Short Note on Training of Trainers Workshop

The Training of the Trainers on the Toolkit for Nurturing the Spiritual Development of Children in the Early Years
took place in Coimbatore, India from 21st to 25th August, 2023. The workshop was hosted by Shanti Ashram and
co-organised by Arigatou International, and attended by participants from organisations involved in early childhood
development and well-being.

The workshop took place in-person over five days to provide participants with knowledge, tools and skills to
integrate spiritual development into their existing work strengthening early childhood development. The training
program covered the importance of spiritual development in children’s holistic well-being and the connection to the
protection of children from violence in the early years. It targeted parents, caregivers and educators as the
beneficiaries, enabling them to foster positive relationships, provide empowering experiences and create safe,
respectful and violence-free environments for children in the early years.

Those present at the workshop included 21 participants from eleven organisations, majority based in India but also
including participants from Thailand and Sri Lanka. The five-day workshop used participatory, collaborative
methodologies to explore topics such as child rights, violence prevention, spirituality and children, a whole
community approach to nurturing children, values and ethics, role-modelling, and holistic child development in the
early years. During the workshop, opportunities for dialogue, field visits including a morning for interreligious
visits, group work, reflection and experience-sharing were given, as well as time to explore the meaning of these
topics within the context.

At the end of the workshop, participants developed action plans to further cascade the learnings in their
respective organizations and countries, and were connected online to continue the pioneering work of the Consortium
in exploring the connections between spirituality and the protection of children from violence in the early years.