END OF YEAR REPORT, 2018
Greetings from all of us here on the SELL Resource Team in Logre, Bolgatanga, Northern Ghana. We trust you are keeping well. We are extremely delighted to say hello again and to share with you briefly on how the year has been for us. We are pleased to say 2018 has been another successful year of reaching young adults in the Upper East and Northern Regions of Ghana with the liberating message of peace and providing support towards their human development. This would not have been possible without the kind and generous support of our benefactors, the zeal and commitment of our Volunteer Facilitators, the Presentation Brothers, and the Youth Chaplains and leaders at the community level. We are therefore immensely grateful to all of them and all those who supported our course in various ways.
We started the year with a Mentoring Review /Training for our 20 trainee mentors from the 2 Regions (as we shared in the updates for the month of January). The trainee mentors are people selected from our 76 volunteer facilitators, who showed the capability of taking up the role of support persons (mentors). The role of the trainee mentors is to accompany their colleagues (volunteer facilitators) in the field and support them to deliver the quality of work required of the programme. The aim of the mentoring review was to help them reflect on their experiences in the field and equip them with other needed skills. This also frees the Resource Team to design new materials and to respond to other invitations from other Regions.
Greetings from all of us here on the SELL Resource Team in Logre, Bolgatanga, Northern Ghana. We trust you are keeping well. We are extremely delighted to say hello again and to share with you briefly on how the year has been for us. We are pleased to say 2018 has been another successful year of reaching young adults in the Upper East and Northern Regions of Ghana with the liberating message of peace and providing support towards their human development. This would not have been possible without the kind and generous support of our benefactors, the zeal and commitment of our Volunteer Facilitators, the Presentation Brothers, and the Youth Chaplains and leaders at the community level. We are therefore immensely grateful to all of them and all those who supported our course in various ways.
We started the year with a Mentoring Review /Training for our 20 trainee mentors from the 2 Regions (as we shared in the updates for the month of January). The trainee mentors are people selected from our 76 volunteer facilitators, who showed the capability of taking up the role of support persons (mentors). The role of the trainee mentors is to accompany their colleagues (volunteer facilitators) in the field and support them to deliver the quality of work required of the programme. The aim of the mentoring review was to help them reflect on their experiences in the field and equip them with other needed skills. This also frees the Resource Team to design new materials and to respond to other invitations from other Regions.
In the 1st half of the year we had our 3rd round of trainings in the 2 Regions (Upper East and Northern Regions) the training was based on the Peace Building unit of the SELL Programme.
The 4th round of trainings which was based on the Community Building Unit took place in September.
After each of the trainings, volunteers went back to their local communities to step down the programme accompanied by a trainee mentor and a member of the Resource Team. What is remarkable is seeing volunteer facilitators grow in confidence, owning the programme and making an impact through sharing with their peers at community level. This year, the Resource team together with volunteers reached a total of 1,325 young adults; 626 females and 699 Males. We have been delighted to see an increase in the number of Muslims taking part in the workshops.
In April, an opportunity was given to trainee mentors to undertake a basic training in counselling to help build their capacity. The nature of the SELL Programme is such that it gives room for people to share their experiences in an atmosphere of love and mutual respect. In such moments of sharing, some participants break down and need some support and accompaniment at such challenging times. Following this, we felt it was necessary for trainee mentors to have some basic skills in counselling to respond to such situations. It was a great learning experience and mentors found the skills very helpful in the field.
In April, an opportunity was given to trainee mentors to undertake a basic training in counselling to help build their capacity. The nature of the SELL Programme is such that it gives room for people to share their experiences in an atmosphere of love and mutual respect. In such moments of sharing, some participants break down and need some support and accompaniment at such challenging times. Following this, we felt it was necessary for trainee mentors to have some basic skills in counselling to respond to such situations. It was a great learning experience and mentors found the skills very helpful in the field.
This year we had teachers from 5 different Senior High schools signing up for the Life Choice Training Programme.
The aim of the Life Choice programme is to help students reflect on the important steps they need to make in their life journey. The teachers after the training are rolling out the programme in the Schools. Those teachers who have already conducted workshops after the training in July shared with the Resource Team how priceless it is to the young ones.
In the course of the year, we were able to respond to an invitation we received in 2017 from the Upper West Region, Wa to run the programme there. We did community based outreach workshops for some
selected communities within the region. The response has been positive and we plan to have our 1st volunteer facilitators training in January for the Region.
In the middle of this year, we received another invitation from Damongo, another zone in the Northern Region. Initial contact has been made and we hope to respond to them in the coming year.
The Resource Team has increased in number. Br. John Mark (FPM) has been appointed by the leadership of the Presentation Brothers to be a full time member with the SELL Resource Team. The Presence of John Mark on the Team is very important and timely. It strengthens the team as Vincent Agyei the Team leader is on further studies in Ireland and will be returning in September, 2019.
In general, 2018 has been a success and we feel blessed to have wonderful and kind hearted people who keep supporting this movement. We continue to keep them at the heart of our prayers.
As we come to the end of another very fruitful year – and trusting in divine providence that 2019 will be same, we will like to wish everyone a Joyous Christmas celebration and a Blessed and Productive New Year.
SELL RESOURCE TEAM, GHANA
As we come to the end of another very fruitful year – and trusting in divine providence that 2019 will be same, we will like to wish everyone a Joyous Christmas celebration and a Blessed and Productive New Year.
SELL RESOURCE TEAM, GHANA
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