EDID, Africa Network Sharpen CBR Stakeholders’ Writing skills
A five-day Training of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) stakeholder on writing skill has held at the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Service Resource Center at Mvan Yaounde, Cameroon. This training that ended on November 15, 2019 was organized by the CBC Health Services Empowerment and Disability Inclusive Development (EDID) program under the mantle ship of Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Africa Network (CAN). CAN is an independent non-governmental organisation with 42 African countries, set up to facilitate information sharing on different CBR experiences and initiatives across Africa.
The Director of the CBC Health Services, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih charged participants to use this rare opportunity to gain and enhance their writing skills which will in turn improve on their work on the field. “The workshop is aimed at strengthening the capacity of CBR implementers to communicate best practices, lessons and challenges in implementing the CBR approach to the wider African audience, and identifying the focal point person/organisations responsible for sharing information from CBR practitioners in selected countries within the CAN secretariat.
“The workshop will enhance your skills in identifying and writing success stories that are reflective of the work you do and attract funding, understand challenges in CBR work, identify and explore the possibility of increased information sharing among partner organisations, and enhance CBR networking,” explained the public health expert.
Expressing satisfaction with skills acquired, Forba Aliba, one of the 46 participants said, “I have grasped the aspects of documentation, equipped myself with writing skills and ready to write stories and send to the EDID program for dissemination in the CAN newsletter, website and other digital platforms,” she expressed with a sparkle on her face.
“I have never written a story before, but today, I have developed skills that will enable me identify and write success stories, documentation of communication material for easy access and dissemination, how to engage funders through story writing, the different story writing processes, understanding and writing leads, the body of a story, inclusive writing skills, CBR writing skills, technical vocabulary related to disability reporting and best practices in story writing,” expressed another.
The workshop was characterized by practical and field work when participants constituted groups, visited CBR sites in Yaoundé neighborhood and thereafter, identified and wrote success stories.
The training was facilitated by the Ugandan based Executive Director of CAN, Dr. Abdul Busuulwa and Mr. Abanda Alphonse, Head of Grants Department and Coordinator of Communication within the HIV-Free project of the CBC Health Services. Mrs. Aghor Glory, Program Manager, EDID Program organized the training while Mr. Pascal Ahidjo, Secretary Executive Committee CAN handed over certificates to participants at end of the training.