The Countdown Begins...
Time for long-term New Year Resolutions

Where will you be on February 15, 2012?

Think quickly… in a meeting, on a plane or at a computer….or, perhaps, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia?
Quite simply answered: If you have resolved to go on a learning journey with your community in the coming year, you will be one of the many who are converging in Yogyakarta on that day, for an interactive session on the power of appreciating strengths.

Organised by IndoCompetence and the Constellation, the four-day Yogyakarta, Indonesia, programme aims to encourage communities from all walks of life to realize that they certainly do have the capacity to respond to life issues, to envision and to act. Through participatory sessions with communities, facilitators of the Constellation will help participants discover and reveal their own strengths by asking appreciative questions. At the Constellation, we call this mode of interaction with communities ‘SALT’: Stimulate, Appreciate, Listen, Learn and Transfer.

So as you sit face-to-face with people sharing indigenous solutions to community issues - many of which will be like those you tackle every day, irrespective of what part of the world you inhabit or which community you belong to, you will attain what SALT visit participants have over the years described to be “a transforming experience.

In Yogyakarta, these SALT visits will benefit, amongst others, communities of Trans-gender, Sex Workers, Men having sex with Men (MSM) and the community who works in synergy with the local government in providing comprehensive services for women who are the victims of violence.

The Yogyakarta SALT visit is one of the series of four International SALT visits, organized throughout 2012, in four different locations, the other three being: Guyana, Francophone Guinée, and India.

Interestingly, what each SALT visit does have in common is the opportunity to experience a strengths-based approach to help communities- as diverse as AIDS workers, grassroots volunteers, beauticians and church groups - realize that the dream plan of action has always been within them: belief, perspective and a dash of SALT, was all that was needed to bring it to the fore.

Participants will cover their own travel, accommodation costs and participation fee. For more information or to confirm participation at one or more of the SALT visits, please contact Marlou (Marlou[@]communitylifecompetence.org).

For more information on the Yogjakarta programme, please contact WiwinWinarni (w_wiwin74[@]yahoo.com) or RisyaKori (risyakori[@]yahoo.com).