ICF organized an in-person Training of Trainers on Nonviolent Communication  

ICF organized an in-person Training of Trainers on Nonviolent Communication  

From June 6-10, 2022, the Interfaith Cooperation Forum organized a five-day in-person Training of Trainers on Nonviolent Communication. The activity occurred at Bethel Guest House, Rizal Boulevard, Dumaguete City, Philippines. Nine participants attended the Training of Trainers. 4 were males and 5 were females from four Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and Nepal. Regarding religious representation,  5 were Christians, 1  was Hindu, and 3  were Muslims. The in-person Training of Trainers practicum participants were those who complied with the requirements of the online sessions held on March 7-30, 2022 with satisfactory ratings.

Through hosting the Training of Trainers on Nonviolent Communication (NVC), the ICF expects those who receive the certificates to contribute as facilitators in activities in their local or national contexts and in some ICF activities in the future. ICF reached out to a diverse group of young people who wanted to contribute to promoting peace through learning and practicing nonviolent communication. The whole in-person Training of Trainers was designed to be divided into two essential parts. The first part was a review of the principles of NVC. The second part was the practicum.

The first part included the Elements/Components and Principles of Nonviolent Communication, Exercises on Empathy, and Options in receiving hard-to-hear messages—the 13 NVC Dance Steps. The training of trainers started with greetings from the ICF staff. Dr.Muriel Orevillo-Montenegro introduced the goals and purpose of the Training of Trainers, and oriented the participants on the program flow of the training. The rest of the first two days had the resource persons, Amina T. Mambuay and Lara Mambuay, giving review inputs on the basic elements, principles, and other aspects of NVC. The new part of NVC that participants learned, as these could not be done online, were the exercises on Four Chairs – of giving empathy to others, and the Four Ears – of receiving hard-to-hear messages.

The third day was a day out with nature. The participants visited Apo Island, where they swam with giant sea turtles. In addition to enjoying the natural beauty, the main purpose of the trip was to keep the participants physically and mentally fit/healthy for the final practicum learning session based on their topics related to nonviolent communication.  

The second part of the practicum session. Ten guest participants were invited from a  local community of Sibulan, Negros Oriental tothe Training venue. It was an intergenerational group of Junior and Senior High School students, including some adults.

During the fourth and fifth days, the participant-facilitators did their practicum session based on the chosen aspects of Nonviolent Communication. Each facilitator prepared their module in terms of the topics of nonviolent communication. The practicum session conducted  by the facilitators was: Session 1: Introduction to Nonviolent communication, What is NVC? The story of theEmergence of NVC (Denver Talha, Philippines), Session 2: The NVC model, Frameof engaging and modes of connection and purpose of NVC (Rajon Bhandari, Nepal), Session 3: The principle of NVC (Md Jiyaul Rahaman, Nepal), Session 4: The fourkey components of NVC  Observation, Feelings, Need and Request. (PsycheMankhin, Bangladesh), Session 5: Empathy- the flow of connection extended towards the self or another person (Rinku Mankhin, Bangladesh), Session 6: NVClanguage: Jackal in, Jackal out, Girrafe in and Girrafe out (Edelene Rosin, Philippines), Session 7: The 13 NVC Dance Step (Leonia Freitas, Timor-leste and Seah Olimpain, Philippines), and Session 8: Workshop on Empathy: The four chairs- giving empathy to others and The four Ears – hard to hear the message (Sarah AdrianneMambuay, Philippines).  

At the end of each practicum session, the resource persons, the ICF staff, and the participants provided their valuable feedback, comments, and guidance to  each facilitator. The guest participants responded very actively and positively during the facilitation, which made the session successful.

On the last night, the participants sat down to evaluate the entire ToT process using meta cards. The areas assessed were the content, accommodation, meal arrangement, ICF staff, resource persons, and participation. They used seven different colored cards to provide their valuable feedback.

The participants placed their national flags in the center for the closing rites. Then everyone sat down around it and shared their feelings, what they like or dislike, what they have learned from this ToT, their commitment, and how they could contribute to promoting peace in their local communities when they return to their own communities.