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this page Building upwards from the ground - Interview
Key learnings from the diocesan strategic planning workshops
Understand the context and community you’re working with.
The strategic planning process was informed by the realities facing the
communities in which the planning took place. So, each diocese brought
different issues to the table, to plan around. In that way, the community
decides what the priority issues are and how they can best respond.
Identify supportive leadership and work closely with them.
For any transformation process to work successfully you need to find leadership
that can support and guide the project. Without this, you’re facing
an uphill battle.
Develop accessible tools.
We developed the manual, Planning our Response to HIV/AIDS – A
Step by Step Guide to HIV/AIDS Planning for the Anglican Communion (PDF
Document 4.3MB), and piloted it with the target audience to
ensure it met their needs. The end product was easy and self-explanatory
enough for everybody to pick up and use. Also, the manual could be easily
adapted to meet the specific needs of each diocese.
Have a vision.
What drove the diocesan planning process was the vision that was carved
out collectively at the All Africa Anglican Conference on HIV/AIDS. In
faith-based organisations this is particularly critical because the patriarchs
of the church are seen as visionaries, and vision plays a very important
role in the church. Vision may not be as powerful in a private sector or
government environment, but in a faith-based organisation it is very important
and it moves people to make shifts in their thinking that may otherwise
not have happened.
Don’t underestimate the importance of collective statements
to support the process.
Proclamations such as those from the All Africa Anglican Conference and
the Primates’ Statement from Canterbury are leadership’s commitment
through the written word and are very important in informing subsequent
actions.
Make use of good facilitators.
Skilful facilitation can make or break an undertaking like this. You need
people who are experienced enough to manage the different power relations
within the church and who have a deep understanding of HIV/AIDS. Facilitators
cannot be prescriptive in their facilitation of the planning process, as
the content of the plan must honour and be driven by the needs of the local
community.
Start the planning process with the “I”.
If you want practical solutions to problems and don’t want to run
an academic exercise, start with the community’s experience around
HIV/AIDS. As a participant at an HIV/AIDS workshop it’s important
to ask, “What do I feel about HIV/AIDS? What have I seen about the
disease, and what have I heard?” These questions form the beginning
of the situational analysis that provides insight into what the individual
and collective meaning around HIV/AIDS is, and this understanding impacts
on planning. From this, identifying the priority areas for a particular
community’s response to HIV/AIDS flowed naturally.
Incorporate the Spirit into your work.
Each day began and ended with prayer and song and this was very powerful
in uniting people and validating the work they were doing.
Strategic planning should be process rather than product driven.
In this way, the plan is shaped by and through the experiences of the local
community and the community voice will be heard. Through the interactive
and experiential planning workshop, a plan emerges which reflects the issues
and solutions of that community.
Make resources available for travel and accommodation.
Taking care of practicalities means participants only have to think about
the work at hand.
Look to the field for wisdom and insight.
Communities are experiencing grief and loss and they’re witnessing
what’s happening within their churches. This is where the richness
of the experience of HIV/AIDS comes from, and this is what you have to
listen to because that’s where the wisdom lies. And, whatever information
you glean from the community, you have to be sure to feed back to the leadership.
This needs to be an ongoing dialogue.
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