COL and Matuaileoo Environment Trust Inc. (METI) are working together to bring healthy living and life skills training to 25 villages in Samoa. Through the development of a “Life Skills Training Manual for Taiala,” the life skills training is being conducted at the grassroots level throughout the country. Taiala, which in Samoan means “path-breakers,” are multidisciplinary community workers.
The objective is to encourage people to develop their own kitchen gardens, and 20 per cent of the more than 600 learners have already done this. The Life Skills Training, Permaculture, and Healthy Living learning materials are published as open educational resources.
METI is one of COL’s longstanding partners in Samoa. COL has supported capacity building and the creation of quality learning resources at METI to strengthen sustainable development through three key areas in the METI programme: life skills coaching, permaculture and healthy living.
This appeared in the November 2016 issue of Connections.
