CBR writers' workshops target practitioners with a lot of experience; promote training of trainers and facilitate the taking of oral history from the community and other resource persons.
These regional workshops bring together participants from different countries for a comprehensive two week training of trainers course in writing for publication. Besides being able to document their own practices and experiences, participants are also able to later train others in documenting CBR experiences in Africa .

Training materials
Now you can run your own workshop using the overheads below! Please click on the individual links to download them:

Overheads 1 - Principles of effective writing
Overheads 2 - Organising your ideas
Overheads 3 - Refining your draft

Goal of the workshop
The goal of the workshop is to facilitate the capacity of individuals to document CBR experiences in Africa for publication purposes.

Objectives
The following will be the objectives of the workshop.
1. To have participants become familiar with publications opportunities including the internet.
2. To have participants be able to adapt their writing to the relevant publication.
3. To have participants write an article for a publication of their choice.
4. To have participants be able to help each other adapt writing by learning to critically assess articles.
5. To have each participant prepare one article for publication that can be circulated and shared with other participants, the facilitator and other network members before submitting the piece.

Length of Time
Workshops cover a total of ten days.

Participants
The targeted participants include a maximum of 15 people and five facilitators. Applicants should be:

People who have been involved in CBR programmes preferably not less than five years
People who not only wish to publish but would also like to teach others to prepare publications.
People with a potential to write, so that they get an opportunity to have some of their writing made into publishable articles.
A special group of people who are interested and committed to writing, preferably with a University education. This will enable them to think systematically during the workshop.
The selection of participants will take into account a country group of people who can work and publish together

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Workshop Process
Each participant will be required to submit a 2-3 page document following the outline provided and bring to the workshop a draft piece of writing that they wish to publish. In addition, they will be asked to have a short literature review that will provide the context for the article they are beginning to write.

The first week will include work on writing skills, on identifying opportunities for publication including the internet, learning how to write for a chosen publication, and how to structure and present articles for publication. Participants will develop their critical skills by helping each other shape and present a good piece of writing. At the end of this week, a professional editor will be asked to review articles and make suggestions concerning improvements for publication.

Week two will focus on having participants develop their articles further so that they are as good as publishable and ready for final editing. Participants who show a potential to train others will be given individual support during the second week.

Output
At the end of the workshop participants will be expected to have a piece ready for publication. This means each participant will have identified the publication to which the article will be submitted and will have written an article to conform to the style of the publication. Submission on websites will be explored, including the CAN website.
If deemed appropriate the writings or some of the writings might be combined into a CAN publication. This will depend on the material and funding available.

Articles

Articles from Nigeria Writing Workshop
Articles from Egypt Writing Workshop
Articles from Ghana Writing Workshop
Articles from South Africa Writing Workshop
Articles from Malawi Writing Workshop
Articles from Kenya Writing Workshop
Articles from Tanzania Writing Workshop

Workshop evaluation
Daily workshop evaluations will be conducted so that the course facilitators are abreast with the needs of the participants. A final evaluation will be carried out at the end of the workshop, which will guide subsequent workshops organised by CAN.

After the success of the first workshop in Kenya 2003, another was scheduled and held in Tanzania , 2004. To find out more information about the workshops please click on the link below: