Week 1: Small Beginnings

The First week of my leadership in action summer began the week of June 24th. My flight was booked for the following Monday, July 1st, as it was scheduled. My goal for the week was to conduct a literature review that outlined the importance of the gamification of health promotion for children. Overall my LIA project outline was simple: develop evidence-based games for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados that they can use in their advocacy and education efforts regarding childhood obesity. If you are curious as to why the fight against childhood obesity is so crucial in Barbados, feel free to check out my Reach Alliance team case study, or my Laidlaw research report that digs into the details. By the end of the week, I was able to have a succinct report that outlined the evidence as to why gamification was important, and what types of games have been used in the past.

But if you thought that my week was smooth as can be, you would be gravely mistaken. 

7 days were trickling down as I prepared for my trip. It was a flurry of dizzying logistics, ensuring that I had everything in check for travel. Little did I know that someone else was planning to make a stop in Barbados.  A juvenile tropical depression was birthed in the middle of the Atlantic, and day by day, it evolved into Hurricane Beryl, and straight in its path was Barbados. My experiences with hurricanes are few and far between, with one of my earliest childhood memories being huddling with my family in Jamaica with loud winds that whistled ferociously outside our home. Since then I have seen from a distance the havoc a hurricane can reek across the small island developing states that are the Caribbean. A worrisome feeling crept up on me as I realized the potential severity the storm could have on the country that I had been so intertwined with academically for 2 years. 

Summary of Week 1:

What went well? I was able to conduct a literature review of different types of gamification out there! Next week I will be completing a slide show to present to my supervisor once I land in Barbados. I allowed my curiosity to guide me and served me well in my review of games that could work in workshops.

What did I learn about leadership? I learned that you have to do your homework before entering a new context. Every leader must be aware of the people they intend to serve, and this can only be done by asking questions, staying curious, and not assuming you know everything. I think it was really great that I had this week to prepare, and I hope that while I look forward to my trip, I use my preparation wisely. 

What could have been done differently?: I most definitely feel anxious about the next 5 weeks. While I am excited to get to work, I am worried about whether the end product will be as I imagined. One thing I could have done differently was to exercise positive thinking and not necessarily worry over the worst-case scenario of the trip. While it is good to think critically and stay prepared, I felt over the week that I was not embracing each and every step of the process, including appreciating my remote week.

What do I want to develop or focus on next? I hope that my trip to Barbados provides the opportunity to test my strengths and point out weak spots that I wouldn't have been aware of until I am "In-Action".

Week 2: Ramifications of the Storm

Well, well, well, how can I summarize my first week in Barbados into a short and neat reflection? Hurricane Beryl, which was not initially on the path toward Barbados, decided to take a pit stop on July 1st. This was the date of my flight. Luckily, I didn't run into many issues, as Air Canada had cancelled all flights to Barbados, only 2 days prior. I was extremely worried about what the consequences of this could mean on the trip... but luckily by the 1st, Air Canada was kind enough to rebook the ticket for the next day! Once I landed, I stayed at a hotel until Monday, as my long-term stay wouldn't be ready for me until the following Monday.  On arrival, I was filled with memories of my time back when my research team and I hopped taxis and bustled around Bridgetown in the previous year. The hotel I was staying in was only a 10-minute walk from our previous residence, so traveling around the street felt like reconnecting with an old friend. However, evidence of Beryl could be seen throughout. One of the eateries my team frequented was completely shuttered, since it was a shack on the side of the beach, it would have been incredibly vulnerable to adverse weather. This made me think about the fact that Barbados is considered a Small Island Developing State by the United Nations, meaning that the nation is particularly vulnerable to climate change's effects. This was something stuck out to me, and to think about how to conduct my project on an island where its geography is dependent on the climate.

When it came to my deliverables, the Hurricane did cause some delays for the organization, and so we felt it best to meet in person next week. This week involved me working on completing the rest of my presentation, which outlined all of the potential games ideas, as well as a summary of the key findings of my literature review. 

Summary of Week 2:

What went well? I had a safe travel to Barbados! Checking in was straight forward, and since I was familiar with the area I was in, it was quite straight forward to get around. Most food establishments were in walking distance, not to mention the beach was only a 2 minute walk away. My preparation for my meetings went well, and I was able to finalize all of my deliverables for the following week. 

