by Sérgio Vieira, UPF Portugal
Tuesday, 13 June, 2023
UPF Portugal commenced the year 2023 with a strong focus on training new trainers for Character Education for Peace project, both in Portugal and also in support of Lusophone countries such as Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé, and Guinea-Bissau (being also in cooperation with Brazil). The training program began in February and concluded in April, spanning a total of three months, with sessions held every Saturday. The program consisted of 12 topics, delivered by four trainers from UPF Portugal: Sérgio Vieira, Paula Berto, Carla Vieira, and Paulo Nunes. The trainers meticulously prepared each presentation, aligning them with the established more professional curriculum and including session plans with goals and objectives to be achieved.
Module I: Foundations of Character Education
- 2nd Session: The Need to Educate Character – SV (11th February 2023)
- 3rd Session: Cultivating a Culture of Peace through Service – CV (18th February 2023)
- 4th Session: Life Goals and the Partnership between Home, School, and Community – SV (25th February 2023)
- 5th Session: Causes and Resolution of Conflicts – PB (4th March 2023)
Module II: The Family as a School of Love
- 1st Session: Family, the School of Love – PB (4th February 2023)
- 6th Session: The Universal Dimension of Family – PN (11th March 2023)
- 7th Session: Healthy Marriages – CV (18th March 2023)
- 8th Session: Preparing Youth for Marriage – SV (25th March 2023)
Module III: Challenges of Youth
- 9th Session: Ethics of Love and Sexuality – PB (1st April 2023)
- 10th Session: Consequences of the Sexual Revolution – PN (15th April 2023)
- 11th Session: Drug and Addiction Prevention – CV (22nd April 2023)
- 12th Session: Understanding HIV/AIDS – SV (29th April 2023)
Engagement and Collaboration
On average, 40 to 50 participants attended the weekly sessions. The trainees from Portugal more actively involved were some Ambassadors for Peace and Partners from associations and educational backgrounds. The Lusophone countries trainees involved were particularly engaged leaders and members from UPF, YSP, FFWPU, and WFWP from Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé, and Guinea-Bissau.
On 3rd April 2023, UPF Portugal organized a meeting with the key leaders from Lusophone countries, to speak with the President and Vice-President of UPF Africa, Dr. Adama Doumbia (to whom the project has being reported by Sérgio Vieira) and Dr. Paterne Zinzou. The purpose of the meeting was to share progress made, transmitting the positive opinions from these national leaders about this cooperation, and discuss possibilities for broader collaboration with Africa, such as joint events and ILCs (International Leadership Conferences).
Next Phase
Following the completion of the training program in April, a new phase began in May. Active and dedicated trainees have been utilizing the topics covered to deliver mini-sessions of 15 minutes, maintaining the essence of the content while showcasing their creativity in how they can apply the character education within their societies. Already we had 5 very good presentations from some of the trainees (Portugal, Mozambique and São Tomé), and schedule some others also from Angola and Brazil.
So, through this several months of dedicated work in this area, we have successfully developed sufficient educational and curricular materials to being able to start in the field. But now, we are focusing on incorporating some dynamics and practical activities, appropriate to the target audience and that can give to these more theoretical contents, a greater enthusiasm in their learning. Thus, by the end of 2023, we intend to have substantial material ready to present in any schools, associations, or institutions, some of which have already expressed interest in these topics.