The National Training Model .docx



CRS Student Ambassador Training Script*See the GoogleDoc version here: *See the PowerPoint, where the script is embedded in the comments section of each slide.Slide 1 (opening slide)[Introduce yourself to group]Good morning…My name is ____________We’re so excited you’re interested in global justice and solidarity. We’re looking forward to having a wonderful and productive year for our ambassador group on campus. We’re going to use this time today to talk a little about who CRS is. The work that you will be doing this year as a CRS Student Ambassador will lead to change on your campus and globally.Be sure to Tweet @crsuniversity #crstraining and during lunch we’ll vote on the best Tweets[Transition] Before we begin, let’s talk about the goals for our training and why we’re spending our time to do this. Slide 2 (goals for training)We have 5 goals for the training:1) We want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. We want you to know what CRS is, what grounds us, introduce you to CRS, and how we do our work overseas.2) We want you to be excited to do this work. We want you to know the changes that you are making in the U.S. and overseas.3) We want you to be equipped to have the skills that you need to carry out this work for global solidarity as well as to be equipped with skills that will help you develop as leaders in the world.4) We want to make sure that you walk away from today with a vision for the rest of the school year. This includes making sure that you know specific events you can put together to join CRS in serving the world’s most vulnerable overseas.5) Lastly, we want to make sure that you realize that this is about building a community amongst your fellow ambassadors. This can be a space where you and your peers get together and talk about global issues that you care about. [Transition] That’s what we’re going to try and accomplish today and this is how we’ll do them. Slide 3 (agenda)Let’s take a quick look at our agenda:We’ll start out by talking a little bit about CRS generally, then your role as an ambassador. Next, we’ll focus on the issue for this academic year- food security/ global hunger/ agricultural livelihood. Then, we will talk about 2 ways that we are going to bring this movement to life on campus—by raising awareness, advocating for justice and being a catalyst for change.[Transition] We’re going to do an icebreaker just to go to know one another a little better.Slide 4 (web of connections)[Web of Connections activity:Objectives:to recognize connections between self, local community, and global community place self in global context.Materials:? Ball of yarnProcedure:Have participants sit in a circle. Explain that each person in the circle will be asked to share his/her name as well as a connection they have to another place in the world. Encourage them to think about their ancestors and where they came from, relatives living abroad, food they eat that originates in other countries, possessions that were made in another country, music or television that is produced outside the U.S., or any other connection they can make to people and places beyond the United States. Give them some time and encourage creativity (e.g., even the air we breathe was somewhere else on the globe at one time or another). Once everyone is comfortable with the assignment, the leader begins by stating his/her name and world connection. The leader then holds onto the end of the yarn and tosses the ball of yarn to someone across the circle. That person catches the ball, states his/her name and connection wraps the yarn around his/her wrist and tosses the ball to someone else. The tossing and naming continue until everyone has had a turn and each person is holding onto a point of the yarn. All group members will then be connected to one another in a web, a visual representation of the interrelationships that exist among all people. A faculty leader or CRS staff can take a picture of the “web” which can be posted in the ambassador meeting area or on their facebook page to remind them of their interconnectedness to each other and to the rest of the word.]I love this exercise because it shows us our connections to one another and to our brothers and sisters all over the world. And, this is a good place to start, but, for us, as people of faith, this recognition of our connection is not enough. Instead, we must move from a connection to a relationship, to a truly mutual and reciprocal interdependence on one another. We must not just recognize this connection, but recognize that we are all made in the image and likeness of God. We must move from connectedness to solidarity, a giving of ourselves for one another, a standing together, a responsibility for one another. So, I’m going to go around and cut your yarn. Turn to your neighbor and let he/she tie your yarn ‘bracelet’ on you. This will serve as a reminder of our interdependence, a reminder that today we are seeking to move from connection to (by the end of the day) solidarity. [Transition] Let’s go back to seats now and move into a time of prayer. Slide 5 (solidarity defined)PrayerExplain: In our connectedness, in our humanness, we are in solidarity with one another. Desmond Tutu talks about the South African word “Ubuntu” and says it means, "My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in yours." “ A person is a person through other persons.” That is solidarity. So in this prayer I want you to think about our interconnectedness, what it means to live in global solidarity. And then, near the end, I will share my connection that I shared in our web, by saying, “With…[ex. my friends working and studying in Laos]. And we will all say together, “We live in solidarity.” Then I we will go around to each person and they will say, “With…[ex. those in Indonesia who have made the clothes I wear]. All: We live in solidarity.Get it? Okay. Let us pray.Prayer: (begin “Higher Gifts” video) God of All, help us to recognize all of our sisters and brothers in the global community.Open our hearts to them that we might live in solidarity with this extended family.God of Justice and Peace, help us to be committed to change unjust structures and to be peacemakers in a suffering world.Give us the courage to speak out for truth and justice, to call for transformation. May global solidarity and peace be achieved through the power of compassion, understanding, and love.One: With…[my ancestors in Japan and Korea].All: We live in solidarity…[continue the litany of connectedness finally ending with..]All: We live in solidarity, connected, we live in solidarity.Amen.Go to “Higher Gifts” video 6 (journey to solidarity) [Transition] We’ve talked a lot about our connections and solidarity, one way we move from our connections to solidarity is beginning with relationships and sharing ourselves with one another. This takes a lot of trust and it requires us to be vulnerable. I’m going to start by sharing my story, my journey to solidarity, with you, and then I’m going to ask you to do that with one another.[Answer at least one of these questions in explaining your journey to solidarity: Answer at least one of these questions ][What brought you here?][Tell about a life-changing encounter with the world’s most vulnerable (e.g. class or travel)].[Share about a time you “lost yourself” or gave of yourself to help a neighbor].