We are launching our CanaCaribe Newsletter and we want you to be a part of it!

With the increase of crime and violence in our region, this is an excellent opportunity for us to highlight the champions of peace.

Send us a project report of what you or youths in your country are doing to…

What is my  journey? What is my motivation? What do I get out of it?

When I was told to do the community work, to engage people, build rapport and get them to participate or volunteer in their community, I was a bit relented even though I grew up in the village, where community are strong and vibrant. But, After a year of using case management approach, which is mostly one to one as individual, or to one family and getting of impression of how secularized the people here,…

Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee has decided to hold the XIX International AIDS Conference Hub in Kolkata, India from 22^nd July to 27^th July 2012. This will be first of its kind in India. The Kolkata Conference Hub will be organized in collaboration with the Global Network of Sex Work Projects with support from International Aids Society and other UN agencies. This will provide a grand opportunity to showcase our effort to curb HIV/AIDs in India and…

(This abstract has been selected for Oral Presentation atthe NACP III Dissemination Summit,to be held in New Delhi, from 25-27April 2012. Submitted by Fr Joe and Rituu B Nanda)

2) Implementing partner and funding agency: People in Need Foundation (PNF), Dimapur and UNAIDS.…

Learning from our History,

The week long Visit to Rwanda during the Genocide memorial week/GLOCON had a huge learning experience for me. In their journey(Rwandes), one of learning from their History to…

My video contribution to A Day Without Dignity 2012 can be viewed on how-matters.org's YouTube Channel! 

Below are some other posts featuring local champions on…

“What is our motivation? What drives us at work?  What do we get out of our journey?”  These are questions for our reflection this week after a nun shared her motivation and challenges in journeying with under-aged girls exploited for prostitution.

So what is mine?  Shortly after I joined Beyond Social Service last June, I fell sick so often and I wonder why.  Looking back, I realised that one of the reasons was because I was not emotionally ready to handle the multiple…

By Beverly Bell

April 9, 2012

Welcome to Birthing Justice: Women Creating Economic and Social Alternatives. The series features twelve alternative social and economic models which expand the possibilities for justice, equity, and strong community. They are based in the US, Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Some are national-level, some global-level. Some are propelled by people’s movements, some forced or adopted into government policy.…

This journey began in May 2011 when I return from the learning experience applying CLCP to WASH in Suriname. I was aware of a similar project in Guyana being implemented by Red Cross. Now I understand that it as a collaboration of the French and Guyana Red Cross project but that had ended but that a new phase was about to begin. A casual conversation with Xavier Zimmerman and Suparna Bera-Narine resulted in “We are interested in you making us, our Facilitators SALTy or learn the…

Last week I was at an inspiring meeting in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  A dozen of us gathered from different parts of the US to continue an exploration of common ground.  There's a confluence happening.  Especially over the last decade people have been working with different words to explore the same questions: How do we create healthy communities?  Communities where happiness is pursued, not  consumption.  Communities where people live with the graceful bounty of this planet rather than…

Some time back in one of the meetings with an organization, we all were asked to describe what our regular work day is like. Well, after giving it a brief thought, I said I do not have a regular work day. My work days are rather medium or large!! I mean, not a day passes for me when I don’t learn anything. Every day I meet people, talk to them, learn so much from them and get inspired from them. Do u think it’s a regular work day.. Nah, don’t think so!! Consciously or unconsciously…

I have started to put content on a site called 'Constellation Learning'. The hope is that it will contain material for people who facilitate the Community Life Competence process.

I have added a section called 'Learning tools' to this site. It contains a description and discussion on the Constellation Learning tools. It is taken from the updated version of Blended Learning. The tools discussed are AAR, learn-and-share, story telling, peer assist, knowledge asset and knowledge…

GLoCon is travelling this year to many communities throughout the world, to say thank you for the courage, faith and resilience each has demonstrated, in the face of serious challenges to life and health. In 25 countries, over 30 communities will be visited, for up to a week.   The team that forms is drawn from AFFIRM facilitation associates and other people who want to explore the vision and direction of GLoCon. In short, every community counts and no neighbourhood should be…

The Indigenous People’s Commission (IPC) is one of four Rights Commissions established under Article 212 G of the Guyana Constitution and tasked, inter alia, with setting up mechanisms to enhance the status of Indigenous Peoples.2012 is the first year of effectively working and one of the major activity is outreaches to Amerindian villages helping them to know and understand why IPC, its functions and how they can benefit from the IPC’s existence. During the visit IPC wanted to also get some…

The question of how to develop and strengthen the social capital of the community has been on my mind over the past months as I walked around the neighbourhood of Henderson. It was by coincidence that two of my teammates chanced upon a small notice in the RC about an upcoming youth volunteers meeting.

Last Friday night, my colleague Anne and I attended the “Youth Volunteers Network” meeting that was initiated by a 15 year old Youth leader of the Henderson RC. We…

Les anciens résidents du centre de la Croix-Rouge pour demandeurs d’asile à Beho, Belgique, ont joyeusement souhaité la bienvenue à quatre nouveaux membres. Ces derniers résident actuellement à Beho. Ils ont trouvé soutien et encouragement auprès des 11 anciens dont Marie Camara qui a accueilli tout le monde chez elle à Malmédy. A l'agenda de cette après-midi du 3 mars 2012: renforcer la communauté et les liens entre les membres. La communauté grandit et pour passer du rêve à l'action, et…

BelCompetence a organisé une réunion pour préparer la mise à niveau de ses facilitateurs et la formation de nouveaux facilitateurs. A Vielsalm, dimanche 11 mars 2012, Marie Christine Swennen, Louis-Marie Butoyi, Fabien Manirafa et Jean-Louis Lamboray ont discuté du format du BL (Blended Learning), de son contenu, de la durée de la formation, de la validation et du calendrier. Après avoir fait le point sur les formations passées, ils ont élaboré une stratégie de formation. La première…

( Ian and Alison Campbell are re-visiting all the communities they have worked with in past two decades.  They will cover 25 countries in six phases. The local team mates join this team in their respective countries. The journey is called Global and local community conversations. Here are reflections from Ian after the first phase. Thanks Ian for sharing!)…

Hi there everyone, realised that the blog I sent was incomplete. So here is the other part which was missing.

Example 2.  Society may probably perceive them as "pitiful" and as though they have limited education and abilities, but these communities have proven that they have the capacity to respond to their life situation. Like one of them said, "Where there is a Will there's a Way." They build their own network, working with the police, govt. bodies, schools and also…