Training The Trainers

Just under 200 police officers and social workers from 17 Caribbean countries successfully completed the Regional Training of Trainers Programme on Domestic Violence Intervention, held recently at two venues in the region. The first workshop was held at the St. Augustine Campus at the Univiersity of the West Indies , while the second took place at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies.

The training was marred by the death of one participant - Mr. Omar Khayyam of Guyana - who had to be rushed to hospital on the third day of the course in Trinidad and Tobago, where he died of an acute heart attack.

The 12 trainers met just prior to the five-day residential course, to review the training material with authours Calvin Bella and Jo Trelfa, to organise the content for delivery and to forge a group identity, which would guide their actions during the period of training.

Participants were divided into three groups, with four trainers per group. Trainers allocated topics among themselves based on their area of competency. They supported each other by observing participants’ reactions and feeding back to the lead presenter, recording comments, distributing materials and making oral interventions to reinforce the perspective of the lead presenter.

A mix of lectures, group exercises, role - plays, discussions and analyses of participants; experiences formed the basis of the training. Trainers ensured that the sessions were interactive and participants responded favourably.

Although most participants had received previous training in domestic violence intervention, many found the sessions on Gender Awareness, the Web of Abuse, Communication and Why Women Stay in Abusive Relationships to be new and enlightening.