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| Establishing a list of community contacts for interviews and other assignments is the first task of the Tandem Project Community Education Manual, How to Monitor Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief: Equal Separation by Belief and State. But first you must open the Community Information Database and select a community.
COMMUNITY CATEGORIES The Community Resources Database is a spreadsheet or written list of institutions, organizations and individuals in the community to be contacted for Part II Study Topic research assignments. The list is divided into nine major categories needed for research of a community report. They are; Community Profile, Religion or Belief, Human Rights, Government, Education, Economics, Services, Media, Arts. The Tandem Project Community Education Manual is for population areas of 100,000 or less. This is to give residents who write or respond to the Community Report a sense of civic duty, a responsibility to engage their neighbors in dialogue on how to promote tolerance and prevent discrimination based on religion or belief in the community where they live. COMMUNITY CONTACTS The Community Report on Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief is for the smallest designated governmental areas of a country. The List of Community Contacts is for government institutions, religions or beliefs, organizations and individuals serving the community but not necessarily located in the geographical area. Not all communities will be able to fill out a list of contacts for each sector, especially in remote rural or village areas. Having a complete list is not necessary or important. Filling out a community contact list should reflect the geography, culture and activity of your community. Making a list of contacts will be a learning experience in itself and will enable you to get a better understanding of what to look for as you complete the study topic research assignments. Click on community sectors below and begin to fill out your list of community contacts.
Demography is the statistical study of human populations. The first list is a demographic profile of the community. Review the statistics called for in Section I of the Community Report on Human Rights and Freedom of Religion or Belief. Write a name or title for each of the categories below. A list of contacts for the Community Profile can be regional, village or city planning departments, census bureaus, chambers of commerce, school boards, religions or beliefs, demographers in academic institutions, Internet resources, or anyone else who can give you a statistical breakdown of your community. Write a name or title for each of the categories below and then look up the contact information and list it by the fields and tags on your database spreadsheet, cut and paste this sector to an attached word file, or list the contact information on a separate piece of paper. Write the name or title of the person or organization to contact. Repeat the name, title and full address for the contact in your Community Resources Database. 1. Population of the Community 2. Square Miles of the Community 3. Literacy Rate of the Community 4. Major Economic Activity of the Community 5. Names of Major and Minority Religions or Beliefs 6. Names of Ethnic Groups 7. Names of Political Parties 8. Names of Government Boards and Commissions
Establish a contact list with addresses of all the religions or beliefs in the community. This list is only for places of worship or assembly. Names and titles of contacts for religious schools, charities, human rights, publications and arts groups are listed in the other community sectors. Write the place of worship or assembly to contact. Repeat the name, title and full address in your Community Resources Database. 1. Place of Worship 2. Place of Worship 3. Place of Worship 4. Place of Worship 5. Place of Worship 6. Place of Worship 7. Place of Worship 8. Place of Worship 9. Place of Assembly 10. Place of Assembly
Human rights contacts can be governmental, non-governmental (NGO), religious, secular, general purpose or thematic such as organizations against torture, for women’s rights, racial equality, indigenous rights, cultural rights, children’s rights. Establish a list of all Human Rights organizations in your community or in close proximity. Write the name or title of the person or organization to contact. Repeat the name, title and full address for the contact in your Community Resources Database. 1. General Purpose 2. Women’s Rights 3. Racial Equality 4. Indigenous Rights 5. Religious Human Rights 6. Children’s Rights 7. Economic Rights 8. Cultural Rights 9. Govt. Human Rights Departments
The Government list of contacts in your community shall include all civil service offices with a responsibility for oversight on some aspect of human rights and freedom of religion or belief. This can be a surprisingly large list of boards and commissions, elected offices, agencies, departments and individuals. To begin, list the government agencies and departments most responsible for oversight. Later, add contacts as study topic assignments discover new relationships between belief and state. The government sector includes such civil services as the religious affairs, zoning, housing, police, welfare, health, employment and military. Public schools and government human rights departments are in other sectors. Many government offices are located outside the geographical boundaries of the community in a region or city nearby. Write the name, title, office, agency or department you wish to contact. Repeat the name, title, organization and full address in your Community Resources Database. 1. Mayor or Village Manager 2. Elected Legislators 3. Major Political Party 4. Minority Political Party 5. City, Village Administrator 6. Religious Affairs, Registration 7. Justice Ministry, Legal Advocates, Judges 8. Police Department 9. Civil Rights Department 10. Military, Defense Department 11. Building Permits 12. Zoning Department 13. Welfare Department 14. Health Department 15. Housing Department 16. Employment, Jobs Agency 17. Census Bureau, Demographics 18. Other
Establish a contact list for all primary, secondary and higher schools of education within the community or in close proximity and serving the community. This includes all public, private and religious schools including education within places of worship. Begin by listing the schools that serve the community. Later, you will expand this listby interviewing primary and secondary teachers, professors and other academics in subjects such assecondary school social studies and history, higher education cross-culturalstudies, sociology, philosophy, theology, bio-ethics, psychology and others appropriate tostudy topic assignments on human rights and freedom of religion orbelief. Write the name or title of the schools to contact. Repeat the name, teacher, title, school and full address for each contact in your Community Resources Database. Later add teacher and professor interviews with course material appropriate to your research. 1. Primary Public School/s 2. Primary Religious School/s 3. Primary Private School/s 4. Secondary Public School/s 5. Secondary Religious School/s 6. Secondary Private School/s 7. Education in Places of Worship 8. Parents Associations 9. Home Schools 10. Community Education 11. Colleges and Universities 12. Law Schools 13. Seminaries
Establish a contact list of business associations, chambers of commerce, better business bureau’s, credit unions and employment agencies in the community. Selectively create a representative sample of business contacts in the community after consulting a business or business association on the nature of the research and the type of interviews you wish to have with businesses. Write the name, title or business you wish to contact. Repeat the name, title, business and full address in your Community Resources Database. 1. Chamber of Commerce 2. Small Business Association 3. Large Corporation/s 4. Small Business/s 5. Credit Bureau 6. Economic Development Corporation 7. Non-Profit Corporation/s
Establish a contact list of private and religious social service agencies, charitable and humanitarian institutions serving the community. Public social services and charities are also listed in the Government sector. Charities may include services like food shelves, emergency shelters, counseling and education assistance. They may exist within the community or outside the boundaries within a larger geographical area. Write the name, title or organization you wish to contact. Repeat the name, title, organization and full address in your Community Resources Database. 1. Health Clinic/s 2. Hunger Assistance 3. Emergency Housing 4. Domestic Shelters 5. Employment Agencies 6. Welfare Departments 7. Humanitarian Institutions 8. Other
Establish a contact list for newspapers, television stations, radio stations, advertising agencies, Internet providers, publications and other media serving the community. Include all public, religious, ethnic and indigenous media. Write the name or title of the organization you wish to contact. Repeat the name, title, organization and full address in the Community Resources Database. 1. Newspapers 2. Television Stations 3. Radio Stations 4. Local Advertising 5. Religious Publications 6. Internet Providers
Establish a list of contacts for ethnic groups, writers, poets, dance groups, theater, drama, film and other fine arts that serve the community. Write the name and title of the person or organization to contact. Repeat the names, titles, persons, organizations and full address in your Community Resources Database. 1. Cultural Groups 2. Ethnic Dance Groups 3. Religious Art 4. Theater Groups 5. Writer’s 6. Poets 7. Film Studios 8. Other |
