JANUARY, 2019 UPDATES

Dear Readers,
Warm greetings from all of us here in the Resource Team. We trust the New Year has brought renewal in many ways in your lives for the good of all creation. It is with pleasure, as ever, that we bring you updates on our activities from the field for the month of January, 2019.
The Resource Room reopened on the 4th of January following its closure for the Christmas break. The Team  lot of tidying up to ensure the place was conducive for work to begin. On the second weekend of the month, we had a mentoring workshop in the north eastern part of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga zone, in a community called Bunkpurugu. The workshop was in the Community Building Unit. A total of 17 young adults were encountered. The workshop made a significant impact on participants resulting in the Catholic community leaders calling for another workshop for their prayer leaders in the various outstations. The Team of SELL Volunteers in the Bunkpurugu community are making great contributions towards restoring and sustaining peace.
                                              

The Resource Team travelled to Wa, the Upper West of Ghana, to have the firs training of SELL Volunteer Facilitators. The training took place from the 16th to the 20th of January. 33 young adults were trained as facilitators in the Self Awareness unit of the Programme, among whom were 9 females and 5 deanery Youth Chaplains. The venue for the Training workshop was Wanye, a Spiritual Renewal Centre. Trainee facilitators were taken through a lot of capacity building materials as a way of building their confidence, skills and bonding them as a group. The trainees engaged the programme very well and appreciated the opportunity to be trained as facilitators. They each signed a commitment to go back to their communities and organise workshops and facilitate so that their colleague young adults will also benefit from the programme. The Youth Chaplains really showed their interest and commitment in working with the youth. They reported with the youth, stayed and went through the training processes with them until noon of the Saturday that the left for their various parish communities for pastoral duties the following day.              

On the evening of the Saturday, when all the training sessions had finished, there was a social night gathering for recreation and socialisation. Volunteers and Resource Team members participated from start to finish. There were cultural displays by the trainees. It was exciting to see that the young people in this part of the country are still very much in touch with their culture despite the influx of foreign cultures. They sang and danced their hearts out with joy and in appreciation to the benefactors of the programme. At the end of everything the Volunteers were given the materials they need to function in the field. Each team had a set of overview kits and Self Awareness kits. The Resource Team is confidently hopeful that the trainee facilitators will deliver as expected of them in their various communities.

On the 23rd of January, Maria Kidney a consultant of the Presentation Brothers with Misean Cara had a meeting with the Resource Team. A lot of work on the SELL Ghana Misean Cara project was done. Maria sacrificed her time and energy to help the team work on and understand the Project modalities. The Resource Team owe her a lot of thanks and gratitude for all the great work
The Team travelled to Tamale for a Mentoring Training on the final weekend of the month. This training was the fifth one for the Mentors. The mentors travelled from both the Tamale and Navrongo-Bolgatanga zones to the Catholic Youth Centre in Tamale for the training workshop. 14 of them were present. The Team together with the mentors reviewed the experience of working in the field as mentors and the way forward. There were other capacity building materials of which the mentors were taken through in order strengthen their skills. They were introduced to an exercise called ‘Squares’ which aims at fostering cooperation among teams. There was also an exploration on Sexual Orientation. It was necessary for the Team to have conversation on this area with the mentors as it keeps coming up in the field. This we envisage will help them greatly as mentors and their colleague facilitators in the field as they mentor them.
During the training we were privilege to have Brother Godfrey the Provincial Development Officer of the Presentation Brothers and Maria Kidney paying a visit and joining us on the Sunday for the closing Mass celebration. They affirmed the mentors for the great work they do and encouraged them to continue to reach out to the fellow young adults through the ministry of SELL.
                                                           
                                                          

In February, there will be two trainings in both the Tamale and Navrongo-Bolgatanga zones on the Wisdom of Traditions Unit and there will also be trips to Wa for mentoring workshops in the Self Awareness Unit.
The Resource Team is grateful as ever to all the benefactors whose generosity makes it possible for this programme to reach out to young people in the various parts of Northern Ghana. Our gratitude will be incomplete if the Volunteers who sacrifice themselves in diverse ways to extend it to the grassroots are not mentioned. We appreciate and pray that their sacrifices be replenished in several fulfilling ways. To the Presentation Brothers and all stakeholders, many heartfelt thanks.


JOSHUA ANAMBE,
For SELL Resource Team, Ghana.
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