Training of Trainers Programme for Rural Rajasthan
11th – 14th May 2015
After successfully conducting five pilot trainings in Sirohi and Sanganer district of Rajasthan in 2014, the HSF Water Conservation and Climate Change project commenced the fourth phase with the ‘Training of Trainers’ (TOT) programme on 11th May 2015.
Teams from Hanss Seidel Foundation and Centre for Social Research have been working on the project since 2012, beginning with the needs assessment of about 250 households which was done to design the project module. Envisaged as the last phase of the project, the TOTs are designed to create a network of skilled Trainers who will lead and take the project ahead in their communities.
To increase the outreach of this programme, the participant group of the TOTs was narrowed down to the elected women representatives and active village leaders/volunteers as they are in a responsible position and have better connect with the community people.
Beginning from Sirohi, the first TOT was conducted in Nirmal Saurabh Vridhashram situated in Abu Road, facilitated by a three member team from CSR, Ritika Bhatia, Pratishtha Arora, Arnika Singh and expert resource person, Ms. Richa Audichya (Jan Chetna Sansthan).
Along with understanding of the training content, the facilitators also trained the participants on communication and empathetic skills as we foresee them as Active Trainers soon.
The training module began with building the understanding on gender related issues, stereotypes, clichés etc. citing examples from the daily lives of these rural women. Post these sessions, a connect between women and water conservation/climate change was build up through a gender relations framework.
From the second day the training shifted towards topics like leadership and governance, water issues in Rajasthan, climate change effects, role of women leaders in water conservation etc. The content was supported with activities like Power Walk, Tanagram, Gender Mapping etc.
We had the pleasure of having Sharmi Bai, ex-sarpanch of Nichlagarh with us as a resource person. Sharmi Bai is one of the known leaders in the district who has done immense work in the field of Water and Sanitation. The group was taken to a field visit to Nichlagarh where they witnessed live examples of how water can be conserved in mountains itself so that the water level can be raised. The participants were extremely impressed by Sharmi Bai’s work and seemed to be determined to replicate the same in their areas.
Resource Mapping, an extremely important and effective activity was conducted for the participants to build their understanding on water resources in the villages. With the support of an external resource person, Mr. Deshbandhu, information on various water related government schemes and policies, procedures for applying, shifting of crops, water and health, various measures to access safe drinking water etc. was imparted.
During the four day training, the participants were also asked to give a demo of the training that they have received and were also shown videos to summarize the information and activities during the days. These sessions were generally conducted during the evenings to keep them light and more interactive.
The last day was kept to hand over the resource material to the participants that they would require to conduct the trainings on their own. A Mezbasta (a bag which can be converted into a table) with a resource kit including posters, bandhanvars, handouts, postcards, training structure, and a booklet containing information on water policies in Rajasthan was given to the participants. Along with this, a copy of all the resources required to conduct the activities was handed over to the local partner so that the participants can access them whenever the need be.
Along with the participants, such trainings are a great learning experience for the facilitators too. Witnessing the ground realities, listening to stories of active women leaders and their struggle,inspires and motivates the team to work harder and drive in a change in the communities.
Looking forward to reading your blogs, you can mail us your entries at WriteWithUs@csrindia.org, or upload them at Write With Us.
Donation for Centre for Social Research to Join our effort in rehabilitating Domestic Violence
Discuss this article on Facebook
