About Bridges of Hope

Who we are

Peter Labouchere

Founder, Director and Lead Training Consultant

Peter is an innovative pioneer of engaging participatory training activities and techniques for SBCC (Social and Behaviour Change Communication). For 22 years he has worked with organisations throughout Africa and beyond, applying the global, award winning, Bridges of Hope methodology to enhance the impact of programs addressing a range of health and social issues.

Peter Labouchere possesses a unique combination of skills in instructional design, neuro-linguistic programming and HIV prevention methodologies that combine to deliver targeted motivational adult-learning materials. In Ghana the materials developed by Peter contributed to a more that 50% increase in condom usage associated with the “Stop AIDS Love Life” campaign.

Kirsten Böse

Director, Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3), JHU-CCP

I observed a Bridges of Hope workshop facilitated by Mr Labouchere. I have extensive experience in the field of peer education and the training of peer educators, and Mr Labouchere’s skills and insights into this complex area of behavioural change are truly exceptional.

Professor David Dickinson

Department of Sociology, Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa

Bridges of Hope Associates / Master Trainers

Bridges of Hope Associates are Certified Master Trainers who have developed exceptional skill in using and training others to use the Bridges of Hope methodology and materials. They deliver and facilitate Bridges of Hope Training programs in the organisations and regions they are based in, drawing on their knowledge of the cultural context, local issues and languages.

Darlington Chiuta

Manages Bridges of Hope Australasia (based in New Zealand)

Email: darlington@boht.org

During 16 years as a Bridges of Hope Master Trainer, Darlington has delivered Bridges of Hope Peer Educator Training programs in South Africa with Anglo Gold Ashanti (250 Peer Educators), Standard Bank, Wits University and many other business and community organisations. He is accredited as both Assessor and Moderator with ETDP-SETA.

Nokuthula Heath

National Training Manager for Zoë-Life, Durban, South Africa

Nokuthula specializes in HIV, GBV and abuse related issues for children and adolescents. Since attending a Bridges of Hope facilitator training program in 2015, she has integrated Bridges of Hope activities and techniques into the programs she develops and delivers, such as the adolescent focused YOUTHrive program. Her inputs as a Bridges of Hope Master Trainer have included designing and co-facilitating with Peter Labouchere a 2-day “Practical Solutions to GBV & HIV in South Africa” conference program for 380 delegates at Durban ICC.

Michael Opiyo

Lecturer at North Coast Medical Training College (NCMTC), Kenya

Since its introduction in 2018, Michael has taken a lead in adopting and integrating the Bridges of Hope Training methodology in NCMTC’s curricula, and in training and coaching other staff and ‘stufacs’ (student facilitators) to use it most effectively with student and community groups.

Dr. Louise Nadin

Medical Director, Beautiful Gate (NPO in Philippi Township, South Africa)

Beautiful Gate have hosted 6 Bridges of Hope Facilitator programs, sponsored by Mapula Trust and Kirstenbosch Rotary. Dr Nadin attended the first and co-facilitated all subsequent workshops, providing valuable insights, evaluative feedback and refinements to the program.

Other Certified Bridges of Hope Master Trainers are listed here.

Methodology & Key Concepts

This video outlines some of the Key Concepts underpinning the design of Bridges of Hope Training activities and programs. (From a presentation at the Bali International Social and Behaviour Change Communication Summit.)

Play Video

The unique Bridges methodology integrates and applies a range of key concepts and research related to social and behaviour change communication (SBCC), including:

1 Link current behaviours and practices to realising aspirational future goals

Activities around future visioning, self-value and identity establish a motivating focus to which health seeking behaviours around prevention, treatment, diagnosis and support can then be linked.

“If you have a strong enough why, you can address any how.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

2 Create fun, engaging, multi-sensory learning experiences

… and facilitate a process which enables participants to relate and practically apply the learning to their own situation.

I hear … I forget, I see … I remember, I do … I understand

Confucius (circa 500 BC)

I hear AND see AND do … I really get it, internalise it, and apply it.

Labouchere (2023)

The Bridges methodology integrates Visual + Auditory + Kinaesthetic learning (the ‘VAK modalities’) in order to engage and connect with everyone, regardless of their preferred learning modality or level of literacy.

Example: Treatment Adherence activity

Participants act as masked characters (White Blood Cell, Infection, HIV, ARV) in an interactive drama which physically demonstrates HIV progression, ART, viral mutation and treatment failure. This creates a fun, engaging multisensory experience of what fundamentally happens at the micro-biological level. Its significant impact on retention of ART patients is detailed in this research publication by Pretoria University.

3 "Logical Levels" Behavioural Framework

This simple model can be used as a framework for designing and enhancing the impact of health promotion interventions. It’s developer Robert Dilts proposes that, for a desired behavioural outcome to be adopted and maintained, it must be supported at all the different ‘neurological levels’:

Identity (a key and often neglected driver of behaviour)
Values and Beliefs (including risk, efficacy and normative beliefs)
Skills and Capabilities
Environment

Click here for a discussion of the logical levels framework, illustrated with the example of condom use and how it has been applied to create the enhanced version of ‘The Complete Condom Training Kit’

4 Association / Dissociation – Varying levels of emotional engagement

The concept of Association/Dissociation relates to a person’s level of emotional engagement when they experience, recall or imagine a particular event, situation, person or object.

Associated (emotionally involved) and dissociated (emotionally detached) perspectives can provide starkly different insights and reactions to the same stimulus or experience.

By deliberately designing training materials and facilitating training interventions to create for participants, at appropriate points, both associated and dissociated experiences, it is possible to enhance the effectiveness of such interventions, in particular around exploring sensitive issues and motivating desired behaviours.

Use experiential metaphor

Metaphor – in particular multi-sensory experiential metaphor – connects in a way that is often better remembered and applied than information presented solely in a direct factual way.

Metaphor resonates with our fast, intuitive ‘System 1 thinking’ (as Prof. Daniel Kahneman describes it in his book: “Thinking, Fast and Slow”). This sometimes has more influence on our decisions and behaviour than our logical, analytical, slower ‘System 2 thinking’.

Examples of Bridges of Hope Training activities using multisensory, experiential metaphor:

Avoiding laminated card sharks, hippos and crocodiles (health and other threats and challenges) by walking on narrow bridges (health-seeking behaviours and support) to reach the island (goals and aspirations).
A Family Planning activity uses different ways of planting maize as a metaphor for HTSP (Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy) – too early, too late, too close together or at correct spacing.

6 Anchors

Activities can be designed to build sensory ‘anchors’ for an empowering state (e.g. feeling confident/assertive), which can subsequently be triggered and accessed when needed.