“Interesting discussion and exploration of important ideas have made me think about church and community empowerment,” said Lajrash Tamang, one of the participants in a training on HIV and AIDS for Bible schools. A Bible college teacher, Sagar Thapa, said: “I don’t want to leave this training. I really learned a lot from it.”

The purpose of this programme was to prepare teachers as facilitators of a curriculum published to provide awareness on HIV and AIDS in theological colleges and institutions in Nepal. Fifteen participants, seven from Bible colleges, five from Bible institutes and three Micah Network Nepal volunteers attended the training, organized by UMN and Micah Network at Yalamaya Centre, Patan Dhoka.

Six trainers presented different topics over the four days. These included Govinda Paudel, Joel Githinji, Paul and Becky Hagen, Rabin Tamang and Thir KC.

Each day started with prayer and devotions, which made the programme more effective. All of the participants were confident with what they learned, and enthusiastic to apply it in their institutions and colleges. Trainers too were satisfied with the success of the programme.

By Sharad K Raya, UMN Intern