We are very pleased to announce an upcoming training opportunity for people qualified and interested in doing volunteer international human rights accompaniment work with the Honduras Accompaniment Project / Proyecto de Acompañamiento internacional en Honduras (PROAH). The next training will be held in collaboration with NISGUA (Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala) in January 2012 in the Bay Area, California, with an application deadline of October 31, 2011.
PROAH accompaniers are required to have fluency in Spanish, previous relevant experience in a Latin American context, commit to a minimum of 3 months accompaniment with the project, receive training before leaving for Honduras carried out in coordination with partner organizations who have extensive experience in accompaniment work, and participate in an in-country orientation in Honduras prior to beginning their work with the project.
NISGUA has been training and supporting human rights accompaniers in Guatemala since the mid-1990s. The training program is one week long and will be mostly in English with some sections in Spanish. It will cost trainees between $500-800 USD (sliding scale including room, board and facilitation), plus your travel costs to and from the Bay Area (NISGUA organizes a travel pool to help reduce costs for people travelling from further away). We encourage people to seek support from a Honduras/Latin America solidarity committee, church, union, community group, student association, etc. in their area to help cover training costs. (If you feel that costs are an impediment to your participation in this training, please get in touch with Jenny at jennya@friendshipamericas.org as soon as possible – PROAH cannot provide support for training costs but can help you explore other options.)
This is the third formal training that will be offered to those interested in accompanying with the Honduras Accompaniment Project (the first was held in collaboration with NISGUA in January 2011, and the second with the Breaking the Silence Network in Atlantic Canada in June 2011).
If you are interested in participating in this training as preparation for accompaniment work with PROAH in Honduras, or your group or organization is interested in sponsoring a volunteer accompanier, PLEASE READ TRAINING INFORMATION HERE FIRST and then contact Jenny Atlee at the email address in the attached document for an application form or with any questions.
Application deadline is October 31st, 2011. Space is limited. Additional information on the Honduras Accompaniment Project is included in the training information.
Please note: Though it continues to be modified to better respond to the specific conditions of accompaniment work with PROAH in Honduras and includes specific resources for volunteers intending to work in Honduras, this joint NISGUA-PROAH training is based on human rights accompaniment experience in Guatemala, and you should be aware that the majority of the participants may be pursuing accompaniment work in Guatemala. The most essential elements of the training are those that focus on the theory and conditions of accompaniment work in a Central American context, however there are important differences in accompaniment realities on the ground in each country. Please carefully consider your capacity and interest in self-directed learning when assessing your suitability for volunteering as a PROAH accompanier. You will be provided with resources and contacts to supplement NISGUA training materials, but you will need to be an active participant in the process of directing your training experience. This model of human rights accompaniment is one tool used in the face of harassment, delegitimization campaigns, threats, and attacks against human rights defenders in Honduras.
In solidarity,
The Honduras Accompaniment Project Team
https://friendshipamericas.org/sites/default/files/PROAH training info Jan 2012_1.pdf