What Makes Us Human?

INTRODUCTION Me, I am a gangster. The police know me. Until recently, my job was to rob banks and to rape girls. Now, I realize that my life is more important than that!” This is Kasure talking. He lives in Goroka, Papua New Guinea. Someone asks: “What caused this change?” “For 20 years NGOs have come to tell us: "Abstain! Be faithful! Use condoms!" We barely listened. Then a team of the Constellation came and told me my strengths. Nobody had ever told me that I had strengths ... So now I use them!” Now Kasure visits people with AIDS and encourages young people to take responsibility for HIV. In December 2004, twelve people founded the Constellation because it was clear, that on their own, prevention and treatment programs had little effect on the pandemic. However, the epidemic was declining in a few places, for example, Northern Thailand, Uganda, and Brazil. Here, people had taken ownership of their AIDS problem. They had discussed the issue openly, reflected, and mobilized their own resources to respond to the challenge the pandemic posed to their communities. The Constellation was thus created to stimulate and connect local responses to AIDS, to complement existing prevention and treatment programs. At the time, we did not realize that we had embarked on a wonderful adventure. At the end of 2013, thousands of facilitators accompany more than one million people in 60 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe, on their response to AIDS and other concerns. Once communities realize how much they can do by themselves, they adapt the strengths-based approach to address other health issues such as malaria and diabetes and, gradually, move on to social issues such as gender-based violence, and exclusion of migrants. What, exactly, is the strengths-based approach? This is the central question that we will explore in this book. Do not, however, expect a ten point recipe! Because feedback from practice constantly enriches our approach, I‘ll try to explain how it evolved since the Constellation began. When we first started, some of us assumed that it would be sufficient to equip communities with a set of tools to help them act. But we gradually realized that the tools were secondary. The key lies in changing our own mindset from a “needs analysis” approach to one that appreciates, reveals and nurtures the strengths present in each person, family, and community, under all circumstances. Once people realize their strengths, they use them! This wonderful experience has been repeated over and over again, and we are still discovering the power that the change in approach brings to people. The appreciation of strengths dissolves preconceptions: That for each of our problems, there is a technological solution; that the western world is developed and therefore must develop the rest; that life at work can be separated from life at home; that people can be understood when sorted by categories. When preconceptions fade away, spaces open up for new and creative relations. Appreciating strengths challenges the belief that there is a technical solution to every one of our problems. Over and over again, we hear the question: "AIDS? Is there still a problem? Aren’t there drugs now to treat this disease"? This belief in technical solutions is not limited to AIDS. Take malaria for example. The primary focus of international donors continues to be the large-scale distribution of insecticide-treated bed-nets and of antimalarial drugs. However, evidence shows that although 80% of African families received the bed-nets, only 30% use them consistently. And the rest? People use them as wedding veils or fishing nets or to protect cows from flies…. or just don’t unpack them! This blind faith in technology is not limited to health. Take the example of security. We seem to believe that surveillance cameras are the answer, but every day we encounter new instances of violence. Another example is the extraction of water from the earth. This technology comes at the cost of producing more fossil energy, the use of which in turn is a major cause of climate change. Moreover, fossil energy enables users to continue lifestyles that consume more and more energy and to postpone much needed changes in energy consumption behavior. On their own, these technologies are not the solution; they must be combined with changes in human behavior for sustained impact. Another preconception is that Westerners believe that their countries are “developed” while the rest of the world is “developing”, and that it is their duty to take care of the plight of the rest of humanity. But once we start appreciating the strengths of our Congolese, Indian, Thai, and other friends, the Westerners among us, by birth or by mind set, realize how much we can learn from them and celebrate life together. Appreciation also dissolves the separation we make between work and family. At first we conceived the Constellation as a non-profit consulting firm which would sell facilitation services. But we did not anticipate how the approach would impact our own lives! When we started looking at people through a different lens, their positive energy found its way into our own lives. Finally, we stop putting people into categories and enjoy the discovery of each other’s strengths: city and slum dwellers, saints and sinners, straights and all the others, us and the vulnerable, natives and immigrants. When we categorize people, we let our preconceptions guide our attitudes and behaviors towards others. In contrast, when we enjoy the discovery of each other's strengths, we uncover the wonderful kaleidoscope of human qualities available for common action. As we free ourselves from our prejudices and place our trust in mankind, huge energy becomes available. Whether we are concerned about AIDS, about malaria, about climate change, or about the future of our planet, there is hope.