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El Salvador
CCR and CARITAS team
Oxfam America
Theater
The coordinator of Oxfam expressed the need to focus on the methodology used for reaching out to the communities. The training was thus aimed at strengthening the ways in which the organization carries out their collaboration with the communities.
The aim was for the promoters of CARITAS and CCR to acquire and strengthen their facilitation tools and then apply them in the communities that they visit.
The project will include seven workshops focusing on the daily work done in the communities by the represented organizations (CCR and CARITAS).
The sessions will be held based on the schedules that we have fixed with the promoters of the organizations. Ideally, the workshops will last for five hours each day, with the exception of the final day (Saturday) when the project will officially end.
The contents of the sessions will be introduced so that the promoters can develop and study the themes in depth, using theater as a tool for this facilitation.
The coordination was done in conjunction with Carmen, the Oxfam representative, who resolved the initial difficulties regarding the attendance of the participants. Her assistance occurred the same day as the first session, but fortunately we had an excellent turnout as twenty women participated.
The impact observed in training was on a personal level and could be seen in the progress of each session. We discussed the positive changes and how the newly introduced tools could help resolve the way they collaborate with the community.
This achievement was not considered in the training but certainly meant the that they were learning from me just as I was from them.
Some of the participants expressed that the training would not only help them in their interactions with the community but also with their personal life, which left me very content.
I think that the length of the development activity was appropriate, although many participants wished the workshop had occurred earlier in the year when they were just beginning their work in the community. The Oxfam project was almost finished when I held the training sessions and so it was not possible to put much of their new knowledge into practice.
I did not have any difficulty with the women as they consciously worked to set personal challenges for themselves. I believe that theater was a tool that they found to be effective in their collaboration with the communities.
Communication with Carmen, my counterpart, was excellent. She fulfilled all the responsibilities that were handed her by my organization.
In the future, I will be sure to take into account the advice she gave me in her reflection following the collaboration.
The coordination with the women was done by Carmen, as she was in charge of the group and directly responsible for arranging the training schedule.
The important steps, which were unplanned, became the group listening exercises that allowed the women to work from their own experiences, results, and reflections. The development was therefore not recorded on paper rather in their own bodies. The sensitivity shown by each of these women increased, little by little, during the sensitization activities and following the activities we would reflect upon how these skills could be translated to the community.
I think this was a successful project because everyone agreed upon the requirements and the women were very committed to the objectives that they wanted to meet. This made the actual process very lively and, in my view, it was harmonious and satisfactory for both parties involved.
I think the best lesson learned is not to forget that I am dealing with adults and can be assured that changes will come. It has made me rethink the actual process and focus less on the expected outcome.
I have had the opportunity to redo the project and the most important lessons are definitely:
