Community dialogues - Nelson Mandela Foundation

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which different communities could work through commonchallenges and potential solutions.He explained that community <strong>dialogues</strong> were about giving powerback to communities and encouraging them to take ownership byplacing responsibility for their own well-being in their hands.He then went on to talk about how community conversations arefacilitated interventions. He emphasised that if local communitieswere smothered by externally driven processes, the dialoguemethodology would not be taken up and would never becomesustainable in the long-term.Campbell noted that dialogue interventions that were embeddedright at the beginning of a crisis tend to be more sustainable,even more so when the will of the community is truly engaged. Aframework that links policy and local community responses allowscommunities to “work from their strengths while acknowledgingtheir weaknesses”, so that the process expands organically and buildslocal capacity, Campbell said.He then investigated the intersections of home, neighbourhood,community and professional areas, and how these shared spacesprovide a platform for stigma reduction, saying: “Individual action isshaped by social and structural factors.”Programmes like HIV/AIDS community conversations givecommunities the opportunity to develop their own internalproblem-solving mechanisms, thereby embedding a problemsolvingculture and enhancing the community’s capacity torespond to the complex challenge of HIV/AIDS. Campbellemphasised that it was more important than ever to push thistype of dialogue programme, transfer skills to the community,and move toward sustainability.“There needs to be an institutional transition from our own expertiseto the community’s expertise,” he said, noting that energy andenthusiasm are needed to ensure the success of this kind of work.Campbell emphasised that rights, ethics and health are closelylinked, and that local health movements need tofocus on human resources development byincentivising community involvement. He alsoemphasised that measurement, evaluationand monitoring are all essential toensure that the programme developsinto “long-term engagementwhich stays the course” andavoids the pitfalls of short-termquick fixes.He then acknowledged theimportant role that thefacilitators and stakeholdersplay, applauding themfor inspiring hope. “Youare one element of thecommunity conversationsand are a seminal source ofcatalysing human response.“This is only just thebeginning. We need to committo the idea that communityconversations matter and thatevery community counts.”During the question and answer sessionafter his address, Campbell responded to aquestion about corporate intervention. “Poverty andmoney is not the way to get into the conversation. We need touse human capacity as an entry point,” he said.“This is only just thebeginning. We needto commit to theidea that communityconversations matter andthat every communitycounts.”Ian CampbellCampbell concluding by saying that local communities shouldbe allowed to continue the conversations process on their own.“Communities have the capacity to relate, have insight andmake the change in their lives ... Intervention is necessary at thebeginning and then the will of the people needs to be engaged.”20 HIV/AIDS community conversations programme findings and lessons HIV/AIDS community conversations programme findings and lessons21
“The reason for thisis that sometimesstudents are scaredto talk in front ofelders in normalconversations.”Sello MashibiniSession One: Whatfacilitators experiencedThe HIV/AIDS community conversations programme has reachedmany people, some of whom disclosed their status, startedorganisations or set up action committees, while others becamefacilitators or social mobilisers. In a report-back session at the HIV/AIDS consultative forum that followed Ian Campbell’s keynoteaddress, facilitators spoke about their day-to-day challengesduring the course of the programme and the achievements of themethodology. This session was moderated by Lesley Nkosi andincluded facilitators from the provinces.Sello Mashibini, a facilitator from Galeshewe in Kimberleyin the Northern Cape, said that since communityconversations had been introduced, there had beena decision to establish an organisation to help buildself esteem in women and girls in the community.He added that the organisation Youth AIDS hadapproached facilitators and mobilisers about startingschool conversations on the last Friday of every month.“The reason for this is that sometimes students arescared to talk in front of elders in normal conversations,”Mashibini said.Mdu Gumede from Ngangelizwe in Mthatha in the EasternCape said his community was grappling with the rape of womenand children at popular nightspots. In response, and followingon discussions during local conversations, community membershad got together and ensured that a popular night spot, KopanoLounge, was shut down. Another marker of the conversations’impact in the area and the trust built between communitymembers was that one woman who had been living with HIV/AIDSfor 21 years finally disclosed her status to the community.The community of Ngangelizwe had also started prison communityconversations, and inmates in Wellington, Mthatha, had askedfacilitators to return and host more discussions.Mojalefa Magae, a facilitator from Thaba Nchu in the Free State,said that in his community they had found that there was a needfor safe spaces where people could talk freely about burningHIV/AIDS community conversations programme findings and lessons23
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Community dialogues - Nelson Mandela Foundation

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