On September 13-14, 2018, the ASU SolarSPELL team held a two-day training workshop with 17 Peace Corps volunteers and 16 local teachers in Anjouan, Comoros. The volunteers and teachers came from across the country, representing all three islands that comprise the state.
There was great anticipation for this training from both the ASU SolarSPELL team and the Comoros Peace Corps staff, as this training had been in the planning stages for 11 months.
The training launched with a background and overview of the SolarSPELL project by Dr. Laura Hosman.
It continued with a highlights-tour of the content available on the library, led by Chloe Scott.
Bruce Baikie provided a walk-through explanation of the hardware and technical aspects of the SolarSPELL library.
Kristen Linzy continued the training by discussing the importance of information literacy, and of the workshop attendees transitioning into becoming trainers themselves, for future SolarSPELL users in their village.
As usual, the scavenger hunt to promote the discovery of resources available on the SolarSPELL library, was a hit with the participants, and the prizes available to the winners promoted some stiff competition among the teams.
The team was also happy to welcome three representatives from UNICEF in Comoros to the training and we look forward to working with them to add localized content to the library in the future.
This training was particularly special because of the close relationship the entire team has forged with many members of the Peace Corps staff. This training was SolarSPELL’s first time to Comoros—but certainly not the last! Comoros is the seventh country where SolarSPELL is working with Peace Corps volunteers.