[Tell a story about a relationship you have with someone different from you that changed your perspective]. Slide 7 (Act Now sharing activity)[Transition] Now that I’ve shared my story, I’m going to ask you to do the same with one anotherTurn to your neighbor and you can either stay here or go to a corner and answer one of these questions. Again, this takes trust. Please honor that trust and keep whatever is said here within this group. [When everyone is finished then tell them to take a short break of about 10 minutes].Slide 8 (who is CRS?)[Transition] Now that we’ve gotten to know each other a little better, let’s get a little more acquainted with CRS. CRS Trivia[If you have a flip chart, then you can write out some trivia questions on it. Here are some to get you started. You can use these for two reasons 1) To make this interactive 2) Inform people about different aspects of CRS. Have participants guess the right answer and then give prizes/CRS swag to the winners (you can ask you ask your Relationship Manager for the swag for your mini-training).]1. [Hurricane Sandy: Likely we all know about – and possibly know people personally who were affected by Hurricane Sandy which devastated the east coast about a year and a half ago. People lost their homes, their businesses/livelihoods, and even their lives.] True or False: CRS was involved with responding to this emergency and helping people rebuild their lives?Answer: True, but possibly not for the reason you are thinking. CRS is the official international relief and development (or humanitarian) agency of the U.S. Catholic Community. A large percentage of CRS’ portfolio (over one-third) is dedicated to emergency preparedness and response to human-made and natural disasters, such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and Syrian refugees fleeing the conflict in their homeland. In the case of Hurricane Sandy, CRS helped people rebuild their lives in the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic (I also think we helped in Cuba, but usually don’t open that can of worms). Our sister agency, Catholic Charities, whose mission is to help people in need in the U.S., led our Church’s efforts to support people in rebuilding their lives in the U.S., such as in New Jersey and New York. 2. #s of Countries Where CRS Works: So, now we’re clear that CRS helps our brothers and sisters in need around the world. Of the roughly 200 countries in the world, in how many is CRS working?Answer: 91 (although I usually accept anything from 85-105 as close enough, since the number fluctuates based on what is happening in the world – I usually say “about 100 countries”.) Also, it is important to note that CRS does not “go it alone” or impose foreign solutions to local problems. CRS always works in partnership and at the invitation of the Catholic Church of the host country. In addition, most of CRS’ 5,000 staff members around the world are national staff. Local staff and local church and community partners are key to successfully empowering communities to grow strong and healthy! 3. # of People Who CRS Serves?: With these 5,000 staff and many local partners, about how many people does CRS serve in these ~100 countries? (I usually don’t mention that there are 8 billion people in the world, as usually people assume we serve many more people than we actually do).Answer: 100 million 4. When was CRS founded?: In the last couple of questions, we’ve heard a lot about the number 100 – nearly 100 countries where CRS works, about 100 million people served. So, let’s go with this theme of 100 – CRS was founded sometime in the last century, the last 100 years. What decade was CRS founded? Answer: 1940’s We are celebrating our 71st birthday this year. CRS was founded to help World War II refugees and orphans in Europe in 1943 – we were originally known as War Relief Services. The thought initially was that War Relief Services would only exist for a few years until the situation in Europe improved. However, there was a recognition of the need for our U.S. Church to continue helping those in extreme poverty, so over the years, we transitioned from doing short-term help in meeting people’s immediate needs to helping people around the world engage in longer-term, more sustainable community development efforts to stop cycles of poverty, including helping the poor with microfinance and entrepreneurial projects. Yet, CRS’ history is not one without challenges and heartache. Does anyone remember a horrific event that happened in Africa in the early 1990s? The Rwandan genocide gave CRS much pause and caused CRS to really look inward and re-evaluate our mission and the effectiveness of what we were doing and how we were doing it. We had been working with our partners for many years in Rwanda when the genocide happened, and we never saw it coming. We almost closed our doors at this point! Thankfully, we managed to work through it and realize that in addition to the much-needed charity and development work we were doing, that we needed also to incorporate in our work the second foot of love in action – justice – alongside the first foot of charity. We began to look at the root causes of poverty and injustice, so that we could help communities to be rooted in peace and live in right relationship with one another. We also began to incorporate Catholic Social Teaching more explicitly in all of our projects (hand out or reference CRS Guiding Principles). To ensure that Catholic social and moral teaching and values are at the center and core of all our work, we take the approach of something we call Integral Human Development, which considers the holistic nature and assets & needs of individuals, families, and communities (spiritual, social, economic, political, natural/material, etc.). This Integral Human Development approach is imperative so that the sacredness and dignity of human life is cherished, preserved, and upheld. With this approach, people are involved in their own Integral Human Development, which considers their strengths and assets, not just their needs. We serve on the basis of need, not creed. We serve all people, not because they are or are not Catholic, but because WE are Catholic. About 10 years ago, we expanded our CRS mission. We recognized that we were motivated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we carried out the commitment of the Bishops of the U.S. to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas – promoting human development by responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies. However, we realized that we were doing this in the name of the U.S. Catholic community, but we weren’t really involving the U.S. Catholic community in our Church’s life-saving work around the world. Therefore, we brought Catholic parishes, schools/universities, and communities in the United States into the mix by adding a second part of our CRS mission: to serve Catholics in the United States as they live their faith in solidarity with their brothers and sisters around the world. This is why we are here with you today – to share the good news through the work of CRS around the world – and explore how you can be part of this, our Church’s global social mission. As U.S. Catholics, this is OUR agency – yours and mine! 5. What type of work does CRS do?: So, you’ve just heard a lot about CRS’ history and how CRS uses a holistic Integral Human Development approach in our work overseas. You’ve also heard how CRS is involved with responding to emergencies around the world and upholds justice and peacebuilding in all of our work. Can you name (or guess) what two other types of programming that CRS is particularly noted for in our work overseas? (Sometimes, I offer an example here, if they seem stuck – such as education.)Answer: Agriculture and Health (Systems Strengthening) (I often elaborate a bit on our work in these two areas, so perhaps you could do that for our RB focus countries/areas. After you open that up a bit, this might be a good transition to my portion of talking about my previous work with CRS overseas. I will use stories to highlight peacebuilding in South America (Ecuador/Colombia) related to human trafficking and child protection; agriculture, including economic strengthening through SILC (microsavings) in Nigeria; and health, including orphans/vulnerable children due to AIDS and economic strengthening of caregivers through SILC (microsavings) in Nigeria and a chronic illness/AIDS care and support project in Angola. I also will lift up how our principles of partnership were prioritized in all of our work, including in Angola through capacity building of local partners. Thanks for playing CRS Trivia! Now, we’re going to watch a short video about CRS and our history. Watch and see if there is anything you didn’t know or are surprised by. [Click on and watch the “Who is CRS” link/video at the bottom of the slide].