Behind the scenes: training the trainers
This week in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we trained 27 future coaches from four of Good Return’s microfinance institution partners to become community educators in finance.
In the week-long training workshop, trainers were turned into official ‘coaches’ who will implement our Consumer Awareness and Financial Empowerment (CAFE) initiative in local communities across Cambodia. The course rigorous covers:
facilitation skills, including becoming familiar with the course materials
social inclusion, and how to support people who may face barriers to participation, including those living with a disability
how to implement a coaching approach as compared to training, through demonstrating supportive and strategic questioning techniques, and
how to use our CAFE.app to enhance every CAFE coaching session and monitor improvement.
How do we train our trainers?
When we deliver our CAFE program to learners in the provinces, we aim to make each session as interactive and interesting as possible to keep learners engaged – and it’s no different when we train our coaches! During our training sessions, we include many games and reflection sessions, where our future coaches can learn in a fun and supportive environment.
Amongst our most popular interactive sessions was the crocodile lake game (pictured below). This game involved participants choosing a partner, with one undertaking the role of ‘coach’ to motivate and guide their ‘coachee’ through the crocodile-infested lake - and each time they were ‘bitten’, they needed to start again! This kind of game helps to demonstrate to future coaches the importance of inspiring their coachees, building trust and helping them to achieve their goals.
We also run sessions on gender and disability awareness, and personal money reflection exercises, to ensure that our coaches demonstrate empathy with the learners when they deliver the CAFE program.
A focus on social responsibility
It’s important to deliver this training to all of our future coaches and every MFI we partner with to make sure that our CAFE program is delivered in a socially responsible way, the way that it was intended. The training also ensures that our coaches deliver the program to a high standard, fully utilising all of the materials available.
As Good Return strives to be socially inclusive, it’s also vital that our partners understand how to interact with and provide the best service to people living with a disability and other minority groups. As the majority of our learners are women, it’s also important that they undertake training in an environment where they feel safe and supported.
Of course, the end goal of the training is to produce coaches who can deliver financial capability training within provinces all over Cambodia, working towards CAFE’s goal to provide learners with the tools they need to better manage their money and plan for the future.
What’s next for our new coaches?
All 27 coaches are now fully certified and ready to start delivering CAFE Financial Coaching in the provinces!
Thanks again to our partners Maxima, Mohanokor, NongHyup Finance and Sambat Finance, and the sponsors of the MFI Financial Literacy Coaching Project, Harvest II (USAID) and ADA, who helped to make this training so successful.
Teaching future coaches how to use the CAFE.app to make sessions more interactive and monitor attendance and financial behaviours.
Crossing the river as a team - an exercise to help coaches learn about facilitation styles and ensuring nobody gets left behind!
One of our coaches being led through crocodile-infested waters!
Our initiatives focus on building financial capability and empowerment, giving people the tools they need to better manage their money, develop business skills and plan for their future.
You can support our work by donating to Good Return.