Microfinance with Education
Required Courses
Promoting Savings and Credit Association Program
MWE 101: SCA Trainer Certification
Dates: March 19th – April 22nd, 2012
September 3rd – 30th, 2012
Primary outcome: Participants are equipped to start savings and credit associations.
The SCA Trainer Certification course seeks to equip participants with the necessary tools for initiating savings and credit associations in poor communities. Participants will be trained to use key sections from Chalmers’ Promoting Church-Centered Savings and Credit Associations curriculum. They will be oriented to the process for promoting, organizing, supporting, and on-going training for savings groups. Upon completion of this four-week online course, participants begin a self-paced field practicum where they will promote and support savings and credit associations in their ministry context. Once participants acquire experience promoting savings groups as SCA Trainers, they can enroll in the SCA Lead Trainer Certification course, which prepares them to train and certify SCA Trainers in their organization.
Length: This four-week course has a pre-course assignment, which can take up to four hours to complete. In general, participants are expected to put in four to eight hours per week for reading, writing, and discussion. No assignments during Easter Week: April 2-8
MWE 102: SCA Lead Trainer Certification
Dates: July 16th – September 23rd, 2012
Primary outcome: Participants are equipped to train Trainers in their organizations how to start savings and credit associations.
The SCA Lead Trainer Certification course prepares SCA Trainers to become Lead Trainers—individuals who are equipped to prepare and certify other Trainers within their organization. Participants will receive in-depth training on additional sections from Chalmers’ Promoting Church-Centered Savings and Credit Associations curriculum. Participants will also have the opportunity to understand the history, theory, and principles behind the content and methodology used in the training tools for community-level facilitators. The course also introduces a structure for accountable reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of fieldwork. Participants will gain an understanding of how to support an SCA program within their organization.
Length: This course is 10 weeks long. Participants are expected to put in four to eight hours per week on average for reading, writing, and discussion.
Business, Home, and Health Program
MWE 201: BHH Trainer Certification
Dates: September 3rd – 30th, 2012
Primary outcome: Participants are equipped to start training community members in select business, home, and health topics.
The BHH Trainer Certification course prepares participants to train groups of low-income people using a holistic curriculum on business, home, and health topics. This course provides a basic overview of participatory education, a relational framework for understanding poverty, and the role of the local church in economic empowerment of the poor. Upon completion of this four-week online course, participants begin a self-paced field practicum where they will use several BHH modules in their ministry context. Once participants acquire experience training community members in BHH topics, they can enroll in the BHH Lead Trainer Course, which prepares them to train and certify BHH Trainers in their organization.
Length: This four-week course has a pre-course assignment, which can take up to four hours to complete. In general, participants are expected to put in four to eight hours per week for reading, writing, and discussion.
MWE 202: BHH Lead Trainer Certification
Dates: TBD, 2013
Primary outcome: Participants are equipped to train other Trainers in their organization to use the BHH curriculum in low-income communities.
The BHH Trainer Certification course prepares BHH Trainers to become Lead Trainers—individuals who are equipped to prepare and certify other Trainers within their organization. This course provides an in-depth study of participatory education, worldview analysis, and how to adapt the BHH curriculum for specific cultural, social, and religious contexts. The course also introduces a structure for accountable reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of fieldwork.
Length: This course is 10 weeks long. Participants are expected to put in four to eight hours per week on average for reading, writing, and discussion.
Format
These courses take place online, including discussion forums, podcasts, and online journals/readings. While participants need not be located in Asia, Africa, or Latin America during the online courses, it is expected that they are working in the Majority World and, following a course, they will be able to complete their self-paced field practicum in the Majority World. The practicum consists of recurring facilitation and/or support of savings groups, Trainers, and grassroots training; therefore, it is not feasible to complete the practicum unless the Trainer or Lead Trainer is living in close proximity to the MWE Program area.
