DAY 3: Inspiration, Trust and Learning
by Ahad Katera, Arne Hendriks and Roy Ombatti at Hivos Hub East Africa, Nairobi, Kenia, 16 February 2017
Passion cannot be separated from our day-to- day responsibilities. Creating ‘togetherness’ can generate momentum and good will and churn out powerful outputs.
On the roof of Hivos Hub East Africa building director Mendi Njonjo opened this Day of Teaching by introducing the Age of Wonderland method. How do you break societal norms to be creative in spaces that are unfamiliar? These were some of the thought-provoking conversations that evolved during Hivos East Africa’s 100 Days of Learning. Convened by the Age of Wonderland this event featured discussions on how to foster inspiration, trust and learning. Beyond breaking the stereotypes surrounding social innovation, the event allowed Hivos staff to simply step away from their daily responsibilities, reflect on what makes them happy and share their passions. This first-of- a-kind forum was novel in that it enabled staff toaccess different parts of their hearts and minds, generate curiosity and listen to each other’s stories.
‘’Your passion mostly defines who you are. This cannot be separated from your day-to- day responsibilities. These are some of the spaces where ‘togetherness’ can generate momentum and good will and churn out powerful outputs,’’ said Hivos East Africa’s Regional Director, Mendi Njonjo.
Some of the key take-aways from the learning event involved learning in uncomfortable spaces through a combination of listening and sharing. Notably, “unlearning” was also marked as an enabler of embracing new ways of knowledge sharing.
“My biggest win from this gathering has been regaining the desire to revolutionalise my career from broken dots of inspiration”, said Sylvia Musalagani, Junior Programme Officer Hivos East Africa.
First round of sharing Ahad Katera shared how one grows as a person and as a professional by not being afraid to ask for help, searching and seeing new opportunities and celebrating small successes. So the first round of sharing was on personal small successes. And as Arne Hendriks suggested at first not to link these personal success stories to the work at Hivos, this to avoid the tendency to give ‘expected’ answers. Several very personal success stories where shared and people got to know a new side from one another. Although some had spent many years together in the office this was the first time there was this feeling of intimacy. It just doesn’t seem to be part of the professional attitude to share personal motives and backgrounds much.
Then Stephanie Muchai from the Hivos office shared how she got involved in charity work and how she used her capability of mentoring to bring people into their highest potential. We then shared “what one brings to the table to make a difference in the world”. Arne Hendriks shared his artistic approach of “what if” and how creative imagination and researching possibilities have shaped his work as an artist. Everybody shared his/her idea of “what if” before we finally had Roy Ombatti, Age of Wonderland fellow 2014 who shared his personal experience in Malawi with us: he was staying with his uncle who worked in a hospital and Roy was shocked about the bad circumstances, under which children and other patients were treated. He asked what it is that we need to do to shift from sympathy to empathy and how can we really help others. The Day of Learning ended with a personal pledge which everyone took home from another person. Sylvia Musalagani confirmed that the Day of Learning method can be linked to several Hivos programs bringing people from different backgrounds together.
Hivos Hub East Africa will organise 10 more Days of Learning are organised via the Hivos Hub Nairobi. Please read more on these days at our Media publication!
