ABSTRACT
In more than one of the selected villages, SELVA personnel have experienced difficulty in explaining to their contacts that the benefits of the scheme and involvement in it should extend beyond the immediate family and friends of the SELVA contact. In one particular village, the local ‘cacique’ or village head assumed that all persons involved should be members of his family and all others should be excluded. In another village, SELVA risked losing goodwill and interest by alienating a local village head who did not take kindly to the idea that as many villagers as possible should be involved. If the programme begins to show some signs of success, SELVA also risk converting themselves into a local elite, whom others will approach with deference. This is not their aim and to their credit it can be said that they are aware of the problem.
