Sulong CARHRIHL holds first Comprehensive CARHRIHL and Peace Trainers' Training

July 26-August 2, 2007
San Mateo, Rizal and Philippine Normal University, Manila
(Darlene Ramos)

Sulong CARHRIHL's first comprehensive CARHRIHL and Peace Trainers' Training at Ciudad Christhia, San Mateo, Rizal culminated on August 2 with a successful practicum at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) in Manila.

The twenty-two pioneer trainers were handpicked from the different provinces where Sulong CARHRIHL held its previous human rights and peace seminars - Abra, Antique, North Cotabato, Aurora, Bacolod, Bulacan, Samar, Quezon, Mindoro Occidental, Pampanga, and Sorsogon.

Learning how to teach: future trainers are all ears.

Several knotty topics were covered in the days prior to the practicum, facilitated by Sulong's Education Officer, Catherine Cerillo, and a host of resource persons from the fields of the academe, law, and human rights advocacy. Joeven Reyes, Sulong's secretariat head, fleshed out the frequently asked questions about Sulong CARHRIHL. Prof. Serafin Arviola of the PNU Center for Linkages and Extension Service introduced the ADIDS (Activity, Discussion, Input, Deepening, Synthesis) teaching method, which was to be used by the trainers during their practicum.

Among the speakers were Sulong CARHRIHL lead convener Prof. Miriam Ferrer, who discussed the principles and peculiarities of human rights and international humanitarian law (HR/IHL); Karen Tañada of the Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute, on women's rights; South East Asia Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (SEACSUCS) Regional Coordinator Ryan Silverio, on the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and Ernesto Anasarias of Balay Rehabilitation Center for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

A panel discussion on the efforts, gains, and difficulties of implementing and disseminating the CARHRIHL and IHL was graced by GRP-MC Vice-Chairperson Carlos P. Medina, Jr. and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) legal counsel Chamaine Enerva.

Dr. Jasmin Galace of the Center for Peace Education, Miriam College, conducted short interactive exercises on peace and peace building, in addition to the traditional classroom-style lectures. Prof. Lusterio-Rico of the University of the Philippines College of Political Science shared her first-hand experiences and insights on the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act (IPRA) and its first decade of implementation. Marco Puzon, National Coordinator of the Philippine Coalition to Protect Children Involved in Armed Conflict (Protect CIAC) shared practical tips on pubic speaking and effective and ethical group facilitation for peace and human rights.

The training was enriched with workshops and exercises.

Trainers debate during an exercise on human rights.

After seven days of rigorous, in-depth sessions on human rights, international humanitarian law (IHL), peace building and CARHRIHL, and a comprehensive exam on every module covered during the training, the trainers embarked on their first hands-on teaching experience: passing on what they learned to freshmen and sophomore students of the Philippine Normal University (PNU). The trainers were divided into seven groups of three to four members and assigned one of the five Sulong CARHRIHL modules to teach: Human Rights, Effects of Armed Conflict and the IHL, the CARHRIHL, Peace and the Peace Process, and Peace Building. Each member was tasked with facilitating one or two sections of the ADIDS-structured modules.

The flurry of hours of review, preparation, practice, and general apprehension shared by many of the trainers did not go to waste. Though the atmosphere in the bus on the way to PNU was quiet and charged with tension, the trainers' spirits rose as the first of the three batches of facilitators greeted the students. The facilitators plodded through the modules hesitantly at first, but grew in confidence as their fellow trainers successfully handled the flow from the activity to the discussion, input, and deepening to the synthesis.

War Game: Fun and insightful learning.

The CARHRIHL: a trainer gives a shorthand input.

Six PNU professors, including Prof. Serafin Arviola, observed and evaluated the seven groups' one-and-a-half-hour alloted time per module. While most of them agreed that the trainers still had to push past their awkwardness and lacked ample time to process the students' reactions smoothly, they expressed surprise that most of the trainers had never tried teaching before, and applauded their efforts. The students proved more enthusiastic in their responses, and scribbled down suggestions and encouragement in the evaluation sheets handed out after the sessions.

Synthesis for the peace module: "Ang Kuwentong Kambing"

A hard week's work proved fruitful in the end, and through the exhaustion, pride and the sense of accomplishment showed on the faces of the twenty-two trainers as they boarded the bus back to San Mateo. Twenty-two is a small number to begin with, to be sure, but Sulong CARHRIHL hopes that this will herald the many more peace and human rights trainers that are yet to come in the next months and years. DR