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.
