By Kore Githui and Edgar Thangwa

On September 19-20 and October 3-4, the Counseling Department, in collaboration with the Peer Educators and Counselors Club (PECC), held the Annual Peer Educators and Counselors Training in a significant effort toward bolstering student support systems.

Whereas USIU-Africa has a vibrant Counseling Department that is mandated with the responsibility of psycho-education and psycho-social support for the university community, the student population is quite high, creating a need for trained peer educators and counselors. These counselors not only act as a link between the student population and the Counseling Center staff, but also help in offering para-counseling services to their peers.

The training aimed at preparing a new cohort of students to serve as mental health and wellness advocates for their peers. The four-day training was designed to equip students with the practical skills and knowledge needed to support fellow students and educate the wider campus community on critical health and lifestyle issues.

The first level of the program kicked off with icebreaker activities to build camaraderie among the 75 trainees. The session focused on navigating the challenges of campus life and culminated in a mock group therapy session to demonstrate real-world counseling dynamics. The second level of training featured a session on the crucial wheel of life, which is a tool used to assess one’s holistic well-being. There was also a lot of emphasis on self-care for helpers, citing the common adage “One cannot pour from an empty cup.” Trainees received rigorous education on gender issues and sexual harassment, complemented by an equally informative session on HIV & AIDS and reproductive health.

The use of multiple examples and in-depth presentations allowed the trainees to get a great understanding of the topics and their significance. On top of this, the use of mock group therapy and one-on-one therapy sessions helped the students to solve problems and to actually put into practice what they had learnt.