To
the casual passer-by, the first-ever consultative workshop on
community-based first aid (CBFA) in Asia-Pacific, held in Nepal
in September 2006, may have looked more like the aftermath of
an explosion in a paper factory than a gathering of community
based first aid and health practitioners from across Asia and
the Pacific.
In an innovative consultative process, 25 participants from
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well as Federation delegations,
were asked to draw and write on paper and charts of various
sizes and colours, before placing them on the floor, the walls
and even on the ceiling! Individual and group comments and ideas
were brought together after each discussion and activity in
order to build a life-sized, three-dimensional model for future
CBFA practice, based on real Red Cross and Red Crescent experiences.
A similar consultative process took place a few weeks later
in Nairobi, where African Red Cross and Red Crescent societies
developed their version of a first aid model, based on their
own experiences. This new, flexible model is a major contribution
to the development of common content and standards in community-based
first aid, adapted to local contexts.
CBFA is an approach used by many Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies to work more closely with communities and enable them
to identify their own health and social needs, and to develop
community-driven solutions addressing these priorities.
However, first aid is only one component of what CBFA volunteers
do. They also participate in other activities such as HIV/AIDS
prevention and care, road safety awareness campaigns, measles
immunisations, improving the community water supply or malaria
prevention. The communities’ own needs drive these activities
and sustainability is ensured thanks to the active involvement
of the community in every step of the process– a concept
known as Learning by Doing!
Participants in both workshops agreed that volunteers need to
turn their training into action by using their skills in real
situations, at the household and community levels - a ‘volunteers
in action’ approach, which requires coaching and management
support.
The consultative workshops brought together experienced community-based
first aid practitioners from 21 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(*) to discuss, appraise and make recommendations in order to
develop newly-revitalised training and implementation manuals.
The manuals, when complete, will be key tools to put in place
community based first aid programmes with indicators to measure
progress and impact.
Grace Lo, Federation Senior Health Officer at the Secretariat
in Geneva, and one of the organisers of the workshops noted
that: “One of the most positive outcomes from both workshops
is a renewed momentum and enthusiasm among all Red Cross and
Red Crescent practitioners, representatives and delegates to
work together to revitalise CBFA so that it becomes more holistic
and connected with other community activities.” All participants
returned home with a set of key messages and action plans to
present to their leaders.
In the African meeting, participants expressed support for working
together to conceive new tools, foster understanding and go
forward in turning CBFA into action. Mrs Konio Nori, a community-based
first aid programme coordinator with the Papua New Guinea Red
Cross Society for the past 14 years, said that she was very
interested in listening to what other Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies were doing in their programmes.
“The workshop gave me a great feeling of solidarity with
other colleagues in the Pacific and Asia. It was really interesting
how we all were able to contribute our experiences to the development
of new training manuals.”
The widespread interest in the CBFA revitalisation project has
spread beyond Asia and Africa. The European First Aid Education
Network has set up a task force to work with vulnerable groups
in first aid learning. It brought 10 national societies together
in London to share their experiences. The suggestions and results
from the two consultative workshops will help to produce the
new manuals.
(*) Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Canada, Eritrea, Finland,
Ghana, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, the
Netherlands, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands,
Sri Lanka, Sweden, Timor Leste and Zimbabwe.
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In
an innovative consultative process, 25 participants from
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as well as Federation
delegations, were asked to draw and write on paper and
charts of various sizes and colours, before placing them
on the floor, the walls and even on the ceiling! (p14962)
In the African meeting, participants expressed support
for working together to conceive new tools, foster understanding
and go forward in turning CBFA into action.(p15074)
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