Blaise Sedoh died on 22 February 2023.

I met Blaise for the first time on Sunday 26 October 2008 in Lomé, the capital of Togo at the offices of the Red Cross of Togo. We spent that afternoon talking about how the Red Cross in Togo were using Self-Assessment to address AIDS and malaria. Our plan was to spend a week travelling the length of Togo…

This is not a long clip: here is the full transcript.

Love, care, comfort and respect.

Once you do that for elderly people,

You live for longer and longer and longer.

From the moment that I heard Cossy say these words on a hot, sunny afternoon outside her house, I knew that she was…

‘Dare’ tells how a community of families and friends in France work their way towards a shared dream. The film shows the power of the dream to hold us together through the inevitable challenges. Dare

I find this film to be a treasure trove, there are so many insights from which I have…

Recently, there have been 2 poems among the postings on Ning. Each of them has made me think, has given me pleasure and shown light for me on the power of a dream.

The first comes from Yamini Suvarna: Yamini's poem. Here is the…

Like many communities in northern Thailand 25 years ago, Tha Wang Tan had a number of people living with HIV/AIDS.  There was a lot of fear and stigma. It was a dark time with no hope for treatment, people felt rejected by the community and society and deeply despaired. ‘One of Us’ tells one of these stories.   https://asyouopenyoureyes.com/thailand

 I met the people of Tha Wang Tan for the first time in 2006 and from the start it…

From the first time that I saw it, I loved the beginning of the film ‘Dancing Yayas’. I have now watched it many, many times and each time I watch it I find something new to see and to enjoy. You move seamlessly, backwards and forwards between people and place time after time. Sometimes it is the…

‘Waste Time’ tells how the people of Saparua in Eastern Indonesia are finding solutions to the problem of plastic.  https://asyouopenyoureyes.com/indonesia

In The Constellation, we describe the SALT/CLCP process as a series of steps moving in sequence. With the first step, the community comes together in response to a specific challenge. The community then works to define a shared dream around that challenge.…

The Constellation and Visual Development have produced a series of six short films that present different stories of community change. Each episode tells the story of one community with both the beautiful and painful aspects that sit at the heart of community change. https://asyouopenyoureyes.com/

‘Dancing Jajas’ tells how older persons in Entebbe, Uganda are using their talents and experiences to live their lives with dignity.…

The Match of Our Lives’ tells how football training makes a group of young footballers in Mauritius fit for life The Match of Our Lives. The story follows a group of boys who come together to form a football team.

The content begins at 33 minutes and 50 seconds on the film (on the link above). A clip of this part of the film is shown on the link below. …

The Constellation and Visual Development have produced a series of five short films that present different stories of community change. Each episode tells the story of one community with both the beautiful and painful aspects that sit at the heart of community change. https://asyouopenyoureyes.com/

‘One of…

Here is a gift from our colleagues in Assam. 

“We begin to change when we realize that we have the capacity and the strength within ourselves to overcome our challenges. When this happens, we convert those challenges into opportunities. SALT helps us to see the world from this perspective.” 

This short text captured for me the power of SALT. 

My thanks to Ashok. 

Phil

In my last post, I mentioned Usa. I am sure that there are many people who do not know Usa. She has been a source of inspiration to many people in the Constellation.  

Here is a video clip that I recorded of Usa some time ago that explains why. I use it to explain to people why the Constellation does what it does: …

A reflection on Chapter 6 of our shared dream

“What makes us human?”

In the book, Jean-Louis says that his exploration with people leads him to conclude, “We are human because we are similar, we are proud of our origins and we aspire to a better life for ourselves and our families. We are human because we love our country and our community, because we want to live together in peace, because we love nature and want to protect it, and…

A reflection on Chapter 5 of our shared dream

“Orgasm is not a crime”

“Whenever I am about to fall into the trap of judging people, opening the floodgates of anger, I often think of what Usa told me that day, ‘Keep appreciating strengths. What else is there?’ “

I have often thought of the advice of Usa, “Keep appreciating strengths. What else is there?” Well, what else is there? Is Usa saying that…

A reflection on Chapter 4 of our shared dream

“No learning unless you act.”

Here is a short extract from Chapter 4 of ‘What makes us human?’

 “To reassure themselves about the superiority of their way of life, Westerners are content to accept negative representation of poorer countries by their media.”

I want to give a different perspective to Jean-Louis here.

If Westerners are prepared to accept a negative…

Hans Rosling was a Swedish physician, academic, statistician, and public speaker. He was the Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institute] and was the co-founder and chairman of the Gapminder Foundation. He held presentations around the world, including several TED Talks in which he promoted the use of data to explore development issues. He died on 7 February 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Rosling

He…

Reflections on our shared dream, "What makes us human?"

Chapter 3: Before I was a radio: now I am a recorder

My title is not metaphorical. Jean-Louis describes a visit to a group of sex workers in Matadi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Everyone there was expecting another lesson from experts and the seating had been arranged accordingly. Under the shade of a mango tree, a high table was covered with a beautiful sheet and was enhanced with a bouquet of flowers. The chairs…

This video clip comes from part of a presentation that Jean-Louis gave in Ferney-Voltaire for the launch of the book about the story of our shared dream, 'What makes us human?'

Here is a slightly edited transcript of the video: 

"I want to talk about the essence of what we are trying to do. For this we use the acronym SALT;…

A reflection on Chapter 2 of "What makes us human?"

“How much will you pay us?”

r“You may ask how we find all these wonderful people who are now part of the Constellation. Here is the secret. All of us in the Constellation are ordinary people, but because we refuse to consider money as the main engine that drives us, we have learned to discover our wonderful strengths and nurture them as we learn and grow. We dream of a system in which all of us have the opportunity to use…

Chapter 1: AIDS Competence should spread faster than the virus. 

In 1997-1998, Jean-Louis spent 18 months in Phayao, a province in northern Thailand. In a few short sentences, here is what he learned.

“It is necessary to provide services to prevent AIDS, to care for it, and to reduce its impact, but these services are not sufficient. The key resides in the actions of individuals, of families, and of communities in responding to the scourge. AIDS Competence means communities…