Training Service
AHTCS follows the following training cycle to make the training activities effective and practical for the farming communities.
AHTCS has already developed course curriculum of different training packages like Village Animal Health Worker (VAHW) level-I, which is recognized by Department of Livestock Service/ Directorate of Training and Extension, VAHW refresher training, Pig Health and Management, Rabbit Keeping, Goat Raising, Community Animal Husbandry Worker (CAHW), Commercial Milk Production and Processing, Avian Health training and course contents of many other trainings related to animal health, husbandry and public health. There may be some modification to the course contents of the training after reviewing community needs and suggestions from partners.
.The training methods and course content have continued to evolve over the years in response to trainees’ requests, and from experience. A course textbook and medicine book for Village Animal Health Workers have been developed over the years which have many illustrations and limited text, which makes it user-friendly to those with little education. The emphasis of the training is hands-on and practical. Because of such practical experience during training, VAHWs trained for 35 days can effectively treat about 60 percent of the animal health cases in their villages.
After reviewing the training’s content as per the need of the community and proper selection of trainees, training is conducted in the field with friendly atmosphere where sufficient animals are available for trainees to practice. The training is conducted using participatory methods based on the participant centered adult learning principle, with emphasis on practical work rather than theoretical. The participants are motivated through application of practical skills in the real situation, group discussion, role-play, case studies, brainstorming and games, etc.
Follow up is an integral part of training. Six months to one year after their training, AHTCS encourages organization of follow-up programs for 2-5 days depending on the program’s nature. AHTCS and/or the partner organization is involved in follow up of the trainees. Individual performance is assessed comparing with respective goals set during the training period. The follow up and monitoring/evaluation part of each trainee is delegated to the respective partner organization. The partner organization may set goals/ action plans to make for easy evaluation. The partner organization is requested to send evaluation reports to AHTCS.
Community Service
AHTCS follows ROAD principle as a guiding tool to deliver its services in the community. Realization-Option-Action-Decision are the key components of the principle.
Community Service Model
In the pre visit, a small team from project and link providers become familiar with the village background, inform the villagers about the planned participatory needs assessment (PNA), explain about objectives and scope, establishes contact with village leaders and cross-checks whether the selection of the village corresponds with the target of the organization or not.
PNA is an intensive planning exercise. Staff from the project discusses the potential for exploring better opportunities within communities. Villagers analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats.
They prioritize the real need and formulate the community action plan is very crucial. In this stage technical details, roles & responsibilities and people’s contributions are clarified with the group members.
The implementation phase (Action) demands attention and care from community mobilisers. They encourage and assist the beneficiaries to manage the implementation phase by counseling, providing training and direct support where necessary. Meanwhile community participation is assured for timely use of resources to adequate standards.
Evaluation is for joint learning: what can we do better next time? Where are our strengths and weaknesses as a local organization or as a community? After that, the organization can think about future steps to deepen and widen the impact of a project or to start on a new one.