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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 11, 2019

single person in the community, especially the disadvantaged people, to the key
precondition that people are not conceptualized as objects of development.

Connection-centered volunteerism stimulates the collective identity of a cohesive
community while maintaining the identity of individual socio-cultural uniqueness. It

enhances the self-image of an identity of cohesiveness and bridges everyone to a
community collectivism to which all individuals and groups feel a sense of

belonging and representation irrespective of all forms of differences and diversity.
Again, it motivates people to be involved in the processes of healthy and

harmonious association building within which individual uniqueness and

representation is again recognized, appreciated, and respected.

Energizing such a community with an identity of cohesiveness preserves some
important aspects of social development such as the cultural and spiritual aspects

even at the grassroots. As a whole, it is therefore to “re-humanize” people who have

been continuously and systematically “de-humanized” by extremely negative
consequences of some prolonged conservative approaches to development in which

ordinary people become objects. There is a plethora of writings which indicates that
in conservative development enterprise, people have been perceived as passive,

identity-less recipients to whom development can and has to be brought. Therefore,
social development action, even at the grassroots, promotes collective dimension of

identity and feeling of belonging as an element of paramount important and rejects

the dehumanizing enterprise of development driven social change. This fundamental
requirement for local level social development action, the focus on human relations

inherent in the approaches and strategies of connection-centered volunteerism is
instrumental in building communities of collective dimension.

Strategies

When the people engage in collective community action, and become connected
together through volunteering, strategies are created for social development to take

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