Process is an alternative to conversation

A story of Local Response from Katabi community, Uganda by Phil

Process is an alternative to conversation

Health Nest Uganda (HENU) is an indigenous, not-for-profit making organisation based in Entebbe. It was started in 2007 and was registered by the Government of Uganda in 2009 with a mission of working for the cause and care of disadvantaged members of the community and to improve their quality of life more especially older persons and orphans.

HENU seeks to promote dignity, equality, independence of individuals and the communities that it serves. HENU focuses on community strengths and ensures that the communities they engage with, more especially older persons are participating fully as active agent of change: this is achieved through a strength based approach called Community Life Competence.

Arthur Namara is the Executive Director of HENU and in October 2017 he accompanied a group of visitors from around the world to spend some time with a community called the Katabi Elderly Peoples Association.

The Katabi Elderly Peoples Association came into existence in 2008. An early financial failure in growing mushrooms nearly caused the failure of the organisation. However, shortly after the crisis Health Nest Uganda (HENU) introduced the community to the SALT and CLCP process. Since that early brush with disaster, the Association has gone from strength to strength.

Throughout their life, the Association has been accompanied by HENU. The work ‘accompanied’ is deliberate. This is low, quiet support that is always there. People are proud of the support that they have received from HENU facilitators to help them with their internal organisation. They also recognise the benefit that they have received from the external links that HENU facilitators have made to the Association.

Since 2008, HENU have attended the meeting held every 2 weeks. They sit together and share their experiences. HENU have simply become part of the dialogue.

In our conversation with the community, frequent reference was made to the dream of the community. Their dream had clearly had an impact on the work of the Association in the areas of nutrition, sanitation, exercise and health checks. There was very clear evidence of a systematic approach that had persisted over the 10 years that HENU had accompanied the community. There was clear evidence of the energy and commitment of the members of the association. But there was no mention of the other steps that we recognise in the Community Life Competence Process.

Arthur explained that since 2008, HENU has attended the meeting of the association held every 2 weeks. They sit together and share their experiences. HENU have simply become part of the dialogue. In fact, HENU have become part of the community.

When the dialogue becomes so consistent and persistent then the formal steps in the process become less necessary. It is easy to fall into the trap on concentrating on the process, the individual steps in the methodology and the minutiae of each step. It is important to remember that the purpose of the process is to stimulate consistent action in service of a shared dream. In many ways, it is fair to say that the process is an alternative to an ongoing dialogue. If the ongoing dialogue is productive and leads to shared action there is less and less need for the details of a process.

It is very easy for the champions of a process to forget this rule. One strong reason to support CLCP is that the process stimulates conversation.

When we engaged in consistent conversation that led to action, we left behind the rigidity of CLCP.