Community Conversation -Stories, what's your reflection.

[Meble Birengo]

During a support visit to Kenya Network of Women with AIDS recently; a team of 30 people engaged in the first ever community conversation around the Mathare drop-in centre.  This was the first time the team has stepped into conversation with people they pass everyday.  The team had spent the morning looking at the thematic annalysis, learning how to 1) see strengths, of care, change, leadership, hope/vison, transfer, leadership, community and capacity. 

 

As part of the practice and strengthening the relationship between the drop-in centre of Mathare and its community/surrounding, the community conversations ( just like a normal SALT visit but on the streets) were done and the team wrote a few stories on those conversations.

 

A few reflections on the outcomes of the conversations -

 

Ø      Community concerns are diverse and some are different from one another.  At times when you listen carefully, concerns expressed in homes are the same concerns expressed in the community conversations.

 

Ø      People will change with any possible outreach – when they have the information they will find ways to change.

 

Ø      “I wanted to run away from not doing the conversations because I was scared and didn’t know how it will go, but after we begun talking I found it to be very easy and the community members are the ones who have more information

 

Ø      We assume a lot of things, at times we go far but the closer people to us don’t know about KENWA – we need to have more conversations around our drop-in centers

 

Ø      When we ‘step out’, its an opportunity to learn from each other

 

Ø      Community conversations are good – we should not assume them but interact for learning

 

Ø      Community conversations are an advantage, when we continue, crime will reduce

 

Thanks for your reflections -

 

Meble