I was going to the forums to look for soil structure info for the LARE and came across your posting.
I used to work primarily with non-profit organizations in Los Angeles on community based greening project – everything from sustainable school layouts to streetscape projects. On all of these projects I worked with the people in these specific communities – all have had real social issues- -within these project settings I have worked with youth in gangs, foster children, and the list goes on. I have also -on my own- built a garden in a school in Peru with children living in poor conditions and orphanages.
All this said- I have not worked in Pakistan but I do know that working in these types of settings the best thing to do is actually work with the communities that you are building in and set up charrettes with the children that you are going to be building for. They need to have a say in the process and feel like they are a part of the process. By directing the design chareette in an a sensible but empowering way you can get great ideas from people that are living in their community and who know their culture instead of outsiders trying to force design on the land and the community. just my two cents. . . back to studying.