What did I learn about leadership? I was able to learn how to flex under new circumstances. Even though the Hurricane may have put delays on how I imagined my first few days would go, it reminded me how in life, we can plan as much as we want, but at the end of the day, things happen outside of our control. Managing expectations is a key skill in leadership that stuck with me this week.

What could have been done differently?: I had high hopes for my first week. I hoped that I could jump straight in, meet the HSFB team in person, and get to try out my ideas on my test groups. I realized that the slow beginnings from the first week, followed me into my second week. I think just trusting the process, not relying on strict timelines, and embracing every moment should have been made a priority for me this week. 

What do I want to develop or focus on next? I hope that next week will be exciting, as I move into my "permanent" home, meet all of the HSFB staff in person, and beginning collaborating for the activity development.

Week 3: Putting the A in LIA

As I begin this week's reflection, I realize that I am now at the midway point of my project, and leaves me with a bittersweet feeling. So far, I have moved out of the hotel and into my host's apartment. What I was first confronted with was not the fact that the apartment was roomy, clean, and in a great location, instead I was met with the realization that there was no air conditioning in the unit. Such a silly thing that you don't really think about until it you are exactly in that moment. Living in a hotel for the first week got me spoiled on cool living and a continental breakfast in the lobby. Now, I must purchase my own groceries, cook for myself, and manage adjusting to the tropical climate. Now it felt that I really was living abroad, and alone. I realized that I had never lived alone until just then. Either I lived with my family, or a college dorm, or a hotel. There was always people around. And since my host was not going to be there until week 4, I was both excited and terrified of this. With my emotions high, I can say that I did have a cry that first evening in my new home. After cooling down with a nice shower, I was able to see a bit more clearly, and I looked forward for the rest of my week.

The next day, I had the privilege to join HSFB on their final Cool School Nutrition Tours for the school year, and can I just say that this was an eye-opening and incredible experience. Meeting the youth-advocate team, the team made up of young adults that are passionate about health advocacy and who ran the workshops through out the year. I was able to observe everything that did or didn't work in the current workshop format, and made adjustments to my proposal based on this. 

By Thursday evening, I was presenting my proposed amendments to the health workshops. The feedback was very enthusiastic. It seemed as though my new ideas really was a breath of fresh air for the group and while I was only supposed to take up the first 20 minutes of the 2 hour meeting, my topic ended up being the entire meeting! I was really encouraged by their feedback, and I looked forward to the next week, where I would be actually working on the games, songs, skits, and imagery that I had in mind.

Summary of Week 3:

What went well? My presentation was successful in inspiring the team to think about new ways of addressing advocacy to children. 

What did I learn about leadership? I learned that preparation pays off, as well as the importance of independence. 

What could have been done differently?: I think that the week went pretty well, and my only difference would be to stay more connected to friends and family so that I don't feel too isolated while I'm here. 

What do I want to develop or focus on next? I look forward to actually working on the games. I hope to strengthen my curiosity for new perspectives as I move into in-person work with HSFB.

Week 4: Forming Routines

Week 4 was less hectic than previous weeks, and I am now settled in my 9-5 routine. First, I get a ride to the office with a staff member, who lives on the way. I then get settled into the day for independent work. My day usually consists of designing layouts for the games, coming up with new ideas, and scrapping ones that wouldn't work. I noticed that while this was an enjoyable task, it did become mentally draining once the day was over since it was a lot of mental energy to produce, work and be creative all at once. When I get back home, I usually try to slow down, have some dinner, take a nap, and practice self-care. 

The main thing I was able to do socially was make new friends! One of my friends who lives in Canada, is originally from Barbados. She was able to connect me with her church community and other youth. They were extremely friendly, inviting me to grab dinner, and have movie nights. This was something that I did not expect, but I truly love the new friends I am making, and through them, I get to understand Bajan culture in a more dynamic way.

Summary of Week 4:

What went well? Working consistently on programming development, attending meetings, and meeting friends. 

What did I learn about leadership? I learned how to practice balance. I think that it is easy for those in leadership to become so invested in their passions that they forget about taking care of the other areas in life. By meeting new people, I not only gained new perspectives, but also maintained a social connection in a new place.

What could have been done differently?: Being more kind to myself and taking breaks during the work day. Sometimes I got so deep into the work this week that I forgot to drink water, or have my lunch. I need to make sure I am taking care of myself so that I can serve others to the best of my ability.

