What went well?

(The progress I made; what was achieved and done)

This week I was able to plan my first lessons for the children at the Remand home and St.Williams. Last week, I arrived at the end of Tuesday and was ill for most of the week, so my contributions (when possible) were limited to assisting with lessons planned by other volunteers or staff. For my first English lesson, I took inspiration from my recent experience in an emergency room. I gave a brief lesson and created worksheets for the children that taught them basic hospital things, such as doctors; pharmacists (called chemists here); x-ray machines; medication; bandages; and more. I believe this was a successful lesson because in addition to teaching the students English -- following my lesson, there was an activity where they had to practice the spelling of the items they've just learned about -- it's also an opportunity to teach the students about general things they may not be aware of, such as the differences between a doctor and a chemist and that you don't feel an x-ray. In the coming weeks, I hope to plan English lessons for the older cohort at the Remand Home; the younger group is quite inexperienced in vocabulary, whereas the older group has progressed far enough to work on things like past tense and more complex punctuation (using commas and semi-colons in conjunction). 

During my first week here, I briefly contributed to the general life skills session that Vivian prepared. The lesson was about fear. I spoke about the difficulty in facing your fears but also the necessity and benefit of doing so, drawing on both my personal experience and the experience of the students. This week, I was able to plan the lesson from the ground up. The lesson was about truth; I wrote about it last week by mistake. As to not repeat the previous journal, I'll just say that I think the lesson went quite well but like most things, it was a learning experience. It's important to make all learning lessons lively and engaging, this is especially true with these longer, more lecture-style lessons. Going forward, all life lesson sessions will start with an opportunity for students to be vocal and more around. 

Outside of the regular programming I had the privilege of visiting the local fire station with Better Me staff and the Mama Ngina Children's Home. On Friday, Tom our program coordinator went to the Kisumu City Fire Station to lead the first of many sessions focused on the mental/psychological health of the firefighters. Government funding is often inadequate in Kenya, this is especially true for firefighters and paramedics -- there is no funding for mental health services for these workers despite the intense and traumatic line of work. To address this issue, Better Me will be providing monthly sessions aimed at helping the firefighters and paramedics process and cope with their line of work and lead healthy lives outside of work. Better Me is providing this service for free, the NGO receives no monetary compensation. I am told Better Me also provides this service to the Kenyan Red Cross. Hearing about this session, myself and two other volunteers asked if we could sit in. It was a fantastic session that focused on self-reflection and identifying one's priorities in life. I have participated in many self-reflection sessions before but this was by far the best I have ever experienced. Tom is a fantastic facilitator. I believe this session helped me grow as a leader in a couple of ways. First, I believe being a leader is similar to constructing a building, you must have a solid foundation before you can continue. This self-reflection session helped me identify where I feel I am succeeding in life, where I am most lagging, and the three things I want to address immediately. I've found this both motivating and comforting. I believe this personal development will help me lead others and is Better Me's philosophy in practice, a better world begins with a better me, i.e., be the change you want to see in the world. The second thing I gained from this session is general techniques for lively and engaging instruction. As mentioned, Tom is a fantastic facilitator and I will be adopting the icebreaker as well as reassurance techniques he employed during this session for any future situations where I am facilitating. 

Also this week, I was able to visit the Mama Ngina Children's Home for the first time, an essential step towards accomplishing my LiA project. From my last log:

"I will be facilitating a new partnership for Better Me with the Mama Ngina Children's Home, a home for babies abandoned at birth and orphans with physical and/or mental disabilities. Over the duration of my stay, I will work with the Mama Ngina team and the Better Me team to figure out how Better Me can most effectively aid Mama Ngina’s operations." 

At the Home, we met with their Director and identified the children's needs and challenges; ways Better Me staff and volunteers could support the children and staff; and a potential three-bedroom home for volunteers on the property. The next step is for me to draw up an MOU, review it with the Better Me team, and then send it to Mama Ngina's.   

What could have been done differently?

