Sharing our limited experience for trainers: participatory rural appraisal or participatory learning methods

MYRADA, an NGO working in Karnataka, India, has been using PRA/PALM (Participatory Learning Methods) since 1988. This article reflects on their learning experiences, concentrating on the organisation and approach needed when carrying out PRA activities in a village. PRA/PALM should be "more than a training for outsiders" - the purpose of the exercise should be clear to all. PRA activities tend to "focus upon issues that can yield hard data rather than touch upon relationships". Other reflections include: the composition of the groups of PRA facilitators and of villagers, how to enter the village and "fit in", materials required, duration and timing of training.