Community Health Evangelism (CHE): Training for Trainers

Bellanira, a Community Health Evangelism (CHE) facilitator in the Casandra community in Barahona prepares a newsprint with information that her group discovered as they explored the community of Boca Canasta using their five senses. Boca Canasta is a neighborhood in the southern part of Baní where the IED training center is located. This was one of the exercises during the three day workshop that we  (Mark and Jenny) expect participants to take back and use in their own communities or neighborhoods where they are implementing the practice of CHE.

NOTE: I am posting as is, but will return and add photos.

A New Phase for Us

Last week Jenny and I started a new phase in our work with the Community Health Evangelism initiative of the Dominican Evangelical Church (IED--Iglesia Evangélica Dominicana). We held our very first full-blown training course at the IED's retreat and training center in Bani. Since we had not yet led any CHE workshops, of course we started with the second level (TOT 2 in English)--because sometime you just do what you have to do.

The workshop was only three days, versus the normal five, so we called it an introduction. Our potential participants generally have jobs or are attending University, so we asked them to come after work or class on Thursday, September 14th and then we ended on Sunday right before lunch so they could be home in time for work or class on Monday. All of them had to have participated in a TOT 1 (Training of Trainers, level one) and they had to have begun implementing what they learned in their TOT 1. This training was specifically for folks who are part of the CHE initiative that the IED began in 2015.

What is CHE?

Community Health Evangelism is a holistic, educational-based, Christ-centered approach to helping communities make their own lives better. We work hard to help people focus firmly on the wealth of resources (cultural, spiritual, social, natural and physical) that they already have; we also help them identify the things about which they are passionate as well as the deep visions they hold for what their communal lives should look like.

Perhaps what is most exciting to me is that after five years of working with Jenny on learning and applying the principles of CHE, I find that I believe more firmly than ever that we are following the path laid out over 2000 years ago:

"These twelve Jesus sent out...." (Matthew 10: 5-10) (Matthew 10: 5-10)

The CHE network (What is CHE?) describes it like this, "Our purpose is a transformation in lives and communities that is as deep as the human heart, and as broad as the whole range of the human experience in the world God made. Through our work, Jesus is recognized as Lord over all creation, and our development activities bring glory to God by reflecting the depth and breadth of His Kingdom plan."

What did we teach?

The first answer to that is that Jenny and my goal was to NOT teach but rather to facilitate learning experiences where we were learning together with the participants. From that perspective, our work was easier since we had never "taught" a workshop like this ever before. We were clearly learning together with everyone else!

This process of NOT teaching began from when we first began working with the arrivals from Casandra (N 18º 11' 29", W 71º 05' 50") and Cacique (N 18º 12' 35", W 71º 06' 40"), both of which are communities in Barahona. We also had participants from Higüey (N 18º 36' 36", W 68º 43' 02"), San Pedro (N 18º 27' 41", W 69º 18' 01") and Los Girasoles (N 18º 26' 08", W 69º 59' 57"). "Los Girasoles" is a neighborhood in the western section of Santo Domingo. The trainees helped us move the church pews out of the way, arrange the plastic chairs, cover Styrofoam balls with aluminum foil and chop photocopy paper into strips. Then we sent each individual or pair of individuals to pick a space in the room where they were to put up a list of the things they like about the communities where they live and/or serve. When they were done with that, we asked each of them to share two or more songs from their collection of praise songs that they sing in their respective churches. We gave them newsprint to write the songs down so we could sing them together during our three days. Finally, as we finished the afternoon off, each participant shared at least two expectations for our time together and, finally, shared some of their frustrations and successes from their work implementing CHE over the last year to two years.

The rest of the weekend Jenny and I had organized by themes.

Adult Learning

Friday we focused on techniques for adult education, starting with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman (John 4: 4-26) (Jesus and the Samaritan woman), looking at how Jesus used an everyday encounter to share and to transform.

The underlying principles that we are learning to follow have their roots in the problem-posing philosophy of Paulo Freire (Problem Posing), among other educators. Jenny and I are using resources such as Helping Health Workers Learn ("Aprendiendo a Promover la Salud") by David Werner and Bill Bower. We also worked through parts of the Training for Transformation manuals (especially volumes 1, 2 & 3) by Anne Hope and Sally Timmel. These resources were in addition to choosing from and following the some of the many excellent lesson plans that Flor & Hiran de Leon (Dominican Republic), Bibiana MacLeod (Caribbean and South America) and Hugo (Central America) have made available to us. The Latina CHE Network

Entering into a community

Saturday we focused on participatory techniques that help bring a community into clearer focus. For example, we sent the participants out into the surrounding community to see what they could learn simply from using their five senses, a technique that is helpful to do from time to time even in a community you think you know like the back of your hand. Then we worked with them on strategies for recruiting and maintaining your volunteers.

In the afternoon, we helped them list the organizations, businesses, associations, churches and government institutions that impact the lives of the people in their respective communities. These lists went up in their respective "corners" where they had begun on Thursday to create a representation of their home base. After creating their respective lists, we shared a technique with them called the Venn diagram where they used different sized circles to represent the power or authority of each entity in the community. After choosing the size of the circle, they then placed it closer to or farther from an area drawn in the middle of a piece newsprint that represented the community's well-being. The closer they placed the circle, the more focused the respective entity is perceived to be on advancing the well-being of the people. The farther away, the less interested the people in power are in really making people's lives better. The photo may help clarify this very cool technique for exploring power relationships.

We finished the day by learning some of the basic principles for drawing a community map.  That is when the Styrofoam balls covered in aluminum foil came in.....

Declaring your cause and beginning to plan

Sunday morning we used to first talk about the importance of putting into words the cause or the mission of the work in their respective communities. We practiced defining those causes for each community, but we reminded the participants that the people of the community together must prepare the final and definitive statement.

Finally, Jenny worked with the group on simple techniques for planning an activity in a way that all of the interested individuals can participate and help provide the information. Once she showed them the basic system, she sent them to their corners to develop a specific idea for their community. As they worked, she reminded them that each project they plan has to be consistent with the cause or mission that they have defined. To help with this task, Jenny gave each participant the manuals that she had painstakingly put together (blessings on you, Flor! now we know some of your pains!)

Our hope is that the plans the participants developed were concrete enough that they will take them home, develop them with people in their home base, and act on them.

To finish up, we did evaluations and then our last songs and prayers together and  Jenny and I handed out the well-earned certificates. I believe that we all went home exhausted, but I also believe that we all had been planted with mustard seeds, truly invigorated by the power of the Holy Spirit.