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SALT : Stimulate, Appreciate, Learn & Transfer

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Overview

VHAI with support from The Constellation, Netherlands is implementing SALT (Stimulate, Appreciate, Learn & Transfer) approach in Assam. In SALT, communities play a role in all aspects of the causal chain The approach builds on community ownership of solutions to health issues that communities feel need to be addressed. In addition, when that sense of ownership becomes embedded within individuals and communities, the action that they take will not be dependent on external stimulus: this sense of ownership is the foundation of sustainability. 

The Constellation is a not-for-profit organization formed in 2005 to respond to the AIDS pandemic. Since 2005, the Constellation has facilitated the SALT approach in more than 50 countries, through more than 100 partnerships with governments and national and international organizations. These organizations have found the methodology of the Constellation to be an effective tool to advance their projects.

Implementation Area & Focus

VHAI is implementing SALT approach in 60 villages of District Udalguri and Kamrup of Assam. It will help the people of Udalguri and Kamrup to address the heath issues identified by themselves such as immunization, safe drinking water, hygiene & sanitation, nutrition etc. using the local resource they have at hand.

Methodology

The project uses a systematic step-by-step methodology that allows the community to take ownership of their challenge. We call this approach the Community Life Competence Process (CLCP). Facilitators accompany the community as it moves towards ownership of their health challenges with an appreciative approach that we characterise by the acronym SALT (Support, Appreciate, Learn, Transfer). [show_more more=ReadMore less=Less] CLCP is a form of learning cycle where a community takes action and learns from its experience. That learning becomes the basis for another round of action and learning. The cycle goes on indefinitely: there is no end point. The steps of the learning cycle allow a community to divide a daunting challenge into a set of specific and manageable steps. While we consider CLCP to be an effective implementation of the Learning Cycle, our experience tells us that on its own it would not consistently open the door to change. In addition, we support communities as they apply CLCP with the SALT approach. Facilitators of the SALT approach stimulate local communities in the mobilization of their own strength to address their concerns and accompany them through systematic learning from action.[/show_more]

The SALT approach: a Support for Existing Structures

Community members are able to reach parts of the community, which the formal structures find difficult to access. It has been found that community and individual ownership of health challenges is not a challenge to existing systems. Rather, community ownership can be the basis for a partnership that opens the possibility to leverage existing resources and funds to deliver better results at lower cost. In Udalguri, mothers have helped the ASHA to alert other women to the immunisation schedule. In Kamrup, some women have placed a reminder on a sheet of paper at the entrance to their home with dates of upcoming immunisation schedule. Community members have started to check each other’s immunisation cards to ensure the schedule has not been missed. Men who were not involved in immunization of their children have started to share responsibility with their wives.