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In depth: the Lesotho learning forum - Information and Knowledge Management and Resource Centres on HIV and AIDS

Sharing information and knowledge is one of the keys to tackling HIV and AIDS. Twenty-five information and knowledge practitioners from 10 countries took part in an event, held in Lesotho, February 2005, in which they felt 'free to share our reality and experience in an unrestricted manner'.

Over the three days the forum brought out learning from the participants' experience through storytelling, role plays, peer assists, a marketplace technique, field visits, observation, reflection and analysis.

A common thread running through the participants' experience was that everyone knew someone who had been affected by HIV or AIDS. That reinforced the sense of urgency to intensify the response to the pandemic and to improve the effectiveness of how information and knowledge is used.

The forum was an activity in the Support to the International Partnership against AIDS in Africa (SIPAA) programme. The SIPAA prgramme aims to develop the capacity of national AIDS councils in nine African countries to work with their stakeholders to respond more effectively to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

One measure of the success of the national AIDS councils in Africa is "the successful sharing of HIV/AIDS information", said Mrs M Monaheng, acting director of the Lesotho national AIDS council as she opened the forum.

What is learning?
Group discussions helped to elaborate some of the many meanings that participants attached to the concept of learning and how they learn.

"Learning is empowering, it helps people to take important steps in life." Group of participants at the forum.

Learning was seen as a ongoing process of interpreting information, gaining new skills and knowledge, and drawing on relevant experience.

"We know we have learned when we change our ways of work", said one participant, although it was acknowledged that the change could be either positive or negative. It was through interaction and sharing knowledge that people learn something new.

Stories from the field
Participants shared their experiences by telling stories of significant events. The storytelling approach was described by participants as "very rich in knowledge" and as a powerful technique that made it "easy to learn a lot". It was good for "getting ideas from other countries" which could be implemented.

Stories included working with young people; introducing a classification scheme; setting up a hotline; working as a team; and mobilising a network to include more communities.

Knowledge management
Getting the balance between capturing explicit knowledge and connecting people who often have tacit knowledge in their heads emerged as a key concern from a discussion about knowledge management.

A self-assessment tool helped participants clarify where, on a continuum, different organisations felt they most belonged.

This also made it easier to identify what steps they might need to take to improve practice, which were priority areas, and who in the room might have the skills and experience to help move forward.

Participants made use of a ‘peer assist’ technique to begin to talk with others around specific knowledge management needs.

Some of this was done as part of an exercise related to the knowledge management self-assessment tool, some was done through a marketplace session and some was done through field visits to two resource centres in Lesotho.

Developing a strategy
A key question that emerged from the forum was how do information and knowledge workers see themselves as being involved in policy processes that help develop national strategies?

Any strategy is a plan for change. But change usually takes more time and happens in different ways to what we usually imagine.

Participants were convinced that the aim of any strategy is action - whether it is an information strategy, a knowledge management strategy, a learning strategy or a communication strategy.

Did the forum make a difference?
Participants were committed to continue sharing experiences through a "community of practice". An e-mail discussion group and sharing key documents and guides were two initial steps they were determined to take.

The participatory style used by the facilitation team was singled out for praise: "The facilitators were were really down to earth to the extent of doing a self-assessment of their own and joining discussion groups."

The forum confirmed the participants' sense that the role of information and knowledge workers is changing.

This article was first published on the Exchange website www.healthcomms.org