A Government Ministry and a non-government organisation hope a two-day program that trained “village champions” could become a long-term solution to end violence against women and girls.

The Ministry of Women Community and Social Development in partnership with Salvation Army presented certificates to 12 residents of Tanugamanono village after they completed a two-day training on combating and eradicating violence against women and girls.

The two-day program was endorsed by the village mayor (pulenu'u) Siligatusa Pa'ipa'i Fatialoafa and the Sui tama'ta'i (women's representative) Tumau Faasavalu.

Salvation Army’s Practitioner Clinician, Sailivao Aukusotino Senio, said they wanted to award village champions and only got the residents of Tanugamanono village involved after they agreed to participate.

"We  approached the village of Tanugamanono, who agreed to participate, then identified 12 people from the village who will attend a two-day workshop to learn leadership skills, and to develop a campaign that they will then go on to implement within the village," Sailivao said.

"The model we use for the workshop is based on building capacity and sustainability through the power of people motivating others to join them, in addressing an urgent challenge and in this case it is to eradicate violence against women and girls.

"We use storytelling as a key method to engage others and what is important about this methodology is that the village has ownership over the campaign so they will decide what is best, not us and we provide training on skills that will be helpful for them to be successful in what they decide to do.”

The two-day workshop participants presented their campaign and received their certificates from Salvation Army, in partnership with the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development.

The pastor of the village church, Reverend Poasa Toialeva and his wife Lenina were present at the occasion and called the group "champions of peace”. 

Ti'a Theresa Mann, who participated in the two-day workshop, said that at first it was very difficult for her to share her stories.

"This program is faith based, we started to share stories because we had a safe space, and it motivated us to want to help others," she said. 

"I also feel like I am not alone anymore. Now I feel like there is someone in the village who wants to share their story to me but cannot do it. 

“Then the Salvation Army can also help them as they have alcohol abuse programs to help.

"We have only been trained for two days but we can somehow help people in our village because they know us and we know them.”

According to Ms. Mann, she liked the overall two-day training format and she felt like “my life has changed and I want to serve others.”

“It has empowered me. It taught me how to address a problem, make choices and it definitely cleared my mind, and showed me how to move forward with purpose.

"The village is very supportive and that is also why this works.”

Naitua Maiava, a 57-year-old woman of Tanugamanono village, made reference to the Sunday church service where they will officially launch their work in the village. 

"We will be attending a special church service this Sunday to launch the beginning of our work with the village," she said. 

Another Tanugamanono village resident, Deborah Ropati, told this newspaper the training made her empathise with her children and made it easier for her to make adjustments in how she ran her family.

She said when she was young she heard about the word “violence” and also used to beat up her children.

“Now I learned from this program, through the other participants' stories, that I am able to make a change. 

“It has touched my heart. Learning about alcohol abuse has helped me think of stopping it. 

“I feel grateful that now I can manage my emotions and anger so this is helping me rethink what I used to do.”

For Tumau Faasavalu, who is the Sui tama'ta'i (women's representative) of the village, she concluded that the two-day workshop program was a success and their goal now is to reduce domestic violence within families and in villages.

"Our village is the champion of the end of violence, we want help to reduce the suffering of women and children," she said.

"We thank the Salvation Army and the Ministry for this activity and for inviting us to do it.

"We are looking forward to going back to the village to help our village understand the importance of family and peace in our homes.

"But we got t-shirts, pens and certificates to mark the special training.

"We plan to have activities done with the village and will be monitored for three months. The main activity will be a village cricket game which will encourage participation.”

The Ministry of Women Community and Social development has also invited Tanugamanono village residents to take part in the national cricket championship, amongst other community programs which also aim to empower the will of village champions to stop violence against women and children.