Healing with a heart

Last batch of CIBTAC training concluded in the Philippines

The Spa Association of the Philippines, Inc. (SAPI) just concluded the 3rd and last batch of CIBTAC training last January 11 to February 8, 2010. Twenty spa therapists composed the 3rd batch of scholars which made a total of 200 spa therapists trained from the four countries (Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia & Malaysia). Since the Spa Professionals International Development Center (SPIDC) is still the only CIBTAC accredited school in the Philippines, the training was held at SPIDC.

The Cascade Train the Trainers Program (CTTP) was also conducted right after the CIBTAC training last February 9-11 at Crown Regency Hotel, Makati City, Philippines. The CTTP is a three day course designed to assist successful graduates of the Asia Invest CIBTAC training program to develop competencies in designing and conducting the in-house Cascade Therapist Training Program (CTTP).

By the end of the 3 -day workshop, the participants were able to: understand the adult learning process; appreciate the dynamics underlying a successful training program; understand the parts of the CTTP Manual; practice teaching different modules of the CTTP; enhance their presentation skills and increase their self confidence in teaching.



Assessment visits conducted in the three countries

A series of spa visits were conducted last January 23-30, 2010 in Malaysia & Thailand to assess the impact of the project entitled "Internationalising the operation of spas in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia". The specific objectives of the assessment visits are: a) to determine the impact of the capacity-building activities conducted among the spa associations in the four countries and b) to determine the relevance of the capacity-building activities to the spa therapists and the spa establishments.

The following spas in Malaysia were visited by the assistant project manager: M spa, Mandara spas (Prince Hotel, Sheraton, & Renaissance), Sompoton spa, Heavenly spa & Serenity spa.



While in Thailand, the following spas were also visited: Green Leaf spas (Oakwood & Cascade), Spa Botanica (Sukothai hotel), Chi spa (Shangrila Bangkok), Leyana Spa & Refresh@24 spa.



EU project team conducted monitoring in Malaysia & Thailand

The EU-Asia Invest project team composed of Jomar Fleras (Project Manager), Cherryl Kho (Assistant Project Manager) and Elena Aguila (Accountant) conducted monitoring & assessment visits last January 22-26 (Malaysia) & January 28-30 (Thailand).

The following were the agenda of the monitoring visits: updates on project implementation; review financial reports & supporting documents and discuss issues and concerns regarding project implementation.