Guide for Community Assessments on Women's Health Care - ICRW

Session 1: Introductions and Breaking the Ice
Target Groups: ALL
Facilitator’s Note: During this opening session you are trying to make everyone feel welcome and
understand what you would like to achieve during the one-day workshop.
Things to guard against: Explain how the in<strong>for</strong>mation from the session will be used – <strong>for</strong> instance,
to help MPs make changes to improve health services and women’s access to health; or help civil
society or other organizations advocate around women’s health issues. Explain what the workshop
will do and what it will not do (e.g., the workshop will not pay people <strong>for</strong> their participation).
Objectives:
●●
●●
●●
●●
Break the ice, put participants at ease and get them talking.
Underscore the importance of the workshop and how participants will benefit.
Respond to participants’ expectations and correct any false expectations.
Agree on basic rules <strong>for</strong> the one-day workshop and how to en<strong>for</strong>ce them.
Time: 30 minutes
Materials: Registration sheet. Name tags.
Steps:
➊ ARRIVAL ACTIVITY (Registration and Rhyming Name Tags): As participants arrive, ask them to
write their name on the registration sheet and make “rhyming” name tags – their own name plus
an adjective starting with the same letter, e.g., Crazy Christine, Magical Mary, Sexy Sara. If they are
illiterate, help write the names. This activity involves everyone when they first arrive, creates some fun
and helps to build a relaxed atmosphere.
➋ WARM-UP AND INTRODUCTIONS (10 minutes): Organize a warm-up game to break the ice, get
participants interacting, and prepare <strong>for</strong> introductions and expectations. See Annex B <strong>for</strong> possible
warm-up games.
Warm-up Game – “Fire! Fire!” Ask participants to stand up and walk in any direction. When you call
“Fire! Fire!” and a number, participants get into groups of that number. Call out two to start with,
then three, then four, then two. When you back to having pairs, ask each pair to do two tasks–
a) Find out two things about each other (e.g., three grandchildren and likes to dance).
b) What do you expect to learn or do during the workshop?
Introductions: Bring the group back together in a circle and ask each person to introduce his/her
partner – rhyming name and two things. As part of these introductions, introduce yourself, the
recorder and the logistics organizer, and ask the MPs to introduce themselves, using the rhyming
names.
➌ EXPECTATIONS (10 minutes): Go around the circle and ask each person to give his/her
expectations from the workshop.
Note: This round of expectations can be repetitive, but it also can bring out important in<strong>for</strong>mation
and identify expectations that the workshop won’t address. For example, in one pilot workshop
many participants talked about “the sickness,” rather than AIDS. This showed there was a taboo
about speaking about AIDS and, because many people talked about it, it showed that AIDS was a big
problem in the community.
30 Chapter C: Facilitating <strong>Community</strong> Assessment Workshops