Material &Learning Experiences

Material &Learning Experiences
A major goal of this consultancy was to help the project staff in their health education
efforts. This was done by helping them consider how to adapt their health messages to
the Melanesian context through the use of the local language and a better understanding
of cultural issues. This section now considers how to take these health messages and
present them in ways that will maximize the potential for learning.
The basic recommendation is to use a multi- faceted approach to health education that will
reinforce health messages in as many ways as possible and move health education into as
many spheres of live as possible. The staff should make the most of opportunities to
combine written material with oral presentations. If using carefully translated written
material, the staff can have increased confidence in what is being orally communicated
through translation. So, Group action is possible in the egalitarian setting of Melanesia, but it is somewhat problematic in that it is dependent on the capacity of individual members to create consensus in the group and to persuade the those in the group to comply with their plans. There is little hierarchy in society and leadership is achieved (based on ability), not based on heredity or social position. Leaders should be seen as people who have the verbal
skills to persuade people to their point of view, not people who can dema nd compliance
based on their position. But individuals have the right to agree or disagree, and so even
the most skilled orators are not always successful in their attempts to persuade. Even
though Lani society has come to include social positions based on outside structures
(government positions such as kepala desa, camat, or bupati, or religious positions such
as pastor or gembala), the success of people in these positions is still contingent on their
ability to persuade. To outsiders who do not understand the nature of Melanesian
leadership, “leaders” can appear ‘weak’ and ineffective, particularly when outsiders
assume they can mobilize communities through the ‘authority’ of local leaders.