I've been using this approach to talk about gender equity on a small scale to the local Imams (muslim leaders). They have really appreciated the tiny 8 person workshops, and I was happy doing it on a small scale. But, back in February, I was approached by the founder of Luciol'Envol (http://www.luciolenvol.org/) to see what kind of partnership Peace Corps volunteers in Tchamba could form with their organization. Luciol'Envol is a pretty amazing association. It was founded by a man who was born in Tchamba, went all the way to university in Togo, and is now working at CDG airport. Every year he provides scholarships for 50 tchamba girls to attend school in honor of his mother, who he says is the reason why he was able to go so far in his studies.
I talked about my work with the Imams, which got everyone in the association interested. Together, we thought of a Men as Partners training for the chiefs of each of the neighborhoods in my village, the CVDs (the person in each neighborhood in charge of community-development), and the woman responsible for women in each neighborhood. All together we had about 50 participants.
The day started early with an opening ceremony, followed by sessions on defining gender vs. sex, gender roles, HIV/AIDS, breaking gender stereotypes in households in regards to chores, work, and education, and finally a session on the meaning of family and what it means to take care of family.
The whole day was in local language (tchamba). I can really see a huge difference in a training that is held in local language vs. a training that is held in French. French is rarely someone's first language here, so a lot is lost varying from each participant and how much french they know. By having the training in local language, it really provides for a better comprehension, more participation, and more fun as people are comfortable making jokes in their native language.
Our Training of Trainers: 5 trainers 'examining their attitudes' through debates.
Opening ceremony with the village authorities. Can you imagine having a workshop in America and having the mayor, his council, religious leaders, and education officials all coming?
Talking about the difference between sex and gender.
Discussing gender stereotypes in Togo.
Yay! At the end of the day, everyone got their certificate. (If you don't give a certificate here, it's like the workshop wasn't official)
Me with the trainers that led the sessions during the workshop! (People were so surprised I opted out of printing a certificate for myself...)
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