Project HOPE Volunteers Train the Trainers in South Africa

Training days at the West Rand District Offices in Randfontein

We spent the weekend preparing our chronic disease trainings for the Community Health Care Workers of West Rand. We were “training the trainers”, meaning that the 30 participants would then supervise and instruct community volunteers on the topics of chronic disease. The reach was great, as it is government health volunteers that go door to door teaching their community members about disease prevention and recognition.

What a success! The audience was eager and enthusiastic. Having little to no knowledge about obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental health, our training participants engaged us with thoughtful questions and grateful praise. We worked hard to communicate our information at a literacy level our audience could understand and relate, so group activities, role playing, and visual aids were an integral part of our education tactics. Our efforts paid off- at the end of the training we were thanked with smiles, warm embraces, and song.

-by Project HOPE volunteer Torrey Flynn