As well as being a member of the steering committee I was also chosen to be a barazza leader during the conference. Along with 80 other students I will be involved in a number of discussions and trainings to help prepare us for the barazza groups we will have to lead during the conference. ‘Barazza’ is a Kenyan word meaning all on the same level. The point of barazza groups is to have a discussion in which everyone’s opinion is equal. What this activity involved was to have barazza training on Thursday’s after school and on some weekends. We also went to the IDEALS centre on Koh Chang to have a barazza training week with Justin Bedard from the JUMP! Foundation.
OBJECTIVES
My objectives for this activity were to improve my barazza group leading skills, as we have done them in school before but I am always struggling to keep the discussion going. I also wanted to learn how to make sure everyone feels comfortable enough to share their opinion and to learn some fun and effective ice breakers that I can use during the conference.
WHAT I DID
During the sessions after school and during weekends we were presented with a stimulus, such as a speech or film. Then we had to split into groups and a barazza partner pair was chosen at random to lead the discussion. I was chosen to lead a discussion twice with my barazza partner. After our first lead discussion some of the gap staff gave us feedback on what we could do to improve, such as asking people to apply the issue to issues they may know of in their own country. The second time we lead the discussion we did this and it really got the discussion going, so I will definitely use this in the conference barazza sessions.
WORKING WITH THE JUMP! FOUNDATION
Towards the end of the year all the barazza leaders went to Koh Chang for a week. Unfortunately, the year 11s had examinations and could not participate in the training. However, to make sure that they did not miss out we passed on the techniques and ice breakers we learnt during a Saturday barazza training session. The training sessions with Justin Bedard and his JUMP! Team really taught me a lot. I learnt that in order to have a successful barazza session you do not ‘lead’ but you ‘facilitate’. This means that you provide them with a basis but they should feel as though it is their discussion. We also learnt many fun and useful ice breakers as well as participating in activities involving communication. Participating in these activities with the steering committee as well as the barazza leaders really bonded everyone together because we all had to communicate and work together. I think it was great that this happened because to have a successful conference we need everyone to be involved and for this to happen they need to feel part of the team.
CHALLENGES
One difficulty that we encountered during the week was that people became tired after so many hours of intense training. To solve some steering committee members Including myself, as well as the JUMP! Staff ran some energizers that they taught us. They were very fun and high energy activities and afterwards everyone was really excited to get right back into it, so it was definitely successful.
WHAT I LEARNT
I definitely reached my objectives because after so much training when I was asked to facilitate a discussion near the end of the week it ran very smoothly. Everyone was comfortable after having done a fun ice breaker and they were all eager to share their opinions. I will definitely use all the skills and tools I have learnt when I facilitate barazza groups during the conference.
The JUMP! Foundation : http://www.jumpfoundation.org/
The JUMP! Foundation facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-JUMP-Foundation/55717525543
No comments:
Post a Comment