A Master Training Workshop for
PVLP was organized from 12-15 October 2006 at Kolkata, India. The participants included representatives of the 8 Regional Resource and Training Centres (RRTCs), Team Leaders of the 6 Partner NGOs of RRTCs East I and II from India and two representatives each from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Participants at Peer Volunteer Lesson Plans Training, Dhaka, Bangladesh (24th-28th Feb 2007)
Based on the inputs received from the Master Training held at Kolkata, India, a national level Peer Volunteers Lesson plans (PVLP) training, was held for partner NGOs in Bangladesh from 24 - 28 February 2007. It was supported by Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), Bangladesh and UNODC
Project H13 and organized by ICDDR, B, Dhaka.
The training was inaugurated by Mr.
Shaheen-ul-Islam, Director, Preventive Education, DNC, Mr.
Saiful Islam, Deputy Director, DNC and Dr.
Tasnim Azim, Scientist, Head, HIV/AIDS Programme & Virology, Lab. Science Division, ICDDR, B. During the inaugural session, Ms. Harsheth Virk, Officer-in-Charge H13, formally thanked ICDDR, B for their continued support to UNODC. She addressed different concerns & queries raised by the representatives from partner agencies. A PowerPoint presentation was made on the Rapid Situation and Response Assessment (RSRA) findings of Bangladesh highlighting the problem of drug use and related issues and concerns in the country.
Mr. Shaheen-ul-Islam (centre) and Ms. Tasnim Azim (right) along with Project H13 staff (left) during the inaugural session of the PVLP Training
Altogether there were 35 participants (Team Leaders, POCs, POWs) from all the five partner NGOs, which are:
Light House
ALO
APON
CREA
DAM
In addition, Technical Coordinators from Padakhep Consortium, Project Officer and Field Trainer from CARE, Assistant Director and Assistant Programmer from DNC and representatives from ICDDR, B (Mentor Agency) attended the training.
The resource persons for the training were Mr. Joy Ganguly (Consultant, UNODC), Mr. Ronny Waikhom (Consultant, UNODC), and Mr. Ezazul Islam Chowdhury (Coordinator, IDU Cohort Study, ICDDR, B). Ms. Harsheth Virk (Officer-in-Charge H13) and Ms. Shveta Aima (Admn. & Finance Associate H13) provided technical support and resource materials for the national level training and Dr. Vivek Jain (Consultant H13) clarified issues of medical and technical nature.
During the training, the duties and responsibilities of NGO staff were clarified, including tips on how to help the peers in accessing the services provided, identification of new clients, providing knowledge and information and linkage to service providers and referral. The participants were encouraged to come up with answers and solutions according to their experience in drug use along with others in the group.
The screening of documentary films related to drug use and HIV/AIDS provided the participants first hand audio-visual information on the issue.
List of participants:
APON:
Mr. Zahid Iqbal (Team Leader)
Mr. Jewel (Peer Outreach Coordinator)
Mr. Mostaq Ahmed (Peer Outreach Coordinator)
Sister Catherine (Peer Outreach Coordinator)
CREA:
Mr. Noor Md. Abu Asad (Prog. Officer)
Mr. Mahbub Hassan Milton (Peer Outreach Worker)
Mr. Mustafizur Rehman (Peer Outreach Worker)
Ms. Julekha Kabir Ratna (Peer Outreach Worker)
Participants' feedback
The PVLP training programme received a very positive response from the participants. They appreciated, not only the facilitators but also their colleagues, many of whom themselves were from drug using back ground, with huge amounts of practical and on the field experiences & knowledge. As one of the participants summed it up, "We were aware of few issues and related aspects, some others we were made aware of; a lot of doubts & misconceptions have been clarified. The training has now provided us with a new direction; the direction towards our ultimate goal".