[Transition] So we just talked about different aspects of CRS programming, the number of staff we have, who we serve, our development framework… now lets take a look at how the various aspects tie into one another and how everything comes together under our mission statement. Slide 9 (Mission statement)So, this is CRS’ mission statement. Does someone want to read it? What words stick out to you? [Discuss the mission.] This mission really comes out of our historical experience as an agency. [Transition] Now that you’ve seen where we are coming from, lets take a look at how we got here by going over CRS’ 71 year history. Slide 10 (give a man to fish/ history slide)Many of you have heard the saying, “Give a man a fish, and…[PAUSE: let the audience guess] he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, [PAUSE: the audience will typically finish the saying with “he’ll eat for a lifetime”]. So, CRS started out “giving people fish,” as a relief and resettlement agency after WWII settling Polish refugees. Relief agency, meaning direct service, responding to immediate needs---so giving folks shelter and food right after an emergency like the Typhoon in the Philippines or violence in Syria. Then in the 70s and 80s we realized it was not enough to do just relief work, but we had to “teach folks to fish,” and grew into a development agency, focusing on the long term development of communities. Building capacity--for example, teaching farmers how to save their seeds, better/more efficient growing techniques to get a higher yield, etc. [Transition] And then, in 1994 something happened that changed the way we thought about everything…[Go to next slide]Slide 11 (Rwanda picture slide)Does anyone know what this is a picture of? [PAUSE, wait for audience to offer their ideas.]These are skulls from the Rwandan genocide and in the middle there is a statue of The Blessed Virgin Mary. In 1994, with the Rwandan Genocide, CRS was forced to evacuate and more than 1 million people were killed.We lost staff and programs that had been in the country for decades. How could this have happened? How could we not have seen this coming? What happened in Rwanda completely rocked our world. [Transition] And we began to re-examine everything. [Go to next slide].Slide 12 (three-pointed History Slide)CRS’ mission statement was amended. And we came up with this justice lens – to challenge traditional structures of oppression and impoverishment. We realized that long term development isn’t enough if we don’t change the systems and structures in place that are keeping people in poverty and conflict. (even if you teach a man to fish, if the water is polluted, the fisherman’s children get sick from eating the fish, and the government refuses to do anything about it, then we have to change these systems and structures and advocate for more just policies). [Transition] From that time, we have continued to really ground our work in our Guiding Principles.[Go to next slide].Slide 13 (Guiding Principles: CST)[You will need the following materials for this activity: CRS Guiding Principles Poster (placed in the packet of every trainee), paper/ markers, printed and cut Individual principles on card stock or Colored paper (see attached template), Post-It note pad, sticky putty]Does anyone know where our guiding principles come from? [PAUSE: wait for audience to answer.] [Drawing from their answers, introduce CRS’ guiding principles.]You were right when you said that CRS’ guiding principles come out of Catholic Social Teaching. Catholic Social Teaching is a tradition of Catholic thought that comes out of a papal encyclical written by Leo XIII called Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”) which was a response to poor working conditions during the industrial revolution. During that time, you had a lot of folks working in factories for long hours getting paid very little. This letter that the Pope wrote was interesting, because earlier in the 19th century the Church was really in a place of contrast to the rest of the world. The church had rejected secularism and economic and social individualism, which were movements very popular in society. So, it is revolutionary that at a time when the church is “on the margins” of popular culture, it—for the first times—speaks out in response to this SOCIAL issue! In much more eloquent language it says, “Factory owners, y’all got to do right by your employees!” So, instead of simply rejecting secularism and individualism, it stood up and raised its voice. And so out of this letter and other papal, conciliar, and episcopal documents what’s now understood to be modern Catholic Social Teaching. So Catholic Social Teaching is not just one document, but a collection of documents and the Bible, and shows us how we are to live in the world as social beings. At its core, Catholic social teaching is the idea of the sacredness and dignity of human life. Since we know that every human is made in the image of God, imago Dei, and redeemed by Christ every person is valued as part of the human family. From the communal, collective, life affirming tradition that we know as Catholic Social Teaching comes CRS’ Guiding Principles. So they guide us in how we do our work here and overseas. [Mention each principle briefly and its meaning.]Slide 14 (Living out our Principles) [Transition] Now that we’ve talked a little about where our guiding principles come from I am going to hand each table (or group) a principle to look at, discuss, and apply. [Pass out the individual principles. If it is a small group only pick a few—solidarity, human dignity, and subsidiarity are always good ones!][Have students consider these questions, and come up with a skit, song, rap, presentation to show how they answered them in front of the group).Think about these questions: (10 minutes)1. What does this mean? Name one image that comes to mind when you think of this principle.2. Name one that your group, as CRS Ambassadors--the official liaison between CRS and your campus—can live out this principle in your work. [Have each group come up and show how they understand and “live out” the principle through a song, skit, rap, etc. Take back their principle and stick it to the Post-It Note Pad using the sticky putty. Write their way of “living it out” on the Post-It Note Pad. Save the pad and send ambassador president and the faculty lead their “living it out” answers. Ask them to send answers out to all ambassadors and plan to discuss at next meeting how they will be sure to live out their “living it out” answers. Ask president to notify you every time they have successfully “lived out” one of the principles in the way they had discussed in the training.]Thank you all for your wonderful application of these principles. These principles guide the way every staff member and our agency as a whole does our work. As part of CRS, as a Campus Ambassador, we hope and expect you to carry out your work on campus—as you raise your voice, as you organize, and as you learn—abiding by and living into these rich and substantive principles.