The cool thing about National Training Weekend is that it brings us together for a shared purpose – we bond together, workshop together, and gain new knowledge and skills to be used both inside and outside of CISV.
This camp we were lucky enough to have a Trainers Team made up of both Leaders and JB.
Our fantastic NJRs Grace and Francois opened up the weekend with Skits that looked at the ‘why’ of CISV – we were able to share with each other the reasons why we have a passion for our organisation, and then do a rap/Shakespearean performance/mime/interpretive dance to really bring the message home. They were both hilarious and insightful – a definite highlight was Lucie’s impersonation of her brother and our Junior NJR, Francois, complete with his watch and facial expressions.
Lovina, one of our inspirational JBers, alongside Kayla and Hannah, started off our cold Saturday morning with a model IJB activity called ‘How do you define conflict?’. They had participants think about the different forms that conflict can take in our lives, and how resolution is often intrinsically tied to conflict.
We then went into our key training sessions – over the rest of the day, split into our training groups, we were able to learn from some of our most experienced leaders with activities on their areas.
The wonderful Danni taught us about Risk Management in CISV, and how we can be a part of ensuring the safety and comfort for everyone on our programmes and workshops.
We were so stoked to have Bronwyn come up from Wellington, to teach us about different roles in CISV and also be the ‘fountain of all knowledge’ for our questions. Thank you, Bronwyn, for both sharing your incredible wealth of experiences with us, but also listening to and valuing ours.
Mackenzie and Gemma lead us through a practical skills session on how to plan activities – we learnt about the CISV Educational Principals and how to use these to help us facilitate top quality activities.
And lastly, Tess lead a discussion around conflict prevention and self-care – conflict resolution is our content area for 2019 and learning practical tools for self-care is so helpful in our CISV and other leadership roles.
Before bed we got a crash course in the best short games we can play, from Gemma and Anahera. King of the Jungle was ready for a comeback, with some weird and wonderful new characters making an appearance.
Sunday was another jam-packed day – the JB planned their next 6 months, leaders and JCs officially finished their formal training, and Bronwyn ran us through different evaluation techniques, so we could learn while also evaluating our weekend!
From the Trainers, I’d like to extend some thanks; to the JB and the trainees for this NTC, who bought their enthusiasm and wisdom in full force – your group is stronger than ever, and we can’t wait to see what you do with that momentum. Thank you also to the amazing whanau members who came to help us with cooking, cleaning, and all the other essential details which we are so grateful to have had your support with. Good luck to all our up coming leaders and participants for Village, Step Up, Youth Meeting and International Junior Branch Conference!
Next Minicamp is at Hunua Falls Presbyterian Camp, Hunua, from 20-22 September 2019. We look forward to seeing you then!
CISV New Zealand 