This week, I traveled out to Gomane Clinic in Impendle, a rural area about 40 minutes drive from Edendale, with the training team.
I observed Sandile and Deli train a group of about 25 CCGs on TB and current ARV guidelines. As with most iTEACH field trips, I got more than I was expecting. My goal was simply to understand one of the settings in which training sessions are conducted so that I might create supporting educational and communication tools to suit that environment. What I learned was that no tool I create will ever measure up to the abilities of iTEACH trainers.
Watching Sandile and Deli in action was amazing. Everything was in Zulu, so I only understood words like CD4, ARV, and viral load, but by the end of the session I knew how to diagnose and treat TB and could recite each different ARV regimen and which drugs to use for which patients. The depth of their knowledge and their ability to engage an entire room of community health workers for several hours was impressive. I mean, I know these guys know their stuff, but I have a whole new level of respect for them now.
Sandile and Deli don't really need supporting training tools (they could do this in their sleep); the CCGs and other health workers they train need help absorbing and retaining all of the information delivered to them. I will work with the trainers to make sure anything I create compliments the structure of their sessions, but the focus should really be on their audience. The training tools will need to stand on their own – the CCGs in Gomane need cheat sheets, not Deli and Sandile.
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| Impendle |
I observed Sandile and Deli train a group of about 25 CCGs on TB and current ARV guidelines. As with most iTEACH field trips, I got more than I was expecting. My goal was simply to understand one of the settings in which training sessions are conducted so that I might create supporting educational and communication tools to suit that environment. What I learned was that no tool I create will ever measure up to the abilities of iTEACH trainers.
Watching Sandile and Deli in action was amazing. Everything was in Zulu, so I only understood words like CD4, ARV, and viral load, but by the end of the session I knew how to diagnose and treat TB and could recite each different ARV regimen and which drugs to use for which patients. The depth of their knowledge and their ability to engage an entire room of community health workers for several hours was impressive. I mean, I know these guys know their stuff, but I have a whole new level of respect for them now.
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| Sandile in action |
Sandile and Deli don't really need supporting training tools (they could do this in their sleep); the CCGs and other health workers they train need help absorbing and retaining all of the information delivered to them. I will work with the trainers to make sure anything I create compliments the structure of their sessions, but the focus should really be on their audience. The training tools will need to stand on their own – the CCGs in Gomane need cheat sheets, not Deli and Sandile.
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