When we made the decision to run the Celebrating Children Workshop in Portland, we weren’t sure what participants to expect. But very quickly, the word spread and we had applications from India, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Cambodia (to name a few).
We could not have been more excited.
It was truly an honor to have international leaders with years of field experience in the classroom, adding vibrancy, depth and practical stories to the learning process. Discussions were animated, with participants sharing both stories of incredible and hopeful success as well as the pain of failure and the brokenness in the lives of individuals that they served.
Peer coaching happened spontaneously as those who had started schools in one country could sit together and process, highlight common challenges and share solutions with those from another. Participants shared how their thinking changed on who God is and on listening to children. Theory was turned into practical and tangible application for so many.
It didn’t end in there. By the conclusion of the course, we had been asked to take this training further afield and as a result we will now run CCWs in East Africa, South Central Africa and India in 2016 and 2017. We look forward to training trainers in these regions so that they can take the curriculum further than we ever could.
