Myanmar: Church Capacity Building

Adam (center back row) and the other training participants during the three week training in the Philippines. © E-CARE 2016. Used with permission.

 
This is part of the Community Development Program: Learn
more about ABM’s Programs here

 

ABM’s supporters have generously given funds to build the community develop-
ment capacity of the Church in Myanmar for many years. This commitment has
enabled the capacity of Church
community development workers in Myanmar to increase, to the benefit of communities throughout the country.

One example saw Adam Kyaw Thu Ya attend three weeks of training in the Philippines. Adam is the Coordinator of Disaster Risk Reduction for the Church of the Province of Myanmar.

Adam attended the South-East Asian Anglican and Pacific Community Development and Leadership Training which was started in 2014 and is now being offered annually by ABM’s partner, the Episcopal Community Action for Renewal and Empowerment Foundation (E-CARE). ABM, Episcopal Relief and Development (US) and other Anglican partners support this training by funding participants’ costs.

Adam told ABM about the impact this had on his work, and on his life.

“I’m very thankful to E-CARE Church Capacity Building for Development for this training, because I encountered new exercises and learning modules that I really enjoyed. This training is Scripture in action, with all exercises or modules intended to use the Asset- Based Community Development (ABCD) approach. This aims to increase the capabilities and capacity of the Church and lay workers, and to teach best practices and apply what we learnt in the communities we serve,” he said.

“I was very interested in this E-CARE training, because of the emphasis on existing community assets, and how to utilise these assets effectively to develop business ideas that are sustainable. The ABCD Transect Walk and Mapping presentation and practice (where trainees go to a village and conduct an assessment of the existing assets) were particularly exciting to me.

“This is very important to identify the assets within a community. Therefore, I am applying and practicing this learning in my Disaster Risk Reduction program. All the modules are useful for Community and Church Development in Myanmar.”

Adam’s training included topics such as gender sensitivity and awareness, project proposal writing, project management and monitoring and evaluation.

Since Adam returned home, he has been striving to apply what he has learned from the training in the various roles he holds within the Church. When visiting communities, he talks about the importance of recognising their own strengths, and helping them identify and use their existing assets to bring positive change.

One such community, Dee Dote village in Pyay Deanery, wanted a pre-school and initially asked the Church to provide this for them. After Adam’s visits, the people themselves donated wood, bamboo and other materials to put up a preschool. The local government is now also helping to build a primary school in the village.

Your support of this project will continue to train people and build capacity in the Church through the  Provincial Development Desk.

MM001CE needs $25,000 in 2018 (tax-deductible)

 

HOW TO DONATE

You can make an online donation to this project.  

 

Alternatively, for donations by cheque/money order (made out to the Anglican Board of Mission – Australia), telephone or email, view contact details here. Please don’t forget to include the project name and/or code with your payment details.

Gifts to ABM will be applied to the support of project(s) selected. In the unlikely event of the project being oversubscribed or not proceeding to completion, donations will be applied to a similar project to the one(s) selected.

 

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