Thursday was the final day of our official training sessions, and we made it a full day event. We started at 11am (though we were scheduled to start before 10) and finished off at 630pm. It was a long day but it was focused on setting up the Board for success throughout the year.
Several of the discussions we had revolved around how the Board meetings would run, and how Graham and I could stay in contact with the Board so to keep the relationship moving.
Generally throughout the training, Graham and I would start the conversations with an introduction to the topic, ask the members to discuss the topic, then we would come back together and tell them our thoughts on the topic, summarize and move on. One of the topics though, was creating the oath that all the members would swear by at Bank Day. For this discussion, we told them to create the oath on their own, and we would just review the translation once they had completed it. Watching the Board interact with each other gave me so much inspiration for the upcoming year. Each member was contributing (even Rose, who is quite shy towards us) and each member brought very good ideas forth, from what we could tell from the Luo conversations. I was nervous that some of the quieter members would not be engaged throughout the year, but it proved me wrong!
For lunch break, we all headed into the market and grabbed chapatti and ugali (traditional foods) and got to talk with the members about their lives outside of the position. It was very endearing, and it was an eye opener as well. For each of these members, this Bank really is a source of their livelihood. I am leaving hoping that they will work hard so the project doesn't fall apart. But they are in this position to help the community throughout the year, and they don't see this as a project.
Though we have finished with the training, we are hoping to have about three more touch points with the Board members. We are looking forward to holding individual feedback sessions, as well as having them involved with Bank day.
Several of the discussions we had revolved around how the Board meetings would run, and how Graham and I could stay in contact with the Board so to keep the relationship moving.
Generally throughout the training, Graham and I would start the conversations with an introduction to the topic, ask the members to discuss the topic, then we would come back together and tell them our thoughts on the topic, summarize and move on. One of the topics though, was creating the oath that all the members would swear by at Bank Day. For this discussion, we told them to create the oath on their own, and we would just review the translation once they had completed it. Watching the Board interact with each other gave me so much inspiration for the upcoming year. Each member was contributing (even Rose, who is quite shy towards us) and each member brought very good ideas forth, from what we could tell from the Luo conversations. I was nervous that some of the quieter members would not be engaged throughout the year, but it proved me wrong!
For lunch break, we all headed into the market and grabbed chapatti and ugali (traditional foods) and got to talk with the members about their lives outside of the position. It was very endearing, and it was an eye opener as well. For each of these members, this Bank really is a source of their livelihood. I am leaving hoping that they will work hard so the project doesn't fall apart. But they are in this position to help the community throughout the year, and they don't see this as a project.
Though we have finished with the training, we are hoping to have about three more touch points with the Board members. We are looking forward to holding individual feedback sessions, as well as having them involved with Bank day.
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