128 graduates and their families from across Sudan gathered in Kosti to celebrate the completion of a three-year course in Post-Conflict Community Transformation.  The evening began with a march from the workshop site to the graduation amphitheatre accompanied by a marching band; upon reaching the final venue the graduates celebrated their graduation with both traditional and modern music, speeches, drama, and certificates of accomplishment.

FAR’s Partnership Programme, which facilitates the course, works closely with community groups and trains local leaders to shape and implement grassroots development plans that are tailored by community members to their communities’ needs.  Using a five-step approach that starts with community awakening and moves to decision making, participants, many of whom have never had formal education, are able to assess community needs and build and run programmes to address them.  Each course module begins with a workshop and training session followed by a practical, hands-on trial period, where students put their new-found skills to the test in their own communities.     

Stephen Anthony and Mary Gideon, who run the partnership programme, exemplify FAR’s commitment to building local capacity.  By taking part in this course, students learn the theoretical and practical skill necessary to form their own development agencies and address needs in their own communities.