In March 2009 a contract was signed between the Blue Cross Norway (BCN), the Thaba-Bosiu Centre (TBC) and ICDP with the aim of developing ICDP in Lesotho.
The first ICDP training workshop was carried out in Maseru, at the beginning of July 2009. There were 25 participants from 14 different organizations. They expressed great interest, worked hard asking relevant questions and suggested many ways of implementing ICDP in their work and also personal family life with children. They told moving stories about their relationships, especially to their fathers, who as mine workers had little time to spend with their own children.
The second work-shop took place in Maseru, Lesotho, from the 15-18th of March 2010 and it was attended by 19 persons of which 12 reported about their field-work. There will be a short workshop in July 2010, then it will also be possible for the persons who did not get a promotion diploma to present their field-work.An important task for Blue Cross is to determine how to include the alcohol and drug issue into the ICDP/Blue Cross program. So in this work-shop there was a discussion on how to include the topic of alcohol within the frame of the ICDP program. The participants were quite active and had a positive attitude in trying to bridge this.
2010: A successful ICDP training programme has been developing throughout the year, at the Thaba-Bosiu Centre in Maseru. After attending several ICDP workshops, participants developed local “self training” projects in their communities. These projects or field work were carried out by at a core group of 20 professionals who will become qualified ICDP facilitators. They are applying the ICDP methodology in their work with families and children who are affected by problems of alcohol and substance abuse. ICDP cooperates with a very committed and resourceful team from the Centre, and this work is sponsored by the Blue Cross Norway.
Quotes from the ICDP international trainer’s notes:
“I was impressed to see how well most trainee facilitator reported about their field work. They prepared their presentations very carefully. They produced written reports and included some material with pictures, drawings and personal comments or stories. Due to the general enthusiasm, some of the facilitators are already working with a second group of caregivers.
I went on a field visit to observe an ICDP meeting with a group of local women. It was quite positive but at the same time it revealed the huge difficulties people have to deal with: alcohol, drugs, violence, gender conflicts, HIV and grief … children and women experiencing loneliness and abandonment. Most of men working at South African mines are alcohol dependent and HIV positive.
One interesting case was reported about a very recent widow; her husband was an alcoholic who died of HIV. She was in an ICDP group run by one of the local ICDP Promoters. Participating in the ICDP meetings helped her a great deal because she could express her grief and share numerous stories about her husband and his death process; including what that process caused psychologically and emotionally to the family. As a result she became extremely enthusiastic about ICDP.”
2011: A core group of 20 professionals became qualified as ICDP facilitators. They delivered the ICDP programme to families in their communities.
In 2012, the second phase of the project was completed. A new groups of facilitators were formed by local professionals, as part of their second level training as ICDP Trainers. The objective was to consolidate the mastery of the programme and its application within the philosophy and mission of TBS, where the operational focus is the problem of alcoholism and substance addiction in the Lesotho society. Always taking into account the social and human complexity of this subject, the training in 2012 had an underlying practical approach in three complementary ways: a) how to deal with the patients and their family and human environment; b) how to empower women in positive human interaction in affected families; c) how to sensitize key social agents such as teachers and police to create a preventive and protective dynamic.
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