Zandspruit Churches Channels of Hope Facilitator Training June 2014

Last July a team of six CABSA trainers had the privilege of training 25 participants in the Churches Channels of Hope material. The participants were hand selected by CABSA with the intent of investing in a group of local leaders from the same community. By doing this, the newly trained facilitators would have the opportunity to work together and have greater influence and impact in their community regarding HIV and AIDS issues.

 Of the 25 participants, three were from the same ministry in Kenya, Churches of Grace. They returned to Kenya to join three other Churches Channels of Hope (CCOH) facilitators that were trained in June 2014. This is something to celebrate! Another 20 participants were living and/or working in the Zandspruit informal settlement outside Johannesburg.   Zandspruit has a population of about 80,000 people living in a very small geographic area. Despite the many challenges facing this community, the 20 CCOH participants from Zandspruit want to make a difference in their community.  

During the week of training, some of the Zandspruit participants struggled with the written assessments and the ability to express themselves clearly in English. This was not surprising, as many of them never matriculated from high school and English is not their first language. Regardless, their attitudes and motivation to bring about transformation and change to their community was evidenced within the group. At the end of the week-long training, CABSA released this army of 20 to go back to Zandspruit and take steps to begin working together in order to bring about change and transformation.
 
A week after the training, a meeting was held in Zandspruit where the 20 participants were invited to come together to begin mapping out next steps they could take to begin addressing HIV and AIDS in the community.  One of the trainers from the training, who has been involved in ministry in Zandspruit since 2002, also attended this gathering to provide support and additional guidance to the process. The group assigned leadership roles, defined the purpose of them coming together, decided how often they would meet and what their vision for the future would look like. The group decided they would initially meet twice per month for the purpose of team-building, accountability and keeping the passion and motivation alive.
 
Many times, participants who attend CCOH training leave the week with lots of great intentions, passion and motivation, only to go back to their church or community and feel isolated, without support to make a difference or change. By inviting the 20 participants from Zandspruit to attend the same training at the same time, it is CABSA’s hope and desire that these enthusiastic leaders would work together to implement change in their churches and community. They are not alone, but have synergy as they work together to make a difference. This is something to celebrate!

 

 

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