By Sthabiso Mdledle – The workshop focused on teaching and training community builders, youth as well as organisation leaders on how to conduct and facilitate dialogues, workshops and forums in their respective fields and communities.

The Democracy Development Program (DDP) held a workshop titled “Train the Trainer” at the DDP Seminar Room on Tuesday, 18 April 2017.

This workshop was aimed at equipping young facilitators with knowledge they can use to conduct effective community dialogues. The outcome would be to create and mould DDP’s own reliable facilitators in all the organisations.

The workshop unpacked various techniques that facilitators can use to hold successful and meaningful dialogues and workshops, that are easily understood and encourage engaging conversations among participants.

This workshop was facilitated by seasoned DDP facilitators and project coordinators Brian Bhengu and Sthembiso Madlala. Bhengu said facilitators should have a different way in which they conduct their workshops/dialogues. He said: “As facilitators you should develop your own unique style of facilitation and how you engage your audience to the conversation. Interaction amongst the participants should be irreplaceable and should not be a copy of what others do.”

The workshop ended with conversations amongst the participants about what they learned and how they benefited from the training.

One of the participants, Melusi Mahlaba from the Lindelani Youth Forum in Ntuzuma said the workshop was great and met his expatiations from a previous conversation he had with one of the facilitators. “I came prepared to listen and learn”, added Mahlaba. Other participants said the workshop was refreshing and empowering.