Celebration Day for Social Worker Training!

On Tuesday afternoon, we celebrated the completion of six weeks of training for fifteen social workers in the Tokmok area. This was an historic day for us. The International Leadership and Development Center, the organization we serve under, is headed by Lynn and Ruby Johnston. They have completed other seminars over that last couple of years, but this one was our first!

We met each Tueday morning for three hours as we explored the issues of abuse and neglect on child development. They were so very appreciative and said they had never had training like this before. The wonderful part of extending the training over a number of weeks is that we got more acquainted with the workers and developed relationships that I hope will continue.

Another major two-day workshop is scheduled to be held at Mercy Foundation in September and we will reach out to other orphanage caregivers and social workers. The topic is one of intense interest for this group - Caring for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused. The seminar will be held on September 10 and 11.


Here are some of the pictures from our celebration day!

Workers gather to finish up the seminar series. They are currently working here on a casestudy.



These social workers came in weekly from a local village and were committed to the entire series.
The gentleman on the left is the regional director and the gentleman on the right is one of the adoption workers. We asked the director to participate in passing out the certificates. He greeted us weekly when we arrived.



This is Valentina. She was always enthusiastic and a great participant.

Most of the group was present for the presenting of the certificates. The local newspaper covered the opening of the training series in early June and a photographer/reporter covered the certificate presentation. It will appear in the local paper next week with the story and pictures.

The director thanks our group for bringing this training to them.
Sharing in the satisfaction of hard work completed....you can't celebrate without cake!

We look forward to working with these social workers again in September and hopefully, next year when we return.

Watch for tomorrow's updates on people you have met along the way.