From 9th to 21st of April 2018, the third training phase of the training course on early childcare and speech language development by the German-Tanzanian project team from Leibniz University Hannover (LUH) and Sebastian Kolowa Memorial University (SEKOMU) within the project "Preventive Community Based work in Early Education and Communication Development in Irente, Tanzania“ (project management: Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lüdtke), funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Equality of Lower Saxony, Germany, took place at Irente Children’s Home, Tanzania.
The German-Tanzanian project tea (from left): Afizai Vuliva, Julia Wendel, Emiliana Mgaya, Kirsten Beta, Robert Shehaghilo (missing: Dr. Bodo Frank, Angelicar Bruno)
A group of 11 experienced women, composed of seven employees of Irente Children´s Home (ICH) and four women from surrounding villages participated in the six-week-training at ICH. The training course was started by Dr. Bodo Frank (Head of the Project, Head of Research at the Lab of Relational Communication Research at LUH), Angelicar Bruno and AfizaiVulivain January 2017 and continued by Afizai Vuliva, Emiliana Mgaya, Robert Shehaghilo, Kirsten Beta and Julia Wendel in February and April 2018. This training is based on the collaborative work between LUH, SEKOMU and ICH within the DAAD-Project “Establishment of a ´Child Development Lab` for intervention-studies in the field of Early Childhood Education and Health as well as Inclusive Education” from 2012 to 2015. This DAAD-Project was enabling first video-analysis of caretaker-infant interaction (Chantal Polzin, Ulrike Schuette, Dr. Bodo Frank) and focussing new methodological competencies at the new Child Development Lab at SEKOMU (Afizai Vuliva, Dr. Bodo Frank)
The training phase ended in a final ceremony, in which the trainees were handed their certificates of training participation. In addition, they gave a presentation on the contents of the training course and introduced the materials which they jointly developed together with the project team within the course:
- the workbook, containing a summary of the training results and guidelines for caretaking, communication support and basic elements of first aid,
- information material for their work in the village communities,
- first care bags to be used in the villages.
Sr. Enna Mdemu, head of Irente Children’s Home, demonstrates the use of the first care bag to the training participants.
The information material on the four training topics for outreach work in the villages.
The training participants with the workbooks.
Among the invited guests were Rev. James Mwinuka, General Secretary of the North Eastern Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (NED-E.L.C.T.), who was the guest of honor, Rev. Joyce Kibanga, Director of Social Services of NED, the four village chairpersons from the outreach network, as well as family members of the training participants. On behalf of NED, the General Secretary thanked all participating women, Sr. Enna Mdemu, head of Irente Children´s Home (ICH), the binational project team, the cooperating universities LUH and SEKOMU, and Prof.Dr. Ulrike Lüdtke, Head of the Institute of Special Education (project leadership, LUH, Germany) for the fruitful joint work.
Rev. James Mwinuka addressing the training participants
In the following months, the mamas from ICH and the outreach-network will continue to advice and support the village communities in early childcare and early communication development with support of the management of ICH and the projectteam. Follow-up meetings with all participants at ICH are scheduled for June and August this year.
The training participants, project team and guests at the ceremony, 18th of April, 2018
