Community Development: A Reflective Essay on Project Design

This reflective essay delves into a student's experience within a community development project focused on addressing mental health issues among international students. The project involved designing and distributing a survey, analyzing the data, and developing intervention strategies such as motivational speaking and awareness campaigns. The essay highlights the challenges of collaborative teamwork, including unequal contribution and conflict resolution. It further reflects on the application of community development principles, such as empowerment and capacity building, to improve the well-being of the target population. The student expresses a desire to participate in similar community development activities in the future. Desklib provides access to this and many other student-contributed assignments.

Running head: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 1
Community Development
Name
Institution

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 2
Community Development
My interest in the overall aspect of community development sprung from such an early
experience. Few weeks ago I got a chance to participate in a group where we had to design a
survey that would act as our presentation in week 10. While it was easy choosing a survey topic,
we experienced some difficulties especially when it came to designing the survey. Notably, this
was because we were not in a position to decide on the information that was to be included in the
survey and those that were to be excluded. On the other hand, we had to set few questions for our
survey. One thing that captivated me was the fact that I was in charge of designing the survey
monkey after which I sent off to my friends as well as colleagues who are international students
in Australia mainly to fill out the survey. Consequently, I received a positive feedback or rather
responses for the survey.
After accessing the survey, we were to decide on the best strategy to help international
students with mental illnesses. There are a number of studies that have suggested that
international students are at a higher risk of experiencing psychological disorders (Gross et al.,
2018). As a result, we decided to formulate some sessions where we had to give a motivational
speech in various colleges particularly through a one-on-one counseling for those students who
are stressed or depressed (Worden, 2018). Additionally, we participated in setting up awareness
campaigns in various colleges regarding mental health issues as well as warning the students that
they should not be ashamed by mental illness (US National Library of Medicine and National
Institute of Health, 2015). In this light, we encouraged them to participate in the campaign
especially to get help and advice on the same. Some of the guiding principles or rather aims of
the program that we set was to empower the international students to fight against for their
rights, to make sure that there was a decline in the prevalence as well as possibilities of mental

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 3
health among the international students, and to improve the general well-being of these set of
students and their sense of presence (Enhancing Student Wellbeing, 2016). In essence, mental
illness is a complication that needs to be addressed in contemporary society given the fact that it
has had a damaging effect on various people in the societal setting (Better Health Channel,
2018). This was, therefore, a perfect opportunity to address this issue with an aim of helping
those that might be going through such difficulties.
To achieve the set objectives, we had to work in a team and, therefore, everyone was
expected to give his or her best towards the set aims. However, during this period particularly
because it was a group presentation, every member of the team was not contributing enough
from their side. Consequently, I decided to somehow step and do something more to make sure
that everyone was on the toe with the schedule to meet the expectation in the long run. At some
point, we had to divide equally where everyone had to research on their own section and design a
PowerPoint presentation slides that were to be presented in the class. During the PowerPoint
presentation, we compiled various mental health leading factors such as cultural shock,
homesickness among students, loneliness in a different country, financial issues, unemployment,
as well as academic difficulties (Emily, 2018). On the other hand, we realized that mental illness
can lead to various adverse consequences on a particular person. Some of the consequences that
we noted down were anxiety, stress, depression, panic attacks, eating disorders, and trauma
(Funds for Ngo’s, nd).
Working in a group has never been an easy task especially because one gets to interact
with people who have varied traits some of which are manageable while others are extreme.
Despite my dedication to making the group deliver the set objectives in time, there was always
the chance of one person dragging the group behind. In this light, there was an individual who

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 4
never turned up to the classes thus he never finished his task on time. Nonetheless, no one in the
group was ready to confront him regarding that habit and I realized that I had to take a step of
telling him that he was not doing the right thing. Although he was warned twice by the teacher
regarding his habit, he continued missing classes on several occasion. Consequently, he gave all
the group members a hard time but we tried our best to manage everything and therefore we
finished making the presentation on time. Overall, everyone was satisfied with our presentation
especially because we worked as a group apart from one person but at the end of the session, we
managed to get the presentation on the right track. Notably, this is one of the most exciting
experiences that I have had in the past few years especially because in some extent I felt engaged
in community development activity something I have always yearned for. I am, therefore,
looking forward to attending many such development activities in the future.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 5
References
Better Health Channel. (2018). Types of mental health and Illness of Retrieved
fromhttps://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/ServicesAndSupport/types-of-mental-
health-issues-and-illnesses#
Emily. (2018). The mental Woes of International Students.Retrieved
fromhttps://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/it-s-stressful-being-an-other-the-
mental-health-woes-of-international-students-20180530-p4zifn.html
Enhancing Student Wellbeing. (2016). Resources for University Educators Retrieved from
http://unistudentwellbeing.edu.au/framework/
Funds for Ngo’s .(nd). Grants and resources for sustainability Retrieved from
https://www2.fundsforngos.org/featured/how-to-ensure-sustainability/
Gross, M., Moore, Z. E., Gardner, F. L., Wolanin, A. T., Pess, R., & Marks, D. R. (2018). An
empirical examination comparing the Mindfulness-Acceptance-Commitment approach
and Psychological Skills Training for the mental health and sport performance of female
student athletes. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 16(4), 431-451.
US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health. (2015). Mental Health
problems and Treatment Considerations. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4527955/
Worden, J. W. (2018). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health
practitioner. Springer Publishing Company.