Over 20 Percent Good

A regional trainer (center) helping to lead a skit.

Our biggest training of 2020 is in the books, as we gathered 25 pastors and one child nutrition nurse for a week of basic CHE training at the end of January. We held the training in the third largest region for our partner church and incorporated the three rural pastors from the region around the capital. Now we’ve introduced the first level of CHE training to the rural pastors in seven of the eight regions of the country! That was a main objective of our initial CHE plan, so it is encouraging to have made the wide reach that we hoped for in this initial stage. Below are the most notable parts of the training for me.

Highlights: 

Tippy-Tap demonstration.

-Our lessons brought about a lot of enthusiasm for hand washing. It seemed like we did a better job than before in teaching multiple and accessible ways to make a “tippy-tap,” which is like having a faucet for washing even when there’s no running water. I think with the way the pastors got to try it out and use them during the several days, they are more likely to get hooked on this in the long-term. 

-We also seemed to have a handful of pastors who were really tracking and on the same page with what we were talking about in development and community action. This hasn’t been so apparent in some of the smaller groups we’ve worked with, so it was nice to have a good range of people together. 

-I was also happy to be able to use the local language for about half of the facilitating that I did, so there was less on the spot translating and more time for participants’ comments. 

-My co-trainer and I also expanded the leadership of the training to include the two pastors we’ve been training to be regional CHE trainers. This should prepare them a lot more for further responsibilities and continuing the training without us in the future.

Struggles: 

-There’s always tension about the expectations that people have here that by being called to come to a training then they’re going to receive money or supplies or employment from it. During a couple of the discussions during our lessons there was an undercurrent of resentment when it became clear that we’re training but not hiring or offering money/ministry supplies. 

-This also prompted discussion about what they thought we could do to best help them in their roles as pastors. That led to recounting of projects that failed to help. The many times they’ve seen things like animal gifting projects that haven’t carried on like they were supposed to, leaving the benefit to only stay with the initial person. At one point my colleague asked if 10 people in the room were given a monetary loan, like some had suggested was the best help, then how many would actually be able to pay the loan back at the end of the set time. Someone guessed that only 2 of people would be able to, and everyone pretty much agreed with that assessment. But people also insisted that it was still worth doing these things in their eyes because people are helped even if it doesn’t create “on-going development.” 

-During the training I stayed in an out-building of pastor’s house in the town, which was fairly rustic. The hardest part was bathing outside in the cold of the morning! I have new empathy for the many people in this hot country who bathe outside and have to deal with the cold water in the cool, windy evenings and mornings in the cold season.

-- El Padre