Take 5 has expanded to Ethiopia

In June of 2026, 24 people gathered in Bisoftu, Ethiopia to learn about the Take 5 Model and how to confidently apply the Take 5 approach in their programmes. 

Take 5, a methodology developed  by Waves for Change (W4C), combines a trauma-informed coaching approach with existing sport, play based activities, arts, and culture programmes to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support for young people.. The Take 5 Model strengthens existing workforces through a five step routine as well as nine helping skills of a caring coach. creating  protective environments where young people can access a caring coach, form positive peer relationships, and develop  essential coping- and self-regulation skills through movement, breathing and play.

This was a ‘training of  trainer’ (TOT) model, equipping  Take 5 champions to scale this model to their implementors, coaches, teachers  to deliver safe, fun, engaging, and emotionally safe programmes to youth at their respective organisations. During an interactive work planning session , the Ethiopian Take 5 champions discussed how to  achieve their aim of reaching 1215 coaches through training, who will go on to implement programmes to 51 000 adolescents by July 2027.

Where it all began 

In September 2025, W4C ran a Take 5 TOT workshop in Cape town, South Africa, where UNICEF Ethiopia staff Lloyd Muchemwa, Meseret Debalkie, and Atinkut Yalew Maled joined. Alongside 25 other people, these staff members from Ethiopia were trained as Take 5 champions, with the aim to roll-out and scale the model in Ethiopia. At this point, Take 5 was already well established – being used by governments in South Africa (Western Cape), NGO’s, as well as UN agencies across Latin America, Africa, Europe, Middle east and Asia. 

After the training in Cape town, these three staff members explored opportunities to integrate Take 5 into UNICEF Ethiopia’s existing programmes and train their workforces on the model. This was just the beginning! These newly trained Take 5 champs already identified ways in which they planned to scale the model further and wider, to reach more coaches and youth. 

The TOT workshop in Bishoftu, Ethiopia 

LLoyd Muchemwa, the  Project officer at UNICEF Ethiopia, was joined by Kelly Murray, Derek Daniels and Jeff DeCelles, W4C Take 5 training team, to co-facilitate the training of trainers workshop in Bishoftu. The 24 participants included UNICEF staff, the Ministry of health and implementing partners, tied to Ethiopia’s Mental Health Strategic Plan. The specific organizations included: AISDA, Amhara Development Association, Ethiopian Catholic Church Social Development Commission, Right To Play, Ethiopian Girl Skaters, regional BoWCSA bureaus in Amhara, Afar, and Somali, and the Federal Ministry of Health and Ethiopia Public Health Institute (which co-chairs the National MHPSS Technical Working Group).

What champions had to say about the training: 

22 of the 24 participants completed the post-training evaluation. The results spoke for themselves. 

• 100% of the responding champions rated the training “Excellent” or “Above Average”,
• 100% felt confident or very confident to train coaches after the workshop, and
• 100% said the training improved their understanding of mental health.

The overwhelming majority reported feeling “Very Confident” or “Confident” about sharing and scaling what they’d learned.

• “Play is a developmental need, not a luxury.”
• “Take 5 helps us become good coaches by working on ourselves first.”
• “This is the best training I have attended during my career.”

Participants  responded strongly to practical, hands-on activities, including the “Take 5 routine”, the 11 BEs”(facilitation techniques), and the energiser activities. These were particularly well received, as opposed to  lecture-style content or theory. One participant described it as demonstrating how to build a safe, relaxed environment and address MHPSS needs “without relying on intimidating technical jargon.”

The Take 5 ripple effect in Ethiopia 

At the time of publishing, the Take 5 Ethiopia champions have already trained 20 coaches in the Afar region.  The wider roll out across all regions and partners plans to reach 1,215 coaches, and 50,959 young people, by July 2027.

The Amhara (Biqu Wetat) group is the only group currently planning to train additional champions (47) (as opposed to training implementing coaches). This is an exciting addition worth highlighting, as these champs will train more coaches, extending Take 5’s reach even deeper into the region. 

What’s next for Take 5 in Ethiopia 

A few concrete things are planned to sustain W4C’s work in Ethiopia:

• A Champions WhatsApp group and monthly online support calls with W4C, where champions can share their questions and experiences as they start training coaches themselves. 

• Regular updates will be folded into Ethiopia’s National MHPSS Technical Working Group.

• A Take 5 summit in Ethiopia in early 2027 will bring the champions back together to share lessons learnt, experiences, and connect with each other.

• The most consistent request from participants was translation.  Several noted that the methodology works, but reaching coaches with limited English requires materials in local languages. Training materials are being translated into four new languages (Amharic, Afan Oromo, Somali, and Tigrinya) making Take 5 accessible to even more coaches across the region. 

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