[Transition] You all showed how wonderful these principles are. But, how do you actually operationalize (as we would say in the development world) them? How do you put them into practice? [Go to next slide.]Slide 15 (Integral Human Development Chart) We operationalize these principles through applying the Integral Human Development (IHD) framework. So, this framework looks really complicated, but it’s not. It’s just away to think about our work. Before we talk more about IHD, I really want to get to a more important matter first. I need a volunteer. [Pick a volunteer from the audience] Alright, we are going to pretend that this training is over, and that [volunteer’s name] has invited me over to his/her home for tea/drink/etc. I just have to take [person’s name] over here and explain the details of what will happen during our time together. [Tell the volunteer to ask you if you want something to drink when you get to the house and then leave the room/space to make the drink.] What a nice house you have! I’m so glad I was able to make time to come over here. I really like that couch! That table is so avant garde! I’m ready for my tea now. [The volunteer goes to make tea. While the volunteer is gone, begin to re-arrange the furniture.]Oh, do you like what I’ve done to the place? I mean, I know you have lived here for several years, but I think they way I’ve done things is going to be much better for you. I am really an expert at this, so I know what I’m doing. I re-arranged all of your furniture; and this makes a lot more sense. See, it’s going to be some much easier for you to sit and eat here. And.. scene. [End Scene][ask the volunteer] So, how did you feel when I did this? [ask audience] How would you feel if someone came in and did this to your home?That is the way that international development was traditionally done. Some foreigners (often Americans) parachuted in as the experts and told the poor people everything they were doing wrong and how backward and destitute their community was; and how their organization was going to fix it all (implying that the community folks are unable to do it themselves). That is the exact opposite of Integral Human Development, the current development framework CRS uses. With the IHD structure, CRS begins with the assets/gifts that the community already has and helps the community use those gifts to the fullest potential. Furthermore, Catholic Relief Services helps communities to use those maximized assets to achieve desired outcomes that the community already has. For example, CRS teamed up with a cooperative of women coffee farmers in Nicaragua to sign a deal with US coffee roasters. When CRS teamed up with this community, it didn’t go in and say “look, I know that you need some money to improve the quality of your life... here you go.” Instead, CRS examined the natural assets, the land, climate, the amount of willing workers, and then looked at the desired outcomes of that community, one of which was improving childhood education. CRS understood and used the assets that the community already had, and pointed the community in the direction of a high-paying market. By helping the sellers find a good market, CRS helped that community achieve a desired outcome. [Now reference the chart to help students gain more an understanding]The chart might be a little overwhelming to look at, at first glance. If you break it down piece by piece, then it isn’t too hard to understand. The outcomes are at the top, and there are two types of outcomes- desired and actual. Examples of a desired outcome would be improving the education system in the area or developing vocational skills. On the other hand, actual outcomes are the quantifiable measurements of the desired outcomes. For example, literacy rate, attendance rate, and test scores are actual outcomes for the desired outcome of improving education. Next, you will see strategies just below the outcomes on the chart. Strategies are the methods that are used to achieve the outcomes. CRS has 6 different strategies, but we won’t get into them. Just to give you a surface level understanding, an example of a strategy would be asset maximize. CRS would help a community take the assets that they have and maximize the use of them to the fullest potential. CRS constantly evaluates strategies to see what is helping a community and what is distancing a community from a desired outcome. Assets are at the bottom left below strategies. Assets are the resources communities already possess that can help them achieve what they want. CRS really takes the assets that a community already possesses into consideration during strategy execution. When CRS goes into a country, they examine the assets of a country so they can help communities use the assets to the fullest potential. A few examples of assets are a church, tools, and geographical location. A community needs a strong, variety of assets to thrive. Of course, despite the number of assets, the quality of strategies, or the detail in the language of outcomes, there are other factors that can help or (especially) hinder achieving desired outcomes; the other factors are systems & structures. These are social and economic influences, and also private or educational organizations that influence the way that communities act. Structures and systems also often lay the rules to things like who has access to certain information or resources. Structures and systems can make or break achieving outcomes. Last but not least, there are shocks, cycles and trends. These are sometimes unforeseeable events that strike a community such as a typhoon or a global wave from a stock market crash, but also trends such as an increase in exportation to a market that causes more competition amongst sellers. CRS attempts to help communities prepare for shocks, cycles and trends in order to minimize the setbacks that these phenomenon may cause. Okay, I know that’s a lot, but it’s a really cool system and I thought you should know what CRS does that makes them stand out as leaders in international human development. If you are going to take something away from what I just spent the last 5 minutes explaining, it’s this. Communities have desired outcomes in which they achieve through strategies. Communities also have assets that aid in helping them carry out the strategies. Strategy execution can be affected by shocks, trends and cycles. Implementation is also affected by influences from systems and structures. In helping communities achieve outcomes, CRS uses a holistic approach in taking into account all of the assets a community has to offer, and everything that is affecting the community. Through being cognizant of all of those factors, CRS is able to make real, lasting change that helps our brothers and sisters face developmental issues that hinder their livelihood. [BREAK: 5 minutes]Slide 16 (Act Now! What is Advocacy)[Materials: flip chart, markers, post-it notes, Write the word “Advocacy” on the flip chart. Then pass out post-it notes. Ask students to write down one word that describes what advocacy means and come up and stick them to the flip chart. After they have all participated, you can read off the different them aloud for the group. ]What is Advocacy? I’m going to give each of you a post-it note. On it, write one word that describes what you think of when you hear the word advocacy and then come and post it on the flip chart. [Transition] There are some good answers up here such as [read some Post-it notes aloud]. Of course, advocacy needs a little more than just a one word explanation to understand it. Lets take a little more detailed look into what advocacy is.