I Love it When a Plan Comes Together!

We just got back from our first day of community visits, where our participants trained groups of men, women, and primary school students on the sanitation and hygiene lessons that we presented to them this week.  The day was a spectacular success!  There is no greater experience for a volunteer field trainer than to watch the people that you have trained use the tools that you have given them to bring about change in a community.  Bob and I sat in on the session with the students, and it was so cool to see how these grown men engaged and entertained the children, learning from them as they taught to them.  From the very start of this project a year ago, we emphasized (and hopefully modeled) that it was important to have “big ears and small mouth” when you work in a community.  And we all definitely learned a lot from these children today!  The trip home on the bus was like a soccer team returning home from a victorious road game – laughing, singing, high-fives and fist-bumps – and praise to God.  The only glitch was when the bus was waved over by a policeman, and it turned out that the driver had no license!  But with 24 negotiators climbing off the bus, we were finally waved on.  We’ll definitely ask for documentation before we leave again Monday morning!  Tomorrow they will practice their second set of lessons in teach-backs, and then everyone (including US) will get a well-deserved day off on Sunday!  As team leader, I’ve “ordered” the team that there will be no lesson preparation that day – only fun, good food, and rest are allowed!