The CHE Model
CHE is a true best practices model for integrating evangelism and community development, and setting in process a locally-led movement that is sustainable and multipliable.
The CHE strategy was first hammered out in Africa in light of what was known to work and not work in efforts to integrate spiritual and physical ministries. It was then taken to other parts of the world where it proved adaptable to a wide-range of situations.
As CHE spread, a body of unique training materials grew. Hundreds of practitioners contributed training lessons designed for field use. This living treasury of practical wisdom remains a work in progress, now exceeding 1,500 lessons on topics from A to Z. It is available to trained CHE users through the Global CHE Network.
LifeWind also has specialized materials on HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care, Maternal and Child Health, Women's Cycle of Life, and Birth Life-Saving Skills (BLISS) to address critical needs among the world's poor.
At the heart of the CHE model is a teaching style known as Participatory Learning.
What is Participatory Learning?
When we say "training," don't imagine a traditional classroom or seminar. CHE utilizes Participatory Learning, a wonderful tool for teaching all adults, especially those who have had little traditional education. CHE trainers facilitate a group-oriented process that helps people analyze problems, discover solutions, and define positive action steps.
The art of CHE is to draw out what people collectively know about the real problems they face, and incrementally add new information relevant to those problems. Participants usually discover they know more than they thought and often devise ingenious solutions to longstanding problems using local insight and resources. As a result, learning happens in a manner that easily can be replicated and passed along through social networks. By using the participatory approach, CHE elevates the knowledge capital of entire communities.
Participatory Learning enhances human dignity by mobilizing the greatest resource of all to overcome poverty — the God-given resourcefulness of people.