What do I want to develop or focus on next? Next week will have more programming development, team meetings and prep for my knowledge translation opportunity that will occur next week. I hope to strengthen my communication skills as I prepare for that meeting!

Week 5: Becoming the Advocate

This week, I was able to fully embrace my advocacy skills. Not only did I have to continue developing my database, but I had to present my team research findings, and test out the games on our test groups. It was quite a jam-packed week.

The Coaltion presentation

The week started out with  me presenting my 2023 research back to the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition. The members of this included members of government, professors, doctors, non-profit leaders, and a member of the Pan-American-Health-Organization, a branch of the WHO. I will admit that I was quite nervous about this presentation, I had to make sure that I stay under time, that I look presentable and that my computer would work fine (a virtual presentation), and that the actual content made sense. While this was not the first time that I had to present my research to a group of leaders, after presenting at the Canadian Conference for Global Health in 2023, this felt completely different. Mainly, my research was about, well, them. I was worried that they might take some of the negative findings in a bad way, or if what I was saying made sense to them, or if I sounded too much like a 3rd year undergrad student that bit off more than they could chew. I took a deep breath, and I presented. I trusted that I knew the research inside and out, and that they could tell that I was genuine and just as invested in bettering the lives of Barbadian children as they were. By the end of the presentation, they explained that they were grateful for the research! I was so relieved that the impact that my Reach team had been hoping for actually paid off.

The Test Groups

Prepping for the research presentation, while nerve-wracking, was something I was familiar with, and something that I new I could pull off. But presenting the games that I had worked on for weeks to a group of children? That was an entirely foreign idea! Children have no filter, and are keys of honesty, which is something that I appreciate, but also something I was concerned about. While I have worked with kids before, I never had to present important health education, nor let them be the judge of the games. Would they react well to the revamped workshops? That was the question.

As Saturday came, the day the kids flooded into the HSFB first aid training conference room, I was excited to see the kids come in. We had three age-specific groups, the youngest tester being 6, and the oldest being 18. Hearing the kids laugh, yell, ask questions, and have health related discussions was really encouraging. The games were successful, and the rest of the HSFB team was able to see it through the focus-groups. It felt absolutely rewarding that the project that I had been working on, based on research and evidence based literature, showed signs of success. Of course, there are so many variables when actually running the workshops in the schools during the academic year, but I hope that my work has pushed the education efforts into a more impactful direction.

What went well? It's safe to say that my week full of presentations went smoothly. I am extremely proud and excited to see the immediate impact of both my team's research, and my LIA project.

What did I learn about leadership? I got to see the full process of starting with an idea, proposal, development, execution, and impact. I learned that being a leader means taking risks, and investing time and energy to see how a ideas can become a reality.

What do I want to develop or focus on next? Next week I'll be finalizing the database, tying off loose ends, and trying a new experiential skill! I hope to focus on completion, and 

Week Six: Wrapping up, saying goodbyes, and trying something new

It is amazing to see the fruits of my labour pay off. The final team presentation went well, and was able to wrap up all of my loose ends quite neatly. Since the end of the week was a national holiday and Bajan Carnival, I officially completed my time at HSFB on Wednesday. Since I had a few days to spare, I decided to go scuba diving on the Thursday and Friday. This was something that I have trained for and gotten certified for in the past, and so while it wasn't a completely new experience, it was something that, since living in Canada, don't get to do as much as I would like. This was the best way to wrap up my summer, and was a sort of analogy for 2 immediate lessons learned in my LIA:

Stay Prepared: Enganing in any project requires preparation. In scuba diving, this means, getting certified, researching the best dive centers, hydrating, eating well, and being well rested. On the day of it means double and triple checking that all the gear is in order, that the weather is good and that the dive team is ready to go. In the same way, I had to prepare for my project through literature review, immersing in culture, and getting feedback from peers. This taught me that If possible, engage active preparation ahead of  the moment, as the moment approaches and during the moment.

Stay Present: In every dive, I find myself in awe of the natural world around me. I had to both manage ensuring that my bio levels were at the proper levels, while not forgetting to marvel at the vast sea, and be excited for the present experience. As a leader, we can often be so wrapped up in the technicalities of our projects/misison that we forget to be present in every moment, and roll with the punches that life throws at us.

If we can stay prepared and stay present, we will be able to discover more about ourselves, our communities, and the world around us.