Have you ever heard of Community
Capacity Enhancement through Conversation? Neither had I, until I stumbled upon a WEbook
project by this WEek’s
WEbooker, chaava. So, what is it? According to chaava:
“A community conversation is a group discussion facilitated by a trained and experienced facilitator, supported by a co-facilitator and a documenter. Community conversations are a versatile tool that may be used in building community capacity for dealing with issues ranging from development programming to addressing HIV/AIDS, the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, and reversing gender inequalities.”
In his project, chaava collects transcripts from community conversations staged by expert facilitators in Africa. In these transcripts, community members talk candidly about their experiences with HIV/AIDS and related issues.
The transcripts provide unedited insight into the lives of people facing the HIV/AIDS crisis in eastern and southern Africa. Participants in the project’s community conversations hold widely varying beliefs about everything from the dangers of modernization to equal rights for women. Visitors to the project are rewarded with rich food for thought and an opportunity to view a global health crisis through multiple lenses.
Who is the man who brought Community Capacity Enhancement through Conversation to WEbook?
Chaava was
born and raised in Zambia. He lived in
London for two years and in South Africa for eight. He now resides in Alexandria, Virginia. Chaava
is a medical laboratory scientist, and he has been actively writing for thirty
years. He started with a personal
journal, and his first articles were published in Christian Living Today. According to chaava, “Writing about African culture
is a big thing for me. I am fascinated by how little people know (and how much
they want to know) about African tradition. At the same time I consider myself a student of my own culture.” Chaava
is married with four children, and he credits his religious faith with helping
him find happiness in a “very simple life.”
Chaava believes that “people have the capacity within
themselves to make change happen, and to keep hope aflame through dark and
difficult times. The same is true with communities.” He has studied and practiced Community
Capacity Enhancement for ten years, and says that he learned most of what he
knows from his wife: “She is the most
skilled facilitator you will ever meet.”
Chaava hopes that his WEbook project will grow into
an entire book of community conversations.
WEbooker
of the WEek
Do you have a line on the wonderfullest writer on WEbook? The fantastickest feedbacker? Or anyone else who goes above and beyond to make WEbook the best writing, reading, and publishing community on the internet? Drop me an email, or visit my profile and send me a message with the title "WEbooker of the WEek" to nominate your favorite WEbooker and he or she will have a shot at joining the ranks of the immortals -- and getting a free WEbook T-shirt to boot.
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-- Melissa
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