(Things that did not get done and/or could be changed)

As previously mentioned in this log and the one prior, I aim to make my lessons for the children more engaging and culturally appropriate. These two goals are constant efforts, not one-and-done efforts. While improved from last week, there were still two notable errors: 1) the session on truth was not engaging enough for the students and 2) My first English lesson contained a small error. When teaching the children about different medical personnel, I used the word pharmacist and had the children practice spelling it. However, as mentioned, the word chemist is used to describe that profession here. While pharmacist is not incorrect, it's not common -- Surely I have seen at least twenty signs and storefronts advertising "Chemists" but none for a "pharmacist." This highlights the need for me to run my English lessons past local staff prior to delivery.

Lastly, the most significant challenge I encountered this week was scheduling. On Thursday, Tom and I went to Mama Ngina's to meet with the director and discuss the potential partnership.  However, there was a miscommunication and the meeting was postponed until Friday. Then on Friday, the meeting time was up in the air for most of the day. Eventually, we were able to meet and it was successful, however, because it was Friday afternoon, we ran into the weekend which slowed down progress. 

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

(Contributions, behaviours, and values I exhibited)

This week I observed how much I enjoy being a busy team member. Last week, my first week, was an adjustment period where I learned the ropes. This week, whenever I wasn't doing the work, I felt guilty, no matter how small the task and even if it was not my job. Is someone cooking dinner? I want to help. Is someone doing the dishes? I want to help. Does someone have to write an activity report? I can do that! I want to ensure that I'm not only pulling my weight but that I am a central figure for the team. Playing an active role gives each moment purpose and is fulfilling. As mentioned, my contributions this week included planning and delivering English and general life skills lessons, attending the Mama Ngina meeting and beginning to work out the details of the collaboration,  assisting Tom where possible at the fire station, and many other tasks. 

I think this week is best characterized by the Laidlaw value fast ("places to be; questions to ask; things to try; wrongs to right.") Quite literally there was always a place to be. Take Friday for example, our regular programming prescribes St.Williams at 8AM, the Remand Home at 10AM; and Jijenge (St.Teresa Girls School) at 2PM. In addition, we had our session at the fire station and our meeting at Mama Ngina's. Everywhere we went, as well as during our travels there, I had questions. Questions about Kenyan culture, the school/facility or NGO we're going to, about Better Me, about staff, about the city (Kisumu), about Kenyan politics, and more. Questions that served both my personal interest and questions that could improve my lessons or performance. While here, I try at least one new thing every day, whether it's something as trivial as a new food or something significant like a new way of delivering a lesson or planning my workflow. Finally, wrongs to right, identifying what does and doesn't work well and adjusting accordingly. I'll elaborate more on the last point in next week's log where I discuss my two latest lessons. Overall, this week has been incredible and as things continue to ramp up I am excited by the constant learning and progress towards my LiA. 

What did I learn about leadership?

(Leadership attributes and insights I developed)

The attributes I believe I developed most this week were self-knowledge and awareness: 

• Honestly assess own knowledge and leadership style/preference; and
• Knows own limitations and acts accordingly; and
• Learns continually

During lesson planning, particularly, the life-skills sessions I have to reflect on my knowledge, skills, and experience then reconcile that with what would be a worthwhile lesson for the students. I want to ensure all the lessons come from a place of genuine knowledge/experience. I believe authentic lessons are higher quality and the kids can learn more from personal insight, rather than me just telling them what I think or have read about a given concept. Drawing on my personal experience as well as dealing with my own comfort level to share definitely requires me to know my own limitations and act accordingly. Finally, I am learning constantly, as already mentioned. I am learning about life, Kenya, teaching, and so much more. This constant learning ensures every day is fascinating and rewarding. Being in Kenya is truly an incredible and priceless experience and I am sincerely grateful to the Laidlaw Scholarship for giving me the opportunity and means to be here. 

What do I want to develop or focus on next?

(What I still need to develop)

As I continue working on the Mama Ngina partnership into next week I need to develop my social and cultural intelligence and awareness and leadership abilities. Specifically, my abilities to navigate new and foreign situations and my ability to lead without authority, from the former and latter, respectively.