African, Latin American & Caribbean Groups Take to Teaching Mentors Online
ESD Global and the ESD community worldwide are coming together and adapting to the global pandemic through innovative online trainings to show solidarity and offer support. Participants who train with ESD Global become part of a global alumni Mentorship Program that meets on a regular basis to provide support and ongoing training. In light of the exponential rise of intrafamilial violence worldwide in the face of COVID-19 lock-downs and unprecedented quarantine measures, ESD Global’s Latin American and Caribbean group are adopting virtual tools to share ESD tools online. Aude Mulliez, ESD Global's Latin American and Caribbean Programs Manager highlighted the importance of this initiative: “During these challenging times, stress is heightened and research shows an increase of violence perpetuated by families towards individuals in their care including children, partners, siblings, elderly or even pets. It’s important to share tools about stress-reducing, stress management and deescalation techniques and ESD instructors are doing so online an in innovative way using games and questions shared through social media platforms.”
Aude announced that bi-monthly trainings in spanish for instructors in Latin America and the Caribbean have been launched to address this need and is excited to have Spanish speaking instructors in the United States join the movement and share their expertise.
ESD Global participant Daniela Lizano, an experienced Krav Maga instructor who trained with ESD Global in 2019 and who attended the first International Violence Prevention Conference 2020 in Israel, led a virtual online course with her fellow mentorship group members from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico.
ESD Global graduates are also making a difference in African countries, each in their own unique way, within their personal capacities! Participants from 8 different African countries tuned into ESD Global's first virtual mentorship meeting, sharing inspiring initiatives they have taken to deliver ESD classes.
One participant is sharing the skills she learned during training with family members at home, another shared basic ESD tools with the public via radio in Nigeria. An ESD Global co-mentor is recording and sharing weekly videos of herself doing ESD related exercises to encourage people to keep practicing alone!
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