15 South Africans began training in the solution focussed approach (SFA) last October. All of them have now completed the course with a certificate. This also proved to the course leaders that the training has a solid foundation. They themselves had completed the very first SFA course at terre des hommes schweiz in southern Africa.
st. Just a few years after terre des hommes schweiz began working with the solution focussed approach (SFA) in southern Africa, it is being adopted and carried forward by more and more young people. This is impressively demonstrated by the latest successes in South Africa. In April, 15 young people and employees from South African partner organizations completed their training as SFA counsellors. All those who started the training in the first module last October were now able to receive their certificate as SFA trainers after completing the second module. The team at terre des hommes schweiz would like to congratulate them on their success!
Passing on acquired knowledge
This training course was also a success for the terre des hommes schweiz training concept. It was the first course that was not conducted entirely by Irene Bush, from terre des hommes schweiz, and SFA expert Therese Steiner. The course was led by two young South African SFA trainers who completed the first course in Southern Africa, including the advanced Training of Trainers (ToT) course.
On the SFA course, the trainees learn about the solution focussed approach (SFA), which enables them to focus on the strengths, skills and resources of young people and not just on their problems when accompanying and advising them. They apply the SFA in their own organizations and projects, reaching thousands of other young people. In the ToT course, selected graduates of the SFA course learn to become SFA trainers themselves.
Aiming for independent development
In the SFA course that has now been completed, the course leaders were still closely supervised by Thabisani Ncube, the Southern Africa Youth Coordinator at terre des hommes schweiz. However, the aim is for the ToT graduates to continue the training courses independently in future. This will enable the young South Africans to take training into their own hands. There could hardly be a better endorsement for the SFA concept. And the signs are good, because next year some of the new graduates will no doubt join the ToT follow-up course.
