I’m currently in Santa Fe, New Mexico and last weekend I stopped in at a favorite place of mine here, the Museum of International Folk Art. A current exhibit, “The Arts of Survival: Folk Expression in the Face of Disaster,” had caught my eye and I wanted to check it out.…

Well this is my first blog and i want to first talk about my inspiration with the bottom up approach of the community life competence before loading blogs on my specialty as a malaria coach and facilitator.

My journey with the Constellation started in the summer of 2005 when I joined the Constellation community of learning and sharing of malaria competency experiences and in building and strengthening communities to scale up for impact. This experience is…

In response to an earlier post on how-matters.org, “Sorry but it’s not YOUR project,” a reader offered the following guest post. Andebo Pax Pascal shares his experience as an aid worker in Africa’s newest country.



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My friend Tom is working for “Aid Agency X”, which has prided itself in working ‘with’ and not ‘for’ the people, a sign that it is ready to involve the community in its development…

I want to share an experience on creating a new framework and would like your input on my main question: when is a framework most effective?

Creating a Self Assessment Framework in Surinam

We're applying the CLCP to WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) in 16 villages in Surinam. During the first week of the project we transfered the process to 30 trainers and facilitators. During this week we also created the…

I realize that ACP has been important for my life. ACP show me that wherever who are, where you are what you have but the most important is that: People have strengths, have something to share and learn from each other. No matter the social statement, but that the community know something and that we have to take advantage. This is what ACP teach me day-by-day.

Ensuring that high quality condoms are widely available, either free or at an affordable price, is fundamental to a pragmatic and effective AIDS response. In a recently published report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) focuses on the increasing use of female condoms and highlights how millions of women around the world are now using this method to protect themselves against HIV.

HIV prevention that women can control

Titled HIV prevention gains momentum:…

In my point of view, we need to move from having project- specific assistance to Developmental and Institutional Projects because this is what makes the changes sustainable.

If a person is diagnosed with HIV, his or her capacity must be built. He or she needs support to develop confidence in him/herself and take charge of his/her own fate as well as the task of convincing other positive people to come out.and this is lacking in our communities.

We must also not forget…

Richard Moore describes himself as “just a guy who wanted to help.”

This is somehow funny coming from a man whom the Dalai Lama refers to as “my hero.”

Well known to the residents of Derry, Ireland, where we met last month, Richard Moore was shot at the age of 10 by a British solider on his way home from school. Taking a rubber bullet on the bridge of his nose, Richard lost…

By Beverly Bell

August 2, 2011



Gerta Louisama is a member of the Executive Committee and the National Women’s Committee of Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen, Heads Together Small Producers of Haiti, Haiti’s largest and oldest peasant group. She is also head of the local Tèt Kole Women’s Committee in her village of Savanette. Here she speaks about the Tèt Kole’s efforts to win recognition, social equality, and economic rights for rural Haitians, especially women.…

I give lots of thought to what makes community-based organizations the lowest common denominator in development aid. Readers of how-matters.org may already be familiar with previous arguments I’ve offered for the increased inclusion of and investment in community-based organizations (CBOs). As an ardent proponent of CBOs’ comparative advantages, I believe they have a better chance of being driven by “the…

"I must say, at first when I was being introduced to this Process, I was apprehensive. I see potential and I kept saying yes it will work, but at the back of my mind, I was thinking somethingelse. Now that I have been with you, these past seven days in the communities, I am appalled at what I see happening, THIS PROCESS WORKS! In fact I am happy that I made the effort…

Pendant ma visite à Samara, Laurence m'a demandé d'interviewer un des amis russes comme 'Membre du mois' pour notre newsletter de la Constellation. J'ai choisi d'écrire sur Alexei, une personne hors du commun. L'histoire ci-dessous est le résultat de plusieurs conversations pendant la semaine et ses contributions pendant les visites SALT. Marlou

Colleagues, find feedback on ACP conducted in Trinidad and Tobago. I think that there is much we can learn from this feedback.

1. 1.       What do you expect from this event?

• More info on networking  +goal setting
• The exposure to a new approach of dealing with HIV/AIDS, its spread and impact and a greater understanding  of  the role of communities, all stakeholders.
• I expect to learn “new” skills, concepts,…

Thank to all the who atteended tha AIDS COMPETENCE WORK SHOP it was a wonderfull experance and very informitive.

We also shared lots of information from our communitise and how we use SALT to work in our comminities.

The facilitators from GUYANA was great they work with us so we were well SALTED when we lef the workshop

Thank again from the members of TOBAGO OASIS FOUNDATION.

Disciples of SALT

The skill or art of communication is a two edged sword; similar is the skill or art of empathetic listening; however they are important elements for the SALT agent.  If your life, however is not grounded or rather built on the foundation of universal principles that stimulates and facilitates a win/win solution to our many societal and developmental challenges, such as HIV/AIDS all you would be as an agent in the response is just another mercenary, looking out for…

2011 Cordaid HIV and AIDS Award: Help spread the information Please find enclosed and attached the announcement for the 2011 edition of the Cordaid HIV and AIDS Award. The Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development (Cordaid) is seeking nominations from organisations actively involved in the linking of community- and formal health and care services for people living with HIV. Cordaid wishes to award two organisations - one Civil Society Organisation and one Faith Based Organisation -…

*Over the course of two years, The Constellation has partnered with the Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in Ethiopia to integrate AIDS Competence (ACP) into their existing Community-Managed Disaster Risk Reduction (CMDRR) programme. During a support visit in Borana, one Ethiopian participant - Hussein - experienced firsthand the power of SALT through a home visit.*

“My name is Hussein Omar, coming…