Day Four of CHE Training

Today's training began with a review of the CHE core values. The review began with Pastor Jung sharing his experience in helping a northern Thailand village install a water system. He told the students that, because of his using the core values to guide him through the process of working with the village leadership, money and time was saved as well as a sustainable system of ongoing village run maintenance was established.

 The students were then asked to identify activities in the project that indicated one or more of the core values taking place. They were quick to point out the significance of the large amounts of time and effort Pastor Jung spend in building relationships with government and local leadership. They also pointed to the ownership the community expressed in the water system by the money, labor and their own resources they contributed. This review exercise underscored the core values through a real project and gave them a practical example of how they could put the core values to use in their own context.

The core values review led into a discussion about the importance of an invitation by those who need help and that it is crucial to the success of a project. They learned that an invitation was an indication of interest to improve and most likely would lead to positive change. They understood that an invitation from a family to have a Barefoot Doctor teach them about disease prevention was an indication that there would be a change in behaviors and the establishment of good health habits.

The afternoon sessions focused on the topics where health prevention could be taught in their communities. Their list was quite extensive but the most mentioned places were at church, schools, homes and mandatory community meetings called by community leaders. The point was then made that the main objective of teaching prevention was not information dissemination but changed behavior. One of the important conclusions made was that one of the most effective ways to encourage changed behavior is to build trust relationships where people know they are valued and loved - David Crist

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Bolu's Testimony.

Hello, my name is Bolu from Gumling Village, Nongmong District, northern Myanmar.  This is my second year CHE training with David and Joanna.  I must admit that I did not fully grasp the CHE principles or core values we learned last year and how these principles would fit with my role as a barefoot doctor.  But this year studying more with David and Joanna has widened my horizons.  Now I see how important these principles and CHE methods are as tools to change people's attitude. These methods will help mobilize them, get their cooperation, and help us to be better facilitators.  I want to thank David and Joanna for teaching and leading us patiently and for making our class lively every day.  Now I have a better idea how I can be a better barefoot doctor by using CHE principles.