Children Massaging Children (CMC) Facilitator Course for Health Professionals in 2012

Child Connection Trust proudly presents…

its first New Zealand team of CMC Facilitators. Finally, after years of hard work we have made the crucial step and invited to our first Course for Health Professionals in April this year. And we are lucky to have found some truly amazing women, who are going to deliver our award-winning CMC programme to educational institutions around New Zealand.

Day 1

The course took place at idyllic Retreat Centre Kawai Purapura in Albany. Lying hidden in a piece of rich, green forest the facilities serve as a source of tranquillity and represent a haven far away from the every day stress. The perfect place for our CMC Course.

We quickly got to know each other over a good cup of tea before the course programme eventually started. The first day covered the laws of bonding and attachment, two very important components for proper development during early childhood. We had a big portion of nutritious theory peppered with videos and a healthy pinch of interactivity and discussion. Do you know which is the touchiest country on the globe? You may make an educated guess on who’s one of the lowest touch cultures. That’s what we are working on!

Day 2

Easter Sunday started bright with a sunbath on the Retreat Centre’s cosy terrace. Boosted with a whole lot of good vibrations we started into the second round suddenly finding ourselves in the role of children in the classroom with Eva being our teacher. She assigned us to sit down on the towels we had brought for today’s session getting together in pairs. “Is everyone comfortable and do you have enough room? My name is Eva Scherer and I am a message therapist,” our new class teacher started. “Who knows what a massage therapist does?” The first question and we actually were able to answer it. What a great feeling!

We enjoyed a very relaxing hour of Eva teaching us the “Children Massaging Children” techniques. We rubbed each other’s back, caressed each other’s hair and stroked each other’s hands. The experience was completed by the introduction of some delicious fragrances. We were sad when the lesson ended but proud as we were given our Diploma for Little People. Well, no, that’s actually not the diploma that makes you a CMC Facilitator. But after analysing the massage lesson and being introduced to our new role as official distributors of the CMC programme we had finally made it there as well. The Certificate of Completion was smiling at us. We were smiling back, as you can see…

Our amazing New Zealand team of CMC Facilitators!
(from left to right: Fenja Villeumier, Lesley Bongiovanni, Nick Russel, Julee Stanley, Toni O'Daly, Jenni Fernandez, Reah Monet, Yoka Hermanides, Eva Scherer)

See all pictures on our Child Connection Facebook page!