Community building is Mika CDC’s core strategy.  It encompasses empowering people, strengthening communities, and maximizing opportunities.  Empowerment is obtained by building individual capacity through mobilizing resources (Rubin & Rubin, 1986).  Empowerment occurs when people learn to do things they never thought they would have the opportunity to try such as:  fundraising, public relations, negotiations, coalition building, public speaking, project design and management, repairing homes and neighborhoods, or managing an office or organization.

Successful community building efforts build on networks already in place and helps to create new bonds among those who share difficulties.  Community building generally refers to strengthening the social networks within the community, and developing group and individual problem-solving and leadership skills.

One of the first steps in Mika CDC’s Community Building process is organizing.  Organization efforts usually stem from a group’s desire to solve shared problems.  The driving force to work together is generally born from an immediate dilemma facing people in similar situations.  Recognizing the joint, urgent problem is only the starting point; achieving a shared vision of what society can and should be requires building lasting, democratically guided organizations.  Visions for change can emerge as people work together and reflect on what they need to accomplish to solve problems.  Such vision often stems from an underlying ideology about what society should be like.