We try to have a gathering of the whole field of West Africa every 3 years. However on the “off” years, we try to host a training that would be beneficial to our teams. This year the training was on literacy. We had two teams ready to put together their literacy materials and another team who was wanting to revise their material, so it seemed like a good time to do this training. In order to make travel easier for our field we hosted two of these workshops – one in Senegal and another in Burkina faso. The one in Senegal was the largest as it was also where the teams who were forming their literacy programs came. The first week was a training for all on how to put together a literacy program. Then the next three weeks the teams who were ready for this stage stayed with their language helpers and actually worked on putting the primers together.
Some of the highlights of the workshop included…
- Gathering together – it is always special for us to gather together, when we are so spread out as a field. It is great to be able to mutually encourage each other and hear from people face to face on how things are going.
- Worship and Refreshment from God’s word. It is great to gather together and worship and hear from God’s word. Some life in a context where there is no church so that opportunity alone is a huge blessing.
- Bringing our kids together – it is rare that our kids get to play with other kids like themselves. The kids all had a great time
- Everyone came together, no matter what language they spoke. We recently purchased headsets that allows us to have this running in French and English at the same time
These headsets are a huge blessing! 
- Practical experience
There was time each day for people to practice what they were learning 
To experience what teaching literacy will be like - Those with experience passing on their wisdom
Not only did we have some amazing presenters 
But also those with experience in literacy on our team passed on their wisdom to others - Seeing the finished primers. It was great for these teams to walk away with materials ready for the next step. It was fun to see the joy and excitement on their faces.
Our teams worked hard, but it was worth it in the end 
All it all it was an amazing month! 
With of course lots of great food!
During the first week of the workshop, I was responsible for the kids program. So there will be more on that to come…
Thanks for sharing this! It was great to have the opportunity to visit this seminar!
What dedicated people, may you be blessed.