Counselling training for the gender-based violence ambassadors

Meanwhile 2,5 months have passed since my arrival in Shianda. As I mentioned in my first post, I feel at home here… and it becomes even more my home as time passes.

My work was also progressing during the last months…

I was able to conduct the first counselling training. WEFOCO’s gender-based violence ambassadors (gbva) and other group members participated in the training.

The gbva were trained as such as part of the project of previous EUAVs. Since their training on gbv last year they have been doing valuable work in Shianda to raise awareness on this topic and support community members affected by gbv. They also expressed interest in a counselling training as it is important for their gbv-related work. However, they voiced demand to learn more about counselling in general and counselling of youth as well. Together we decided on the topics that should be covered in their training.

The 3-day counselling training was conducted in the first week of August. Of course, a 3-day training can only give limited insights to the world of counselling, but it is a beginning. In the coming months there will be follow-up meetings in order to exchange on experiences and to give the opportunity to ask questions.

The counselling training covered basic knowledge on the following topics:

·         mental health awareness

·         aims and process of counselling,

·         role of a counsellor,

·        basic counselling skills (active listening, holding out silence, asking open questions,   paraphrasing, summarizing, etc.),

·         peer support,

·         talking about emotions,

·         creative methods (e. g. working with pictures and drawing),

·         counselling of couples/ families,

·         conflict management,

·         talking with teenagers/ children,

·         empowering

As pracitice is important for counselling, the training included a lot of space for exchange, questions and opportunities to exercise in groups.

Besides that, we had a lot of fun with our morning workouts while waiting for all participants to arrive. To stay energized and concentrated during the training, we enjoyed singing and dancing activities. The group grew together day by day, what was also a useful side-effect of the training as it is important that the gbva work together and support each other. 

Even though the feedback from the participants on the counselling training was very positive, I’m very aware of the fact, that the 3 days were not sufficient to change the attitute of the participants towards communication.

As a person who believes in the importance of exchanging with other people and who is interested in getting to know other people, I have been talking to a lot of locals during my stay so far. During those talks and also the counselling sessions that I had with some individuals and families from the communities I observed that communication in Kenya is different from what I’m used to. People are  not likely to share, not likely to ask questions and if asked just to answer what they were asked, but not to tell more. I was told by locals that people in Kenya often don’t like to share with others because they fear that they might be judged and that people might disclose what they shared.

Also information is not always passed to others, e. g. regarding available services. Other examples, when a person is late and you ask him/ her on the phone when she/ he is coming, the person is likely to say „I’m coming“, which can mean everything from 5 minutes to 3 hours. Or when leaving, people don’t say anything or just, that they’re going without giving information on how long they will be gone or if they come back or not. 

However, every time individuals open up and share with me, I enjoy the talks because that way I learn a lot about the Kenyan culture and about the people. And I feel they enjoy those talks, too.

If it comes to counselling, the challenges regarding communication are also challenges for the counselling process, as talking, explaining, sharing, understanding, not judging and being confidential are all important aspects of the counselling process. However, as some people opened up to me and it felt as if they were enjoying the sharing, hopefully the trained counsellors will give some more people the opportunity to exchange and share if they like to.