And so the student becomes the teacher

When Grace Nyiringabo took the Viva Equip People training two years ago she had no idea that she would one day end up actually teaching it!

In 2009, alongside 40 other project staff working with children at risk in Mbale, Uganda, Grace spent eight months gaining the key skills needed for effective and compassionate child care. “This course helped me so much” says Grace. “I feel that spiritually I have grown and my heart has been changed. I didn’t know how to handle children at my work place, and I was not doing my work from the bottom of my heart but really just to earn a living. Now I can confidently say that I am committed to seeing the lives of children changed and helping them become better people- all that God intended them to be.”


Viva staff were so impressed with Grace, and the way that she was implementing what she had learnt, that they felt it right to approach her to be one of the trainers for the 2011 course. Beginning in March this year the course is taking place at five centres across Uganda, and 200 new students are expected to enrol. Over the last year seven other particularly successful VEP alumni from Mbale, Gulu and Kampala have also been asked to become trainers for this next course.

The co-ordinator of Viva’s national network in Uganda, Patrick Jumah, feels strongly that continuing this model of trainees becoming trainers will be beneficial on many levels: “These people have gone through the whole course. They are not just specialists in one module or topic, but they know what it is to study all the parts. They are showing to be wonderful mentors to those going through the training now, and an amazing support.”

Another benefit of these students-turned-trainers is that they actually help to alleviate some of the financial pressure of the training. “So many of the people who have done the course and now are trainers are happy to give their time for a much lower cost” Jumah shares. “They have seen the benefit of the training, and they are so motivated to teach others that they do not need to make a lot of money from it. They are so happy to be there and teaching more projects.”

Grace agrees wholeheartedly, saying “It is a privilege now to be passing on this learning. I know that it has not only equipped me with skills and knowledge but it has also transformed my life, and I hope to help others now experience the same thing.”