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Aneleh's blog

Inspired by a renewed commitment

Posted Mon, 10/10/2011 - 22:11

First posted 16/04/08

This is the time of the year when I am waiting anxiously for mail and emails from you. Why? Because a few months ago each of you, as CABSA trained facilitators, received the annual feedback form with the request to please complete it.
I am most grateful to each one of you who have already send your forms, but was especially touched by the contents of one form from a facilitator who attended a CABSA training back in 2003.

The second page where facilitators are asked to list the activities they engaged in was completely empty. But on the first page the facilitator marked the block - I recommit myself to be a channel of hope and wrote the following note:

“I want to thank Cabsa for staying in contact with me, in spite of the fact that I am totally uninvolved with any program at this stage, as a result of my studies…. I would also like to thank Corrie, my mentor, for her constant interest and encouragement.”

I am most grateful for this feedback and praise God for facilitators who are still committed or prepared to recommmit themselves towards making a difference in a world faced with the HIV pandemic.

This note is also evidence of the positive impact our regional representatives and mentors could have on the motivation and commitment of facilitators - even if they attended training years ago. Not only does this excites me, it is also an inspiration to continue our efforts to expand and strengthen CABSA’s mentoring programme and team further.

Unpacking the term “Channel of Hope”

Posted Mon, 10/10/2011 - 22:09

First posted 13/03/08

As you have probably already read elsewhere CABSA conducted our first ever mentor workshop in February. During this workshop we had the privilege of putting more heads together in reflecting and planning together towards CABSA’s mentor plan.

We are most grateful to all the participants for sacrificing their valuable family and personal time to contribute towards this process and are excited to share some of the outcomes with you. We also feel very excited and blessed because of the buy-in and positive responses we received from the participants.

Seven of the participants consequently have committed themselves as CABSA regional representatives for our mentor programme. This makes a huge impact on our capacity to have more comprehensive contact with you as facilitators.

One very important discussion we had was about being a channel of hope. We were in agreement that if we as CABSA facilitators are called to be channels of hope and we wish to encourage one another to be a channel of hope, then it is also important that we unpack this term further.

Yet, another blog?

Posted Mon, 10/10/2011 - 22:07

First Posted 20/02/08

For more than two years CABSA was saying or perhaps confessing to “Churches, Channels of Hope” facilitators that our mentoring programme is still in its infancy stage. With this statement we tried to convey the fact that we realize the importance of a mentoring programme, yet at the same time are very much limited in terms of what type of support we could offer with our very limited capacity and resources.

Towards the end of last year we started to say that it is not enough anymore to say we are still taking baby steps when it comes to mentoring trained facilitators. The feedback we received –especially during the four refreshers that were conducted over the past two years - further convinced us of the importance of staying in contact with facilitators and of actively seeking opportunities to network and interact with one another.

It is therefore important for us to use whatever available tools and technologies to improve our communication and interaction with you as CABSA facilitators and thus we have decided to introduce this blog specifically aimed at you, “Churches, Channels of Hope” facilitators.

Since many facilitators do not have access to email this blog will not replace any of the other communication from CABSA, but will serve as a platform where I could more regularly share some of my thoughts and reflect with you on some of your experiences (and frustrations) as facilitators.