Tuesday 16th Nov
Today there was a community meeting; that is a meeting for the community to come together to discuss issues relating to the school.
The meeting was scheduled for 11am, with members of the school's management committee expected to be there at 10am. Unsurprisingly there was nobody (neither management committee nor anyone else) there until noon, and not enough people to start the meeting until 130pm. I think that picture was taken at about 1230.
This might sound like an atrocious waste of time; I remember having worked in companies back in the UK where colleagues would lament the fact that meetings often started 2 minutes, or sometimes even (shock! horror!) 5 minutes late. But I found it valuable - it gave me a chance to wander around the school and meet people.
The meeting seemed very positive to me for two reasons
(a) around 20 to 30 people showed up, and the committee considered this a low turnout
(b) they openly challenged the management committee about embezzlement of funds. They observed that the school had received over 2 million Kenyan Shillings (c 120KES = 1 GBP - this is quite a lot of money) in donations, and wanted to know where the money had gone. Having had problems with embezzlement from a previous headmaster, this is a reasonable question. But more importantly, I see that the community cares about the school.
I addressed the community at this meeting, and explained my role. I asked them whether they would like accountability and transparency in the school's finances. Needless to say, I had waited until after I knew what all their questions were, so I already knew that the answer was yes. I explained to the community that I will do everything I can to help achieve this, but if it happens, it will be because of the hard work of Joseph (finance worker), George (treasurer), and Charles (chairman), naming them and indicating them visually. As I paced the stage of the shady grove where the meeting took place, I saw the pleasure in the eyes of the people as I said this, and the delayed reaction from those who didn't speak English and waited for the Luo translation; and when I got the applause and cheering, I knew I was hitting the right notes. The community were clearly happy.
I feel good now - I have deepened my understanding of how people relate to each other in this part of the world, and used that understanding to set and agree priorities with the key staff in a way that will clearly engage and motivate them. To achieve this so quickly at home would be hard, but the open communication culture here has made it quick, easy and efficient.
Today there was a community meeting; that is a meeting for the community to come together to discuss issues relating to the school.
The meeting was scheduled for 11am, with members of the school's management committee expected to be there at 10am. Unsurprisingly there was nobody (neither management committee nor anyone else) there until noon, and not enough people to start the meeting until 130pm. I think that picture was taken at about 1230.
This might sound like an atrocious waste of time; I remember having worked in companies back in the UK where colleagues would lament the fact that meetings often started 2 minutes, or sometimes even (shock! horror!) 5 minutes late. But I found it valuable - it gave me a chance to wander around the school and meet people.
The meeting seemed very positive to me for two reasons
(a) around 20 to 30 people showed up, and the committee considered this a low turnout
(b) they openly challenged the management committee about embezzlement of funds. They observed that the school had received over 2 million Kenyan Shillings (c 120KES = 1 GBP - this is quite a lot of money) in donations, and wanted to know where the money had gone. Having had problems with embezzlement from a previous headmaster, this is a reasonable question. But more importantly, I see that the community cares about the school.
I addressed the community at this meeting, and explained my role. I asked them whether they would like accountability and transparency in the school's finances. Needless to say, I had waited until after I knew what all their questions were, so I already knew that the answer was yes. I explained to the community that I will do everything I can to help achieve this, but if it happens, it will be because of the hard work of Joseph (finance worker), George (treasurer), and Charles (chairman), naming them and indicating them visually. As I paced the stage of the shady grove where the meeting took place, I saw the pleasure in the eyes of the people as I said this, and the delayed reaction from those who didn't speak English and waited for the Luo translation; and when I got the applause and cheering, I knew I was hitting the right notes. The community were clearly happy.
I feel good now - I have deepened my understanding of how people relate to each other in this part of the world, and used that understanding to set and agree priorities with the key staff in a way that will clearly engage and motivate them. To achieve this so quickly at home would be hard, but the open communication culture here has made it quick, easy and efficient.
Looks like you're making steady progress Sanjay... well done for all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteApeksha