Salama SHIELD Foundation (SSF) is an innovative, non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Canada.  SSF challenges current models for development.  It does so through partnerships with Sub-Saharan African communities. It promotes participatory processes which involve the design, dissemination, and evaluation of health interventions that result in measureable health impacts for communities.
 
Salama is a common East African greeting meaning “peace.”

SHIELD is an acronym for:

Sustaining Health Initiatives, Enabling Local Development

The result of 30 years of participatory action research (PAR) in Africa, Dr. Dennis Willms (Founder and Director of SSF) has developed a means to engage vulnerable communities in a process of HIV and AIDS intervention work.  He calls this process a conceptual event (CE). CEs bring stakeholders together despite their differing view of the world.  In the process, they reconcile differences, build trust, identify critical and common concerns, and develop culturally appropriate solutions for mitigating HIV and AIDS concerns.          

Conceptual Events have occurred with:

·   N’gangas (traditional healers) in Zimbabwe: to cross-culturally communicate and develop a merged model for HIV/AIDS risk and transmission
·   A community from a suburb of Harare, Zimbabwe: to bridge the disconnect between men and women, so as to construct a common understanding of their mutual risk and vulnerability
·   Faith communities in Malawi: to construct an ecumenical theology of HIV/AIDS which reflects faith, hope and compassion towards preventive care and support
·  A rural community from Lyantonde, Uganda: to revitalize the culturally-relevant ssengas (aunts) and koijjas (uncles) youth mentorship program, and build the Youth Heath Centre and Community Development Centre (CDC)

Website: http://www.salamashield.org/