It is not too often that I find myself in the receiving end of ATIs trainings. There were trainings of course that I attended to learn skills or information I need to do tasks assigned or being assigned to me.

Last weeks training on enterprise skills development organized by ATI-Central Office sought to help ATI employees affected by the Rationalization Plan to put up their own agri-based sources of income in the event of the RatPlan actually being realized. It was an occasion that I learned to freely appreciate ATIs role as mediator a very necessary bridge to connect people in need of knowledge or skills with those who have these. As an ATI employee I tended to look at trainings as tasks to do. Last week, I saw it as a concrete and timely help for people whose very lives depend on having the right information and appropriate skills at the right time.

A training arm is a very necessary cog in the agricultural system. The training served not only to bring information, but to inspire as well. An exposure tour to Costales Nature Farms showed the training participants that is is possible to go into farming, be healthy, and earn after retirement. Ronald Costales is a fine example of a retiree whose life only got better after leaving a financially rewarding job. And, needless to say, the training management team and resource persons executed the training like the pros they are efficient, effective, engaging. It turns out I needed not just weaning away but a paradigm shift too.