Our Approach
How we work
We work alongside our partners to build on existing local strengths and resources, so that communities can drive their own development.
Photo Credit: Richard Wainwright/Caritas Australia
Accompaniment means walking side-by-side with our program partners.
It means supporting them and following their lead.
We accompany our program partners by providing:
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Training and mentoring
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Technical support
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Risk management
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Organisational development
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Funding
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Amplifying their voices
Sorting cocoa beans at cocoa fermentary in Bougainville, as part of the Bougainville Youth Initiative program run with the support of Caritas Australia and partner organisation, Tulele Peisa Credit: Cassandra Hill/Caritas Australia
How we identify community strengths
Human strengths
Skills, knowledge, labour and health.
Social strengths
Social networks, relationships of trust and reciprocity.
Natural strengths
Land, water, fertile soil, animals and weather patterns.
Financial strengths
Cash, livestock, grain stores, savings or pensions.
Physical strengths
Roads, bridges, clinics, schools, transport, shelter, water supply and sanitation infrastructure.
How the strengths-based approach works
The approach starts with 'what people have' and builds on this. It ensures that communities design their own development and are less reliant on external ‘experts’. Under the approach, communities:
- Map their assets using a variety of tools
- Develop a vision for their community
- Share skills and assets with each other
- Strengthen positive community relationships and trust
- Work together to advocate for community needs
- Regularly monitor their own progress
Phany with seedlings in Cambodia. Photo: Richard Wainwright/Caritas Australia.
“Never see a need without doing something about it.”
