"Coming Together Is a Success" - Select CVT Staff Gather in Nairobi
It’s an exciting week for CVT! All Africa-based trainers and clinical advisors will meet just outside Nairobi for a clinical workshop. The staff will be together for an entire week, eating all meals together and staying at the same hotel.
“We are hoping that very warm connections will be developed between staff,” says Laura Gueron, DPT, MPH, clinical advisor for physiotherapy “and that the workshop week will set the groundwork for learning and sharing opportunities in the future.”
This group works extremely hard in very trying circumstances, so wellness will be a major theme throughout the week. Not only are several of the presentations about topics related to staff self-care, but the beautiful environment will also be conducive to fun, self-care and reflection.
While the clinical advisors weren’t sure about who would volunteer to speak for the workshop, it turns out that each and every staff member applied and will be presenting! “There is so much expertise among the trainers,” says Laura. “Many having worked for other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the past and many having years of very interesting experience in various camp and urban settings.”
The workshop will also include structured discussions, where staff members can share culturally-appropriate modifications they have made to client services, and there will be brainstorming activities about future program needs and development.
Liyam Eloul, MA, clinical advisor for mental health, notes that CVT’s East Africa programs ”serve diverse populations, but are increasingly seeing overlap, which heightens the opportunities to learn from each other and to build on programmatic experience to inform new program development.”
Paul Orieny, Ph.D., LMFT, senior clinical advisor for mental health, says that it in addition to being a rare and valuable professional development opportunity, “coming together is a success in itself—even the informal connections that will happen.”
Photo: Near CVT Nairobi by Sydney Stead
