Mission of the organisation
Oasis is a movement of communities around the world, working in 10 countries. In each country, Oasis is a locally registered and independent organisation, but we relate together as a global family. Oasis views a community as a local place of activity where we bring together the resources that we and others have, whether locally, nationally, regionally or globally, in order to benefit the whole community. Vision, Mission& Outcomes 1. Vision (what we are working towards) Our vision is for community - a place where everyone is included, contributing and reaching their God-given potential. 2. Mission (what we are doing now to fulfil our vision) Oasis is committed to working in an inclusive, integrated, empowering and comprehensive way so that all people experience wholeness and fullness of life. 3. Outcomes (What we hope will be the results of the work we do) 1. Local communities that are characterised by high levels of trust, safety, cohesion, mutual support, vibrancy, health and opportunity, and have increasing capacity to address their own issues. 2. The prevention of people being excluded from community and those that are, brought back into community finding wholeness and fullness of life 3. The replication of models that effectively contribute to community transformation or bring the excluded into community. Approach In seeking to achieve our outcomes, Oasis takes an integrated and relational approach. This approach means that high quality and diverse activities are developed to benefit the whole person and the whole community. In some cases these activities are specific services that we provide, in other cases they are initiatives within the community that we have helped birth or strengthen. In all cases, they are community-identified priorities. We build and nurture long-term, lasting relationships within the communities in which we work. We know that lasting change only occurs as people own change for themselves. We continually strive for those who live in the community to feel empowered to take initiative and to hold ownership of all that happens. We believe that ongoing transformation is best secured within the context of accountability. For us this is achieved through accountable relationships to the wider Oasis community. Behaviours we strive to live out: Equality - differences in personality, culture, background, experience and worldview are respected. Inclusion - those on the fringes who are in some way excluded are deliberately sought out and included. Inter-dependence - we live and work in a way that recognizes that people, community and environment are inter-dependent. Open Relationships - healthy, transparent and open relationships among all those we interact with, including a willingness to forgive and be forgiven, are fostered. Integration - the needs of the whole person and whole community within their environment are considered. Sacrifice - doing what it takes to serve both individuals and the communities with whom we work. Hope and Perseverance - despite circumstances that exist, an atmosphere of hope and an attitude of perseverance is pervasive. Innovation - new ideas, and approaches are welcome and risk taking is common. Excellence - whatever we do, we do it to the best of our ability. Oasis Zimbabwe's Contextual Expression RC2 (Real Champions. Real Change) is the process for change Oasis Zimbabwe uses to achieve the lasting impact we desire. We can't do it all, so it is our goal to do it best. If we can build into champions of communities, of education, of enterprise, of health, and of government, we are building for generations. RC2 integrates a champion based approach - building into champions of communities (individuals and community groups) and leveraging champion partners around core competency and sector areas, guiding organisational, programme and project approach, practice, growth and outcomes, and capacitating immediate and long term outcomes and change. Impacting the extreme vulnerability of adults, children and adolescents in Oasis Zimbabwe hub communities requires more than an array of services representing the core competencies of Oasis Zimbabwe and partners. It requires more than the typical array of psychosocial interventions. It requires the acknowledgement and willingness to address the deep-seeded destabilizers of growth and change-trauma and the underlying cycles of poverty -by individuals and communities themselves, as well as by Oasis Zimbabwe and those we partner with. Uniquely building on a foundation that addresses trauma and persistent cycles of poverty, and embedding Oasis ethos, RC2 guides a process of change through which champions implement and engage in integrated supportive activities (education, economic strengthening, therapeutic sports and activity etc) using tools provided through Deep Trauma Recovery and Hidden Dynamics of Poverty training to keep stakeholders intentional in processing through the impacts of trauma and poverty cycles on each activity. This intentionality is applied through four holistic elements of: - Thinking (psychological and mental health and learning) - Being (physical, sexual and relational health) - Knowing (spiritual and emotional health) - Doing (economic and financial health) The immediate result is interactions that begin to evidence the typical, and still extremely important, outcomes desired by all stakeholders - knowledge increase, uptake of a spectrum of supportive services and better referral engagement, discussion around stigma and social issues impacting recovery and inclusion, increased uptake of economic resilience building activities to support better home, business, education and health decisions etc. The long-term ultimate result is not typical, however. The long term ultimate result, only reached through the intentionality of processing through the deep impacts of trauma and poverty cycles as a foundation to each activity, is increased stability and resilience across all of the holistic elements. Stability provides the greatest and most effective foundation for highly vulnerable adults, children and adolescents to fully and sustainably engage opportunity. The ultimate goals of change are achieved: -Change of paradigms through processing through victimhood/dependency to continuous recovery/empowered engagement -Change from reactive (high-risk) to responsive (low-risk, rights aware) behaviour -Changed value statements about me, us, our process and our future (negative to empowered) -Change from survival to stability to resource access to wealth generation These changes support an increase in consistent and long term engagement in change by individuals and communities who typically struggle to retain intervention benefits beyond the scope of programmes due to destabilizing cycles. The re-calibration of individual and community levels of stability through the RC2 process of change, with its consistent application of trauma and hidden poverty dynamics-informed interaction and interventions, and the deep embedding of ethos into every interaction, results in better long term outcomes and impact for all stakeholders. Although Oasis Zimbabwe has a faith-based foundation, inclusion is central to our values and one of our primary outcomes. Our work and services are secular in nature, in no way limited by the gender, religion, sexuality or ethnicity of any individual or group, and we do not use our work toward any position or statement regarding either religion or politics.