What Makes CPAR Unique?
A Grassroots Approach
CPAR takes a grassroots approach to building healthy communities in East Africa. We don’t impose solutions – we create partnerships to create immediate and long-term change. Our work starts by consulting with villages and communities and then working with them to develop initiatives that will best address their needs where they live. We build partnerships in communities that ensure all voices are heard particularly those of women and PLHIV so that the impact of our work is lasting.
Everything is Connected
CPAR’s work includes all of the key determinants of community health based on the belief that everything is connected. We approach the health of individuals, communities and the environment holistically as part of one complete interdependent cycle. As a result, a CPAR program will include integrated activities that ensure access to clean and safe water, adequate and nutritious food, primary health care, secure livelihoods and a healthy environment.
Our Staff is 98% African
CPAR hires people from the communities we work in to run our offices in rural Africa and as a result 98% of our staff is African. And, as our staff live and work in these communities, they are acutely aware of the challenges that our partners face on a day-to-day basis. We also hire the local experts, graduates from universities and colleges, to ensure that so as we build healthy communities we are also building the next generation of African leaders.
Relationships of Respect
CPAR focuses on empowering community members. Our relationships are built from a foundation of equality and respect. CPAR understands that individuals in the communities and villages we work in are the experts and that the success of our work is the result of our ability to empower them to fully participate in their own and their family’s future.
A Long-Term Commitment to Change
A healthy community does not simply mean that this community will survive the hardships of tomorrow or the next day – it means that their children’s children will survive and thrive over many years. CPAR’s work is a long term commitment to change in rural Africa which is reflected in the way we build healthy communities. We work with communities to build long-term sustainable solutions as well as the community capacity and ownership that will allow them to endure.
Enormous Change with Little Resources
CPAR creates enormous change with very few resources. Donors who have visited CPAR programs in Malawi, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda are often amazed with the accomplishments and level of change that has been achieved by such a small organization and without large financial resources.