[Read Answers. Then, Go to next slide.]Slide 17 (Advocacy & Advocating)Can someone tell me what advocacy is?Many of you were right when you said things like [..whatever their answers were (examples: voice, stand-up, support, etc.]. Here is a dictionary definition of advocacy. Does someone want to read these two definitions? [pick volunteer to read] So, have you ever convinced someone to go out on a date with you? Maybe when you were younger you convinced your parents to let you go to the movies when they had really wanted you to stay in. So, how many of you, raise your hand, have ever gotten someone to do something for you? See, everyone, is a natural advocate. Because, that’s advocacy, right there. [Transition] Of course, all of advocacy isn’t as easy as getting your parents to ask you to go to the movies. Most advocacy takes much more preparation than looking up movie times and making plans with a friend. Slide 18 (legislative advocacy)We’re going to talk about a particular type of advocacy--legislative advocacy. Legislative advocacy is an intentional and focused effort to influence decision-making, laws, and policies at the local, national, or international levels. Through these different methods listed here. [point to the list of methods is blue: Phone calls, Letters and emails, Social Media, Visits to legislators, Media, Public events, Coalitions and networks.] Has anyone ever done one of these methods? [If students raise their hands, let them identify the method (i.e. legislative visit, or letter writing campaign) and talk about their experience of advocacy]See, advocacy isn’t this complex, scary thing. It’s really fun and interesting. Now out of all of these methods, which one do you think is the most effective? Which one do you think would be best if you were really trying to change someone’s mind? That’s right, an in-person visit to speak with your legislator’s office is the most effective. [If time, role play a legislative visit; either way, remind students that CRS is a great resource and would love to do a follow up training on advocacy.]You all did a great job. We’ve been talking a lot about the importance of development and advocacy. And I have a question for you, if you had the chance to help change the lives for the better of an entire village, would you? [Yes][Transition] And that’s what we try to do with our long-term development overseas. But, one more question--if you could help to change the lives of millions by doing very small things, would you? [Yes] [Go to next slide.]Slide 19 (saving lives)Well, that’s what we do as ambassadors here in the US through advocacy. Advocacy gets at the root causes, the systems and structures, that are in place that keep people vulnerable and in poverty. But, through advocacy we can change those systems and structures by pushing for more just policies that can aid in the health and flourishing of millions.[Go to Next Slide]Slide 20 (Act Now!) [Transition] One way you can continue to impact the lives of our brothers and sisters overseas is through Catholic Confront Global Poverty (CCGP). [] CCGP is a joint advocacy initiative between USCCB and CRS.[Transition] CCGP makes it a little easier to contact government officials about priority issue. Slide 21 (CCGP ISSUES)Together with ambassadors and others around the country, we work for global justice and solidarity by advocating on global issues related to international assistance, natural resources, hunger and nutrition, and peace and conflict. You can sign up to join the movement right now by texting, ‘CCGP’ to the number 30644. [Allow time for everyone to pull out their phones and text/sign-up for CCGP]Slide 22 (Bring the World to Your Campus) [Transition] So, by signing up for CCGP you have just taken your first step towards global solidarity and your new role as a CRS Student Ambassadors. Now, let’s talk a little bit more about what that means and your place within this global agency and on campus as an ambassador. The CRS Campus Ambassador program is the flagship program of CRS’ University Engagement. This program provides an opportunity for colleges/universities to form an on-campus Chapter of student leaders who are trained by CRS to mobilize campus engagement in tangible acts of solidarity with the global poor to build a more just and peaceful world.It is a chance for you to learn about the plight of the world’s poor, train your/ our peers on global justice issues, mobilize your campus to act for the recognition and respect of the poor’s inherent dignity, while standing in solidarity with the poor through prayer and faith-formation experience. As a CRS Student Ambassador, you get a chance to join a movement that brings the world to your campus. You can create and plan events that engage your peers about social-justice issues. You can inform your peers on the work that needs to be done to create justice and start taking the steps to catalyze change. [Transition] To plan a good event takes a lot more than hard work from one person. It takes group work and brainstorming in creativity, resources and planning. Now we’re going to take a little bit of time to think of ideas we can share with one another that will continue to make the Student Ambassador program a successful and fun experience for all of us.Slide 23 (ACT NOW: Idea Sharing) [If you have had a lot of experience through events and years of a strong relationship with CRS, then you should refer to this slide.][**If you are a brand new CRS Student Ambassador program, or if you have had a program that hasn’t hosted on a lot of events, then you should skip this and move straight to slide 24**][Just ask ambassadors for some examples of successful events you have put on in the future. If you know of any, then you can share them too!] Slide 24 (Success Stories--if you didn’t use slide 23: Idea sharing)Although we haven’t done that much together as a group, CRS Student Ambassadors have been putting on successful events for years! One example of a really endeavor was at Villanova when the Student Ambassadors planned a “Week of Solidarity with Syria’s Refugees.”During the week, ambassadors planned different events to raise consciousness about what was going on, and to generate donations for the emergency relief fund for humanitarian assistance. The Student Ambassadors had a tent stationed outside of one of the buildings on campus to educate fellow students about the crisis in Syria. The ambassadors also encourage the community to write prayers and messages that were sent to refugee communities. The week also included a prayer vigil where a video was shown and a prayer was said by the Vice President of Academic Affairs. Some Catholic Relief Services staff members also showed up. The vigil ended with a moving candlelight procession that went through the campus. The week was successful in raising awareness about the events that were taking place in Syria.Another example of a successful CRS Student Ambassador event was when