Viviendo Positivamente Training

Last month I facilitated a 3-day training of support group leaders that's been in development over the last 6 months or so. This was the first full test of the training curriculum, and overall it was a great success.

Developing this training has been my main project for quite some time. Thoughout the course of my service, I've noticed that one of the greatest needs for PLWHA isn't simply to find motivated people to organize and run support groups, but motivated people with the appropriate skills to organize and run support groups. The Honduran education system is very lousy, so the most basic organization, planning, and communication skills simply aren't acquired by the vast majority of the population. This training is intended to be a small step toward meeting that need.

With funds from a PEPFAR (President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) grant, Mary and I trained support group leaders from four municipalities in Colón: Trujillo, Santa Rosa de Aguán, Limón, and Tocoa. The response was very positive, but we also got some good feedback that has helped us improve the curriculum for future trainings.

Getting Hondu-12 and Hondu-14 health volunteers trained and Honduran institutions to buy into the methodology will be my focus from now until I leave on May 1. We have three more trainings planned in April, including one in Tegucigalpa with support group leaders from all over the country. If all goes according to plan, we'll leave behind a proven training curriculum for support group leaders that can be implemented not only by Peace Corps Volunteers but also by Hondurans. If that happens, then there's at least one project I point to that has achieved the elusive goal of sustainability.