15 South Africans began training in the solution-oriented approach (SFA) last October. Now they all completed the course with a certificate. The leaders of the course thus proved that the training has a solid foundation. They themselves had completed the very first SFA course from terre des hommes switzerland in southern Africa.
st. Only a few years after terre des hommes switzerland started working with the Solution Focused Approach (SFA) in southern Africa, more and more young people are adopting and carrying it forward. This is impressively demonstrated by the latest successes in South Africa. In April, 15 young people and staff from South African partner organisations completed the training as SFA advisors. 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 congratulates them warmly on their success!
Acquired knowledge passed on
However, this training course was also a success for the training concept of terre des hommes schweiz. It was the first course not to be conducted entirely by Irene Bush, 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 course Training of Trainers (ToT).
In the SFA course, trainees learn about the solution-oriented approach that is used to accompany and advise young people, focusing on their strengths, skills and resources rather than just on their problems. They use the SFA in their own organisations and projects, thereby reaching thousands of other young people. In the ToT course, selected graduates of the SFA course learn to train SFA trainers for their part.
Sights set on independent further development
For the SFA course, which has now been completed, the course leaders were still closely accompanied by Thabisani Ncube, the youth coordinator for Southern Africa at terre des hommes Switzerland. However, the aim is for the ToT graduates to continue the training courses independently in future. In this way the young South Africans will take the training into their own hands. There could hardly be a better confirmation of the SFA concept. And the signs are good, because next year some of the new graduates will no doubt take part in the follow-up ToT course.
