Day 1 done...and what a day it was!

Day 1 of Specimen Referral System training was very busy. We were originally expecting about 40 participants, but discovered in the morning that number would now be about 30. Once everyone finally arrived (including a few late comers in the afternoon) we settled in at 26.

The participants quickly opened up their workbooks and eagerly started leafing through them.

After brief introductions by the project manager as well as the in-country sponsor, the students started their training off with a pre-assessment test. This assesment will be repeated at the end as way to measure the amount of knowledge improvement over the last 4 days of training.

Soon, in an attempt to relax the students, a true/fase activity was completed....green if they felt the statement was true, red for false.

Right before lunch, the big activity of the day got under way. Process Mapping....a concept that seemed at least a little bit familiar to the students.

The participants were broken into groups and each group was responsible for placing a process map on the wall, using pre-printed cards. It was exciting to see how engaged everyone was, fully participating and willing to share their opinions.

We had been told the participants would be shy and reserved...that we would need to really work to draw the out and participate, especially on the first day, however that couldnt't have been further from the truth. There are at least 6 or 7 obvious leaders among those taking this class. They are not afraid to speak up, have strong opinions and will even tell one another when they are mistaken.

There's a definite comraderie as well though, with everyone assisting each other as they flow through the activities.

After wrapping up the long day, we headed back to the hotel for dinner. It was late by the time we sat and ate (fast food, this place definitely is NOT) and all of us still had quite a bit of prep to do for the next day. As much as we would have liked it...our day was not quite over!