Atnaf Berhanu, ICDP trainer living in Norway, visited Ethiopia over a period of two months (February and March 2024), during which time she undertook several ICDP activities in different parts of the country, as described below. Her plan is to travel to Ethiopia again in June to continue to conduct ICDP facilitator level trainings and to hold a couple of awareness raising workshops.
Wolayeta Sodo
An ICDP certification workshop concluded the training of a group of 14 facilitators who had carried out their obligatory tasks in 2023. This group came from 7 of the Ethiopia Full Gospel Churches in Wolayta Sodo. They were very glad to be part of a small certification ceremony to receive their ICDP diplomas.
The facilitators worked in pairs and they delivered the ICDP programme to 98 parents and 253 children. During the training the parents exchanged many useful experiences, sharing about different ways of supporting their children. They put a special focus on positive ways of setting limits. After the training some parents said that, because of their participation in the ICDP programme they now feel that it is they and not their children who need to change!
There was a special case of a mother that is worth mentioning – it is a story of a mother who told the group how she used to have frequent conflicts with her son and how at some point he threatened to kill her. She had at that point lost all hope of being able to help her son. But after she attended the ICDP training she realized that she needed to change her approach towards him. When she got home, she talked with her son and apologised for the way she had treated him. She explained that her behaviour was due to her own lack of understanding of the situation. She reassured him that she loves him dearly. Gradually her son felt appreciated and started to behave well and eventually he became cooperative and helpful.
Two pairs of facilitators rolled out the programme to parents who attend church on two separate occasions, each time conducting 8 meetings with parents. The parents were happy to share with the congregation about their ICDP experiences, and they explained how the training helped them understand and raise better their children. They received their ICDP certificates after the Sunday service.
Shashemene Town
During 2023, Atnaf had been training groups of facilitators in the Western Arsi region EFGC. During her visit to Ethiopia in March 2024, she was able to conclude the training of those facilitators who had finished running ICDP parent groups. A total of 66 parents and 188 children participated in the ICDP programme. Two groups of facilitators were given their diplomas, but others are now continuing their ICDP work with parents. Some of the facilitators were unable finish all the 8 meetings with parents, due to being engaged in too many activities in their areas, but they all promised to continue with the parent groups and complete the delivery of the ICDP course.
Facilitators reported that the ICDP courses for parents were successful, because they saw how the attitude of parents towards their children during the training had changed for the better. Parents were keen to share about their experiences illustrating how their communication with their children had improved and how their children started to feel happy, because of the training.
Addis Abeba
In Addis Abeba, trainee facilitators embarked on their ICDP course in November 2023 and then later attended the second part of the training in February 2024. All participants had brought films illustrating their interactions with their children – that was their home task which they carried this out in the period from end of November 2023 till March 2024. Many of the participants said they had learned a lot from their experience of putting ICDP guidelines into practice, which they also said helped them to establish good relationships with their own children.
All participants received the newly translated manual in Amharic. Some of the facilitators have already started to roll out ICDP to groups of parents.
Workshop for mothers
A group of mothers approached Atnaf to ask whether she could give them a one-day introductory workshop on ICDP. She agreed to conduct sessions on some of the key topics. The mothers became very interested in exploring how parents’ conceptions of their children affect their own interactions with them. They had a lively group discussion and concluded about the importance of this topic and its relevance to many parents. They were divided into small groups and shared about their own experiences with children. The workshop sessions were held on working days and this prevented many parents of smaller children to attend. Therefore, they asked Atnaf to hold sessions on Saturdays or Sundays in future.
Creating awareness
During her stay in Ethiopia, Atnaf conducted several consciousness raising workshops for leaders of the Amanuel Hebret organization. As a result of creating awareness about the purpose of the ICDP programme, this group of leaders became interested in applying ICDP through their churches and asked for facilitator level training to be arranged. It was agreed to start with the ICDP training in June 2024, in the Adama area.