Implementing Most Sessions of the Training Workshops within the Project “Only One Step Away”

GAV – Qamishlo

GAV4RD has finished most sessions of the two workshops on communication skills and administrative skills, within the training aspect of its project, Only One Step Away. The project included training on 3 topics: communication skills, administrative skills, and artistic/cultural skills.

The training activity was launched on the 22 February, 2018 and is planned to end on 25 March, 2018.

Through these workshops, GAV4RD seeks to qualify the university students involved in the project and to empower them in order to strengthen their role and to contribute to the success in the project during the field visits in the community. The expected activities rely mainly on the participation of university students in the the project, Only One Step Away, which was launched on 1 February, 2018.

The organization has chosen three important types of training, which contribute to the success of the selected activities. The communication skills training focused on scaffolding the characters of the team members to enable them to reach out to the target beneficiaries effectively by understanding their cultural environment and seeking to address the current situation and the latent disputes in the region.  It also focused on several important areas, including the historical narrative in the culture of the components of the region’s population and focusing particularly on the nature of the communities and how to deal with them in a way that serves the objective and the message of the project.

In order to enable the team to carry out their implementation plan during the field visits, the team was divided into four groups. Each group consisted of 3 members, representing the the cultural variation in the region and they were trained on the most appropriate mechanisms to communicate with the families in order to strengthen the relationships with them in accordance with the nature of the activities. The rest of the communication skills workshop is to be finised on 17-18 March, 2018.

The administrative skills workshop focused on developing the skills of the participants in using various computer software (Microsoft Office, Google applications, creating an email account and using it, writing a CV … Etc) as these skills are important in their professional life after graduation in order to increase their job opportunities after graduation and increase their role in the social and economic development. University students suffer from marginalization, which reflects negatively on their skills and practical experience and hinders their active participation in society.  The administrative skills workshop is planned to end on 18 March, 2018.

The artistic/cultural training constitutes the final stage in the training activity. It started on the 11 March, 2018 and it includes training the volunteers to enable them to carry out activities during the field trips in the communities.  The activity includes training on folklore dances belonging to the three components of the region’s population. Folkloric clothes will be prepared for the team and exchanged between the team members. A theatrical show will be prepared and the volunteers will participate in it to present a show which represents closeness and peaceful coexistence among the several components of the region’s population in an atmosphere of understanding, love, and peace, reflecting the purpose of the projects in bringing the various components of the local community together.