the Student Ambassadors from Manhattan College helped with the Fair Trade Panel. The Fair Trade Panel informed students about what Fair Trade is *** HOPEFULLY MORE FIRST-HAND INFORMATION TO COME FROM FROM KELLY DOUGLAS*** These are good examples of events because of the detailed planning that occurred, the diversity of members from the university community which was expressed through the combination of staff, faculty and students; and finally the event topics were on themes that college students were interested in.Slide 25 (CRS University) [Transition] A good foundation will be laid down after you think of and create an event, however, you can always make the event better if you have more resources. CRS University is a great place to get that extra information that will make your event a big success. A really great resource to use is CRS University (university.). You can find the best resources on food security and technology at the Global Solidarity Network (GSN), check out testimonials from campus ambassadors from all over the country, and access Fair Trade, advocacy and vigil how-to guides to conduct a similar event on your campus. Slide 26 (Global Solidarity Network)[Transition] Another great resource that can be found on the CRS University page is the Global Solidarity Network. [You can start out by asking if anyone has ever heard of the Global Solidarity Network, or if anyone has participated in a course that included the GSN in the curriculum.] The Global Solidarity Network also known as the GSN is a learning community and educational resource that offers students and faculty in the United States a deeper understanding of the challenges the world’s most vulnerable face, as well as their strength and resilience. It provides insight into the multi-faceted nature of humanitarian relief and development work as well as the principles that inform Catholic Relief Services and its partners.Each semester the GSN has two sessions with a different, but related focus- this semester is ‘Food Security’ and ‘Climate Change and Food Security in the World’s Most Vulnerable Regions.’ The first session runs from September 22- October 3. The second session runs from November 3- 14. These sessions are packed with real stories from people CRS is working with from all over the world. Be sure to sign up for these sessions and have a chance to learn about the challenges our brothers and sisters are facing, while at the same time, having a chance to interact with college students from across the country. Slide 27 (Fair Trade and Rice Bowl)[Transition] On top of the GSN, CRS has two other programs that connest its efforts overseas to the people back home in the state; CRS Fair Trade and CRS Rice Bowl. Has anyone heard of either of these programs? [If someone raises their hand, ask him/ her what he/ she knows]. Before we talk about CRS Fair Trade, lets talk for a moment about what Fair Trade is beyond CRS’s involvement. Fair Trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency, and respect that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the Global South. The CRS relationship with Fair Trade is rooted in respecting the dignity of the worker. By participating in Fair Trade, we can use our economic power to contribute to the common good. We connect farmers with the US market while promoting the importance of Fair Trade to US consumers. Our Fair Trade efforts extends beyond the marketplace too, through aiding farmers with growing, harvesting and processing techniques. CRS Rice Bowl is Catholic Relief Services’ Lenten faith-in-action program for parishes, schools and families. The program invites Catholics to live in solidarity with our poorest and most vulnerable brothers and sisters through the three Lenten pillars of praying, fasting, and almsgiving. Participants journey throughout the forty days of Lent with the daily reflections included in the Lenten Calendar, offering small, suggested sacrificial gifts to fill their Rice Bowls as they read and watch Stories of Hope from individuals and communities whose lives have been changed by CRS Rice Bowl contributions. Since 1975, Catholics have been using CRS Rice Bowl to meditate on the love Jesus Christ demonstrates in his Passion and Resurrection and to imitate Jesus’ love for the world through concrete, sacrificial giving to our brothers and sisters in need.CRS Rice Bowl asks us to:Pray to deepen our relationship with God and reflect on what type of person He calls us to be.Fast to remove the things that get between us and God and to live in solidarity with those in need.Give alms to our brothers and sisters in need, honoring Jesus’ call to serve our neighbors.CRS Rice Bowl also has a special focus on bringing 75% of Rice Bowl collections to humanitarian relief programming, and the other 25% going to poverty and hunger alleviation in the communities in our area. CRS Fair Trade and Rice Bowl are two justice programming initiatives by CRS to make your communities at home more connected with our brothers and sisters across the globeSlide 28 (Define the Relationship) [Transition] So now that you’ve gotten a well-detailed layout of who CRS is, the programming CRS puts on, and how you can help, you might be wondering what being a Student Ambassador entails… well look no further. Just like any good relationship, Catholic Relief Services expects you to be committed and work hard. Hard work will never go unnoticed, and sometimes it even comes with rewards outside of raising awareness about global issues and furthering your understanding of being in solidarity with our brothers and sisters. CRS doesn’t want your relationship to end when you finish as a student ambassador. There are so many other opportunities for you to continue working through CRS. There are several internship opportunities at the different regional offices and at Headquarters in Baltimore, MD. Student Ambassadors typically fill the internship positions all year long. You can typically earn credit for the internship, and some internships are paid positions, too. If you are thinking about graduate school and have professional proficiency in a language, then you can apply to the International Development Fellows Program after you finish your graduate studies. If you are selected for the program, you will be working in one of our 91 country program while learning different project management skills. This position include a salary and a one-of-a-kind, in-country, working and living experience. CRS typically picks full-time employees from this program, so it is very competitive. You can also work through CRS right from home by become a Fair Trade Ambassador, staying up to date with the Global Solidarity Network, or joining the CRS Student Ambassador Alumni Program. These programs allow you to further engage yourself and your community in the work that CRS does. More information about these programs can be found on the CRS website or the CRS university page. Slide 29 (Enhanced Program Dimensions)[Transition] Our CRS University Staff has learned a lot over the years from the students and advisors who have created very successful CRS Student Ambassador Programs on their campuses. As we see this program becoming a national network, we have drawn on the best practices we’ve seen from other students and created a model that has shown great efficiency, effectiveness, and success—which is important when we are all striving for a mission as important as global solidarity. And, as you’ll see one of the dimensions points to directly, we want to be in touch with you about how this is going—about how to support you