Checking on progress in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea

[Phil]

In this YouTube video, Gaston discusses how the young people in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, keep their finger on the pulse of what is happening in their community. If you want numbers, they won't have them. But they do have a sense of the progress that the community is making and they are able to take action when they see a problem. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n-OmxxWdnk

Here is a transcript of the clip:

"I was in Papua New Guinea in the province of Mount Hagen. There is a settlement there called Walis Station. We have done several SALT visits there and the settlement had done a Self Assessment.

What they decided to do there was very interesting. The young people decided to meet every 2 weeks and have a coffee night. During this coffee night, they did not drink alcohol, as they would usually do during an evening out. Instead, they would discuss the issues ongoing in the community and the progress they are making on, for example, the relationships in the community, discrimination, stigma, the atmosphere in the community.

They started by meeting once every month and now they meet once every 2 weeks. They do this to see if the community is progressing in a qualitative way. So, for them, it is not so much the amount of testing, the number of people on ARV. They can check that in the Health Centre.

But if you have regular discussions, then you can check to see if you are making progress on things like inclusion, risky behaviour or your vulnerabilities. And if you find problems arising, you can take early action to deal with them."

[Laurel]

This is a really nice example of how conversation supports early intervention and the power of narrative. Furthermore it also recognizes the young people as the "experts". ie the "experts " about identifying their own problems and the solutions to them rather than having someone come in from the outside and doing this. Very empowering for the young people concerned

[Marie Lamboray]

Traduction du blog en français:

Dans cette vidéo de YouTube, Gaston explique comment les jeunes à Mount Hagen, Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, prennent le pouls de leur communauté. Si vous voulez des chiffres, ils ne les auront pas. Mais ils sont conscients des progrès que réalisent la communauté et sont capables d’agir si un problème surgit.

Traduction de la transcription :
« Nous avons rendu plusieurs visites SALT au village appelé Walis Station dans la province de Mount Hagen en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée. Ce village a fait son auto-évaluation.
Ce que les jeunes ont décidé de faire était très intéressant. Ils ont décidé de se réunir toutes les deux semaines pour une soirée café. Au cours de cette soirée, ils ne boivent pas d'alcool, comme ils le font habituellement au cours des soirées, mais ils discutent des questions qui préoccupent la communauté et des progrès qu'ils font, par exemple, par rapport aux relations dans la communauté, la discrimination, la stigmatisation, l'atmosphère dans la communauté.
Au début, ils se réunissaient une fois par mois et maintenant une fois toutes les deux semaines. Cela leur permet de voir si la communauté progresse de manière qualitative. Il ne s’agit donc pas tant du nombre de tests, du nombre de personnes sous ARV. Ils peuvent se renseigner à propos de ces chiffres au Centre de santé.
Mais si vous avez des discussions régulières, alors vous pouvez voir si vous faites des progrès sur, par exemple, l'inclusion, les comportements à risque ou vos vulnérabilités. Et si des problèmes surgissent, vous pouvez prendre rapidement des mesures pour y faire face ».

[Rituu B. Nanda]

Thanks Phil. Communities find simple ways to track their own progress!

On this topic I am citing from Ian and Alison Campbell's experience in Glocon:

The root of authentic measurement of progress is local neighbourhood community response that acts, self measures for progress, and transfers to other communities. Measuring progress and outcomes externally is  necessarily informed through, and supportive to, community counselling, timelines, and transfer mapping, as well as other local group approaches to self assessment.

Sharing timelines and transfer maps between communities are strong ways for community to community 'twinning' to form across language, culture, faith, and politics.