10,000 REC graduates educate millions globally!

Since 2015, the number of certified rabies educators had steadily increased from month to month and in December 2021 we reached a milestone when more than 10,000 people (spread across 134 countries globally) graduated from the REC course.

You may be wondering what sort of impact 10,000 certified rabies educators could make towards rabies elimination? We had the same question and so we reached out to members of the global community of certified rabies educators to find out! The answer amazed us:

We learnt that those 10,000 graduates reached approximately…

11 million people

… with information on rabies and responsible dog ownership through the REC course in just 6 years. That is certainly no small feat, and the hard work and dedication of the rabies educators should be celebrated! That is why we are proud of each and every person that has become a certified rabies educator, and why we celebrate each one of them through the FORCE campaign. 

So what is the benefit in becoming a certified rabies educator? By completing the foundational course – the Rabies Educator Certificate (REC) – on the GARC Education Platform you can contribute towards the control and elimination of rabies. That is because the REC coursework covers all the key topics relating to rabies elimination, including:

• Rabies and how it is transmitted.
• Avoiding dog bites and preventing rabies.
• Improving the welfare of animals in the community.
• Effective ways to communicate the life-saving knowledge with people.

After graduating the course, certified rabies educators are encouraged to go into their communities and share the information that they have gained. By doing this, the local rabies champions become a powerful weapon in the fight against rabies by helping save lives with knowledge!

In addition to the benefit that the coursework had on at-risk communities, we wanted to share some of the positive impact the coursework had made on the REC graduates themselves. Below are some of the things they had to say about the coursework and the knowledge they had gained:

 

“GARC’s free educational courses are an excellent & essential source of becoming a certified rabies educator for all professionals. These courses motivate students to raise rabies awareness among the public.” - Dr Ahmad WAQAS (Pakistan)

 

“The course was indeed informative, helpful, and applicable to every individual, family, and community in the Philippines today." - Anne Loreyn DAMASCO (Philippines)

 

“The REC was indeed very interesting as I learnt a lot more about the human side and impacts! The information provided was easily accessible and detailed which helped me to build a good foundation of knowledge about rabies.” – Ms Celia LANDI (Scotland)

 

It is clear that becoming a certified rabies educator is not only beneficial to at-risk communities, but also to the graduates themselves who become empowered.

That is why we want to encourage everyone to sign up and complete the course.

We aim to reach at least 13,000 REC graduates by the end of the year. So why wait? Become an REC graduate today and contribute to Zero by 30! The time is right, let’s end rabies now!