SALT as part of everyday life

[Kausar Skhan]

SALT as part of Every Day Life
Kausar S Khan

Aristotle spoke of ethics being a habit, and one wonders whether SALT can be a habit. Professionally using methodologies that bring into practice community centeredness, SALT became the foundational stone of all participatory methods – including participatory rural appraisal and theatre of the oppressed. Why is SALT the epicenter of all participatory approaches? The answer is simple; it draws attention to recognizing/believing/acknowledging the strength in the other. The other can be marginalized women in a village/neighborhood, or patients of care giver, or family care takers of a patient. You name it, everybody has strengths, even if they are not visible. SALT strives to work on the strength of people, and it also believes in the connectedness of individuals through their strengths.

A cautionary note: SALT will always stump you if you deviate from its commitment to work on the strengths of the other. Such deviations are part of life, for after all we are not perfect.

I have the good fortune to read classical Persian poets with my teachers. One couplet struck me as most significant, even as I kept mixing up the author – Rumi ? Saadi ? I would wonder and go back to the couplet. The message in it is simple: If the foundation of a wall is crooked, and you make a wall that reaches the sky, it will still be crooked. SALT is the foundation of all participatory approaches.

[Rituu B. Nanda]

How can SALT be fundamental for PRA and Theatre of oppressed. Please can you share more with an example. Thanks Apa!