Lack of urgency in village operations

Local development is hampered by a time rhythm which does not attach urgency to the task of implementing the dreams of the people. In daily community life, deadlines seem not to exist, and intended actions often encounter numerous delays. Unable to find ways of acting rapidly together to implement a community's vision, residents are unable to generate and sustain the motivation necessary for systematic development. Rural families living in one-room mud huts with hazardous thatched roofs may passively await promised housing; although water is usually scarce and is known to be contaminated, there is not much practical urgency attached to digging a village well; in some villages, afternoons are considered inappropriate work times and villagers work in the fields half days several times a week. The rapid growth of jungle vegetation makes keeping roads and footpaths cleared a never-ending task, carrying with it a subtle sense of the futility of any creative action.