in the process and in order to celebrate with you when you make strides toward the CRS Mission as a CRS Student Ambassador Chapter. [If this is a regional training, be sure to ask schools for their feedback as to which of these dimensions they do well already and which they want to work on this year. If this is a campus training, be sure to discuss among the group which of these you do well on your campus and which are missing.]Based on success stories, we have seen that getting at least 10 students involved is a great base to work from and becomes a fun community, lightening the work-load. Within this, we have heard that an officer structure (president, VP, treasurer) is the way to go! These folks typically plan the meetings, set the agenda, serve as the contact persons for room bookings and logistic and serve as a liaison between CRS and the Student Ambassadors (though you are all invited to contact CRS as you wish!). These are big roles and require organized, committed and creative individuals to take them on [Introduce the leadership positions if they are already in place on your campus; if not, set a time to have elections]. Another additional option (in addition to president/ vice president and not instead of )is to have different chairs for different program areas. For example, you can have a social media coordinator who sets up and primarily manages social media accounts you set up for you your ambassador program. People in positions like the one I just described do not have to be the only people in charge of that specific area, but rather assign tasks for that area and ensure that everything is done.You can also have committees for certain project areas or specific types of programming, but this is easier for schools with bigger Student Ambassador programs. An example of this is to have a Fair Trade committee who is responsible for planning Fair Trade events as well as informing the staff about the Fair Trade programming that CRS puts on.You can also have a point person for each event who is in charge of planning and carrying out the necessary tasks for an event to take place. Institutional supportYou should really try to obtain institutional support from your campus so that you can be considered an official student group (with official student group spending). This way, you will be more recognized, look more official, and you will have a budget to spend on things like Fair Trade Coffee/ Chocolate tastings (yum!). This is different at every school, but a good place to start would be to contact the staff advisor for the student government, but maybe the ambassador staff/ faculty advisor knows where to start too. You should be well-prepared when you go to speak to the right person about this matter (have the number of people in your club on hand, have a schedule of events laid out etc.)Faculty/ Staff AdvisorHaving an advisor allows you to be connected with someone who knows the organizational layout of the school, different contacts within the school, and an official representative of the school (who isn’t a student) in your corner when you need some help. If you don’t have an advisor, start to look for one at the campus ministry office or office for community outreach.Action Plan and ReportWe are all here because of our commitment to the mission of CRS, right? With that being said, we have found that to really create a movement on your campus and across the country, it is important to have at least 3 events per academic year. Please keep track of these events and give CRS a big heads up in as far advance as possible so they know what is going on. This way, we can help advertise events on our website beforehand as well as celebrate the great work you are doing afterward!These events do not have to be some type of major gathering that has 1,000 people present… although that’d be really nice! Rather, these events can be smaller events in intimate settings so that they are easily manageable and attendee-friendly. Events like speakers, Fair Trade sales, panel discussions, topic conversations, emergency relief drives, etc. are great!To make keeping track of events easier, as well as to document everything you’ve accomplished as an ambassador program, we ask you to keep an annual report of all of the events, meeting minutes/ agendas, and other important information. This will help you remember everything you’ve done in an organized fashion. This will also help CRS know how great you are (as if they need more reminders)!Mobilize Campus During an EmergencyFinally, one of the main ways CRS is involved in the world is in responding to emergencies. CRS is always there, at the beginning, right in the middle of the emergency, making sure it’s doing everything possible to provide aid and begin the process of recovery and long-term development. In living out this area of our mission, we have seen how important it is for CRS Student Ambassadors to have the ability to create dynamic events on their campuses as a response. This could be a plan for sprinting into action with a fundraising event, prayer service, social media awareness campaign, advocacy effort, etc. Slide 30 (Food Security: An Interconnected System)Food security means human security. When we talk about food security, we’re talking about giving all people everywhere safe access to the nutritious food they need to live healthy, productive lives—in other words—integral human development. We believe that, as human beings, our health, our food, our work—everything we do—contributes to who we are as people. The food we eat, the communities we live in, the education we receive—these are all interconnected. And, just as the Eucharist is the lynchpin of our spiritual lives, nutritious food—both its consumption and accessibility—provides a cornerstone to all our efforts for development and relief worldwide. Food security means human security because it means promoting healthy, active lifestyles for everyone. It’s easy to say that “our food… contributes to who we are as people,” but have you ever thought about how food is part of your own integral human development?How does recognizing the role that food plays in your life affect how you approach global hunger and food security?Slide 31 (What is Food Security?) Food security is often defined in terms of three main component areas: food availability, access, and utilization (USAID 1995). Food availability is achieved when sufficient quantities of food are consistently available to all individuals within a country. This is accomplished through various domestic outputs, self-sustainability, commercial imports, and food assistance. (Think production!)Food access is ensured when households and all individuals within them have adequate resources to obtain appropriate food for a nutritional diet. This includes a sufficient household income and the price of food. (Think affordable food!)Food utilization is the proper biological use of food. This requires an energy-giving, sufficient diet and access to potable water, but also knowledge of storage and processing techniques. (Think nutrition!)Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN[Transition] Now we are moving on to an example of how Food Security is implemented using a case study and Joseph’s story in Tanzania.Slide 32 (Tanzania and Soya ni Pesa)CRS is partnering with local organizations in Tanzania to implement Soya ni Pesa, a $20 million dollar project sponsored by the USDA that seeks to provide up to 11,000 smallholder farmers with production and marketing of soybeans between 2013 and 2017.The project has had a successful start by generating 850 megatons of soybeans for participating farmers at two to three times the conventional market price. Soybeans crops were introduced to Tanzania in the early 1990s, and have improved Tanzania since early cultivation by increasing soil fertility, nutrition for humans and animals, and increasing the livelihood of Tanzanian smallholder farmers. information gathered from a December 2013 press release on the American embassy in Tanzania for the city of Dar Es Salaam. [Transition] Jason, whose story I am about to tell you, was one of the farmers affected by this program. Slide 33 (Joseph’s Story)Joseph primarily grows maize (corn), the main food crop not just in Tanzania, but in the whole of East Africa. Joseph can’t always count on a fair financial return on his yearly maize crop because of a number of agricultural and political factors,. This financial instability is deepened by two additional factors: (1) Joseph doesn’t have the resources to store his surplus grain during a good harvest season to see him through a bad year, and (2) he feels forced to sell his crops at whatever price the local wholesale buyer offers because he doesn’t have access to other buyers.At first, Joseph devoted just one acre of his farm to soybean production; now he has three acres of soybeans. With his increased and more stable income, Joseph is making improvements to his home and providing for his family with greater confidence. Joseph’s story is one among many of the people whose lives have been enhanced by the work of CRS in Tanzania, enabling families to pay medical bills, to send their children to school, and – vitally – to build friendships and to strengthen their communities to live with greater security and dignity as children of God.[Transition] So that is an example of how CRS Food Security works. Programs like Soya ni Pesa continues to improve the lives of thousands of our brothers and sisters from all areas of the world. Slide 34 (fall events) [Transition] Now before we close off, we just wanted to give you a heads up on some important dates and events that you should be aware of. [Go over these dates aloud] These are all of the important dates for when all of the cool and exciting CRS events happen over the course of this semester. For August and September, there is a lot of preparation going on so that we can provide a solid foundation that will allow us to build a successful year. [Read dates off]This PowerPoint also has some links to the GSN, the e-learning tool we spoke about earlier. Be sure to take a look at these links and take advantage of the resources CRS has to offer. CRS will be sending out reminders, but don’t rely solely on them to find out about events. Put these events in your personal planners so you know about them and plan accordingly in advance. Slide 35 (Spring events)[Transition] These are the important events for the spring semester. CRS along with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities sponsor two really well-attended events in Washington D.C.- the Young Leaders Initiative (YLI) and the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering. These two events are held annually and bring together Catholic social ministry leaders from around the country for a unique networking opportunity as well as a rewarding experience that adds to the Catholic commitment to the common good. Registration is expected to open in September.Another big event for CRS which I will only mentioned again briefly is the Rice Bowl. Rice Bowl kicks off on Ash Wednesday and there will be a digital challenge, refection guides and a Google Hangout to accompany that.Resources that you can check out anytime are listed here, too. Slide 36 (Best practices)[Ask: What are best practices you’ve seen in each of these areas?]RecruitingOne great way to recruit for the Student Ambassador program is through word of mouth. Tell your friends about the program, have your friends tell their friends about the program, have the friend’s of your friends tell their friends about the program, catch my drift? We tend to surround ourselves with people that have similar interests as us, so take advantage of that when you are trying to get the word out about the Student Ambassadors.Another good place to start spreading the word about the ambassadors is through the campus ministry office at your school. Contact a campus minister or the advisor of your Student Ambassador program and ask if there is some sort of email list that you can send some information through. Also, ask the campus ministry office if you can briefly speak at mass about being a Student Ambassador. If you do this, then just talk about what your ambassador story is… make it personal and real.MeetingsOne great practice we have seen is hosting weekly meetings, which will be your formalized meeting time to sit down and check in with everyone. These meetings don’t have to include 35 different agenda points or go on for 5 hours every Friday at 7 p.m. (in fact, you might lose people if you start doing that), but it’s an opportunity for you and the rest of the ambassadors to stay focused and remain goal-oriented.A typical meeting set up could look like this:A. Prayer (this can even be a time for a team-building exercise, discuss a reading, talk about a poem, etc.)B. Check-in (high point and low point of everyone’s week- this step is important because it allows the program to become more personal and talk about something that is unique to every person that is outside of CRS)C. Discussion of upcoming events (of course, at the beginning of the semester you will have to come up with some events, so at the start of the semester, you can use this portion of the meeting for brainstorming, then place people into teams to act as point person(s) for a specific event. Once you decide on a few events, you can use this period of time to have the point person(s) talk about how they are meeting their goals for the upcoming event.D. Plan for next meeting- discuss any “homework” that needs to be done in preparation for next week’s meeting, or for an upcoming event that will happen before the group meets again.E. To create more of an involvement and support from your institution, it would be really beneficial to have a professor or another faculty/ staff member to come in and speak if they have time. It would be particularly beneficial to have someone who is well versed on a subject area that you are having an upcoming event based on, or if you had someone who specializes in one of the GSN themes (food security/ climate change). You can also try and bring someone in from the local community who can you a personal perspective on international development e.g., contact a local refugee field office and ask if someone can come in to talk about their experience.[Transition] Be on the lookout for more updates to come either directly from CRS or from one us! Now, last but not least…. the commissioning! Slide 37 (Commissioning)I will strive to use CRS Ambassadors as an opportunity to reflect on and live out my faith.I will strive to work to achieve my full potential in my work with CRS.I will strive to help build community in my ambassador program and school. I will strive to support CRS’s work as a whole and to maintain a mutual relationship.I will strive to work for social justice and to achieve greater global solidarity.I would officially like to welcome you to CRS and congratulate you on being a CRS Student Ambassador. Our first meeting after this will be ____________. I look forward to seeing all of you then! ................
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