Rachael Watson of Samaritan's Purse presents the organization's Community Development Facilitator model and demonstrates how local churches and communities can address GBV with a long-term perspective.

1. Samaritan’s Purse –Liberia
GBV programming within the CDF Model
Presented by Rachael Watson

2. 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another;
be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
Philippians 2:4 do not merely look out for your own personal
interests, but also for the interests of others.
Introduction
Presentation Objective:
To showcase the Samaritan’s Purse-Community Development
Facilitator model, and demonstrate how local churches and
communities can address GBV with a long-term mindset

3. CommunityDevelopmentFacilitator(CDF)model
What is it?
This program centers on Community Development Facilitators
posted in remote communities who facilitate both physical
and spiritual development through health and evangelism
training and supporting technical interventions

4. Who is a CDF?
• Mission-minded individuals, Community Development
Facilitators are posted in remote communities facilitating both
physical and spiritual development.
• Through health and evangelism training, and supporting
Samaritan’s Purse Liberia technical interventions they are the
point-people for community development projects supported
by Samaritan’s Purse.
• Developing Christ-like relationships with community
members, the CDFs share the Gospel through CHE training
and discipling new believers.

5. CDF strategy:
• CDFs are Samaritan's Purse
“missionaries” living in the
communities where we
work, allowing them to engage
to a deeper level in our mission
statement
• It is community led in order to
empower communities to see
the assets around them

6. CDF strategy:
• Discipleship through the
church, and one on one
relationships/reconciliation
• Allows us to be better stewards
with the opportunities and
resources we are blessed with
• Using the church through
envisioning/discipleship of
believers (in Muslim
communities) as our exit
strategy.

7. Sustainability
• Church Mobilization Program is introduced starting at year
one and continuing through out the program cycle of a CDF
community.
• Church Mobilization Program equips believers and the church
with knowledge to better understand God’s call for their
lives, how to use the assets God has given them, how to
steward their projects and God’s plan for their relationships
and their community.
• From there, churches will be able to effectively minister to
their own communities when SPL and other NGOs are no
longer operating in the region.

8. 110 interventions
52 communities have or will have by the end of 2012 gone
through the CHE training (combination of 1st and 2nd year)
52 communities are part of the CDF model program
2012 Interventions continued

10. GBV within the
CDF model
Background of GBV in Liberia:
Although the Government of Liberia
has developed several strategies to
decrease SGBV and take steps
forward in reducing its
prevalence, the rates of abuse
continues to spread at an alarming
rate.

11. GBV within the CDF model
Based on the Knowledge Attitudes Practices Behavior (KAPB)
study that Samaritan’s Purse conducted in 2011 with 300
respondents and the 2007 Demographic Health Survey:
• 4.6% of Liberian females have been raped or given
food, lodging or money in exchange for sex
• 4.6% of Liberian females have been raped or given
food, lodging or money in exchange for sex
• 46.3% of the population reported having heard of a child
under the age of 18 being raped in their community.

12. GBV within the CDF model
Based on the Knowledge Attitudes Practices Behavior (KAPB)
study that Samaritan’s Purse conducted in 2011 with 300
respondents and the 2007 Demographic Health Survey:
• 57% of females have experienced female genital mutilation
(FGM); 97% of whom were below the age of 18.
• Early marriage is also common throughout the
country, especially in the rural areas, with 15% of Liberian
girls married before the age of 15 and 46% of girls married
by 18 years of age.
• 57% of females have experienced female genital mutilation
(FGM); 97% of whom were below the age of 18.
• Early marriage is also common throughout the
country, especially in the rural areas, with 15% of Liberian girls
married before the age of 15 and 46% of girls married by 18
years of age.

13. LIGHT strategy within the CDF model
1. Since February 2013 the Light program began working in 11
CDF communities that are the host to seven (7) churches, each of
these communities has been a part of the CDF model for at least
1 year.
2. Within the seven churches there are 78 church members
including seven pastors, one from each church, who are currently
going through an eight week GBV training that identifies the root
causes of GBV.

14. LIGHT strategy within the CDF model
3. Churches are led through training in the following areas:
• Biblical sexuality
• Biblical manhood
• Biblical womanhood

15. LIGHT strategy within the CDF model
• The Image of God and the implications of this on gender roles
and relationships
3. Churches are led through training in the following areas:
• How can churches prevent sexual and gender based
violence, how do churches respond to victims of sexual and
gender based violence?
• Root causes of family breakdown and parental
challenges, including conflict management/case management
• What is sexual and gender based violence?

16. As a Result…
• Four months in to the program we have already been able to
see results from this church-based approach.
• We have had 4 protection cases reported to the church lead
task force. The cases involve two cases of domestic violence
and two cases of statutory rape.
• There have also been twelve protection cases that have been
brought to the attention of the case worker, seven of which
are statutory rape.

17. Going Forward
Challenges
• Location of projects are far from the Capital making it difficult
for protection services to assist.
• Rape cases are often settled between the perpetrator and the
family in monetary goods. As the LIGHT program aims to
bring these cases to the judicial court, there is back-lash from
the perpetrators and their family members as well as the
local judicial system as they can receive a fee for allowing the
case to be settled within the community.
• Cultural beliefs

18. PossibleSolutions for Light Program
• Bringing awareness to the various government head offices in the
Capital, thus creating pressure for more government lead field
monitoring visits of the judicial systems.
• Coordination with other agencies through GBV task force meetings.
• Create awareness threats/bribes with other local
authorities, superintendent, city mayor, and community elders, thus
creating a serious attitude towards compromised cases
• Create a community security/alarm system for staff that working
within this program to vulnerability to staff
• There is a saying in Liberia, “When culture kills, culture has to
change”

19. Going Forward
Lessons Learned
• Having a budget line that will provide transportation for the
survivor, medical expenses, and consumable supplies to stay
at a Safe House.
• Document all activities that occur that work to compromise a
rape GBV so that reports can be given to the head office
• Having a Case Worker available for technically appropriate
response is critical due to the sensitivity of GBV cases
• Pastors and church member are willing and motivated to be
involved in preventing and responding to cases of GBV

20. Through our work, Jesus is recognized as Lord over all creation,
and our development activities bring glory to God by reflecting
the depth and breadth of His Kingdom plan. Through this model
we trust God to transform beliefs and change behavior so that
his peace, justice, compassion, and righteousness are reflected
in the life of the communities we serve.
It is our hope that as a result of this model there is a transformation
in lives and communities that is as deep as the human heart and as
broad as the whole range of the human experience in the world
God made.