelter. Village Self Reliance is a practical alternative to the traditional, petroleum-dependent models of economic development. VSR, an economic model developed by WVI's founder Alexander Petroff, relies on local resources and skills and stresses localized economics, appropriate technology and wide-spread small scale ownership. Click here to find out more.
     
11. What are WVI's plans once its first Self Reliant Village has achieved self-managed and sustained growth?
    WVI has authorization from the Congolese government to build additional self-reliant villages in the Ruzizi Valley, and several local village leaders have already approached us requesting to start projects in their area. As these projects become successful, we hope to start additional projects throughout Congo and throughout Africa, and that they will provide an example to be copied by others.
     
12. What will the role of Working Villages International with the town after it has achieved self-sufficiency?
    Working Villages will train not only farmers, business owners, and laborers, but also administrators to oversee and run the village economy. As the village attains economic maturity and self-sufficiency, Working Villages will turn over assets and administrative responsibilities to the village government, which will govern its own affairs without need of assistance from Working Villages or any other organization. As the entire region becomes covered with self-reliant villages, WVI will help the local leaders establish effective regional cooperatives to more effectively grow their economies and improve the quality of life.