Training of trainers

 

Two day seminar on the immediate results of the project training of trainers, Building local capacities for social support to vulnerable children, youth and families The project aims at enhancing access to and quality of social support in Ethiopia to 16.000 vulnerable children and youth and an equal number of family members, by building local capacity to provide social support.

The project is innovative for two reasons. For one, It leads to the development of a training model accessible to replicate and adapt by other organizations and institutions working with social support throughout rural and urban Ethiopia. It will feed into education at Addis Ababa University School of Social Work (AAU-SSW), and 2) It builds partnerships among Danish and Ethiopian organizations and education and research institutions, which have not cooperated at this intensity before. 5 Staff members from IFSO, who all work within the social support project, participated in the 2-day workshop.

Ina gave introduction to the day from AC International Child support; telling about the plan of the two days, and introducing the activity chart of the project. The overall aim of the two days was to get some image of what works within the project, and what might have to be changed. The workshop was facilitated by Gordon Vincenti from VIA University in Denmark; Introducing the methods and approaches which is needed and used in the projects.

Appreciative inquiry is one of the basic methods of the project. Furthermore the two days should provide the participant with interviewing skills, so that they develop skills in asking the right questions, to get the right answers. In the first part of the day, the participants got divided into groups of 3; interviewing each other with open, unstructured questions about the topic; coffee.

One person being interviewed, one interviewing, one observing. After finishing the exercise, the participants give feedback about the experience. Telling which questions worked, how to use the open questions, what does a leading question do to the process? Gordon gave his feedback and provided with knowledge in how to rephrase a given question. One thing which was learned, I that when interviewing, the context is also important, how you stand, where you are, how you take notes. The next exercise, and for the rest of the day, the aim was to use interviewing skills for experience sharing of the para projects. In groups of 3, the participants used the interview techniques they have learned, and interviewed each other about their experiences. The keywords and summaries were put on post its, and gathered on a flip chart.

The next day, the groups kept on their work and the second day of the workshop ended with the organizations creating specific and detailed plans for the future progress of the project. The project is a partnership among numerous organizations AC International Child Support (AC): AC is a Danish humanitarian private foundation established in 1969 with 40 years of experience with international adoption and 12 years with development projects, with currently 4 projects in Ethiopia. AC works for the rights and best interests of the child, and to strengthen the competences of vulnerable families, and the priorities of public institutions to assure vulnerable children a secure and dignified upbringing. The project department currently consists of a more than 5 man-years distributed among 8 staff members, most with educational backgrounds within different aspects of social sciences. Save the Children Denmark (SCD): SCD was founded in 1945 and has been implementing programs in developing countries since 1961. SCD is a membership based organisation with 10.700 members and a total of 183 employees. Education and protection are key areas of SCD’s international work, but the organization is also deeply engaged in combating child labor, HIV/AIDS, sexual abuse and trafficking. SCD began operating in Ethiopia in 1996 and was registered as a fully fledged country program in 2000. Today it constitutes one of the biggest country programs of SCD, with 30 permanent employees. Addis Ababa University – School of Social Work (AAU-SSW):

Addis Ababa University was founded in 1950 and consists of 25 faculties with app. 400.000 students. AAU-SSW was reopened in 2004 after 30 years of closure. The education programs are Bachelor (BSW), with 134 students, Master (MSW), with 61 students and a Ph.D program in social work, with 36 students. The vision is that social justice is realised in Ethiopia with AAU-SSW as a leading institution of social work education in Africa, excellent in teaching, research, consultancy and public service. Staff consists of 18 lecturers and associate professors and 5 international adjunct professors. VIA University College Aarhus, Denmark – Social Work Department (VIA UC): VIA UC is the third largest higher educational institution in Denmark, and provides professional bachelor education programs. The Department of Social Work qualifies social workers to perform social work in Denmark and internationally through a 3½ year program (210 ECTS points). VIA UC collaborates with a number of foreign partner schools on exchanges of students and staff. Organization for Child Development and Transformation (CHAD-ET): CHAD-ET is an NGO established in 1995 and operating in different parts of the country, with a total of 136 employees. The organization is involved in protecting and fulfilling basic needs of children in difficult circumstances, the major intervention areas include health, HIV/AIDS, alternative basic education, prevention and rehabilitation of children exposed to sexual abuse and exploitation etc. SCD and CHAD-ET have been working in partnership since the beginning of 2004. Forum for Sustainable Child Empowerment (FSCE): FSCE is an NGO established in 1989 and works in different parts of Ethiopia. FSCE employs 209 persons nationwide and works for sustainable protection, growth and development of vulnerable children, especially promoting the rights of street children, sexually abused and exploited children, trafficked children, physically abused children, children exposed to labor exploitation, and children in conflict with the law. FSCE and SCD have been working in partnership since the beginning of 2004. Sign Language Training and Social Service Organization (SLTSSA): SLTSSA is an Addis Ababa based organisation founded in 2004, working for the rights and benefits of deaf and hearing impaired children and youth all over Ethiopia, creating awareness of prevention of deafness and undertake rehabilitative programs for deaf children and youth.

There are currently 12 staff members in the organisation and SLTSSA and AC have collaborated since 2005. The organisation currently implements one project which is also the one involved here. Integrated Family Service Organisation (IFSO): IFSO is a NGO founded in 1995 and working for orphans, semi-orphans and minors in vulnerable families, mainly in the northern and eastern sub-cities of Addis Ababa. Currently IFSO has 45 staff members and are implementing 5 projects, of which two are in collaboration with AC and involved in this project. IFSO and AC have been partners since 1998. The design of the project ensures high intensity capacity building of the four partner organisations of SCD and AC, which will affect their future implementation of projects. The model for social support will also be taken further and used by AC, SCD and their partner organisations, continuing the learning cycle. The model as a whole, including the assessment study, the manuals and the evaluation has a large potential for developing and informing the Save the Children Alliance in future work on capacity building and quality for children living in vulnerable families. Other organisations as well will have access to the model and thus also be able to replicate, adapt and incorporate the model in their work. The experiences and learning gained and documented as part of the project, will also feed into research and education undertaken by AAU-SSW, and thus influencing the future batches of social workers entering into the employment market in Ethiopia within this field