How do I sum up a 5-day workshop with our Secondary students?  Well…honestly it is probably not possible, but I will sure do my best!  First, an introduction to the concept of the RENEW workshop and how it came to be.  Reintroducing some familiar faces: Adam Rubin and Uswege Mwakapango!  Adam is my predecessor as Full Circle Director and Uswege is a long time volunteer and supporter of Full Circle.  They have come together to create a life skills education program called RENEW (Recycle, Educate, Nurture, Empower, Wear) which involves an intensive workshop on life skills and community development projects, creating t-shirts, and then the development of a school club.

So, last Monday, Adam, Uswege, and I opened up my home for the first ever RENEW Workshop for Usa River Academy Secondary TFFT Students who were out on break.  As it is the rainy season, Monday, of course, began with a LOT of rain.  As the poor, wet students wandered in, they were greeted by a far less gloomy atmosphere of music, posters, and chai to get us started!

Monday through Friday we covered a host of topics including: leadership, self-respect, goal setting, decision-making, communication, gender, and community involvement. As my living room wall slowly went from blank to covered in multiple layers of posters, you could see our progress and learning.  Utilizing music, videos, drawing, games, and group discussions, the workshop was as fun as it was educational! Sounds pretty great, doesn’t it?  Well it was pretty great! So great that I think us facilitators got just as much out of it as the scholars did. As much as I could talk and talk and talk about what WE talked about, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let the pictures, along with quotes from the students, tell the most important parts of the workshop!

Which topic do you learn the most about?

Dickson: Gender. Because in our traditions and customs we don’t respect women and we think that women have nothing to contribute in helping and building the nation and because I got this education I will teach other people in my community that even women can do it if they are empowered.

How do you think you can use the things you learned in the workshop to bring change to the community and to the world?

Nancy:

-       Visiting rural areas and give them training about Gender Equality.

-       Teach people about Positive Communication Skills.

-       Prepare programs to teach people about all the things that am taught in the workshop for the betterment of their futures.

Eliupendo: I think I can use things I learned in the workshop to bring the change to the community and the world by showing/sharing what I have learned and showing them example through myself.

Dickson: The things I learned I can 100% use to bring changes in my community, first of all I will teach other community members about gender equality.

 Why did you come to the RENEW Workshop?

Eliopendo: I think I’m going to learn things here which will help me to gain something I didn’t have before I came here. It will give me confidence.

Irene: We are all human beings, and we all face problems in our lives. Using the life skills I’m gaining here, I will be able to conquer those problems.

Nicemary: The things in this workshop relate to real life. I can apply them everyday in my life. I wish the workshop would be more than one week, and could last even one year.

What is the difference between how you learn in the RENEW Workshop and how you are learning at school?

Nancy:

-       For me, the workshop helped me to develop goals and dreams, but I’m really going to apply skills in Communication, because I’m poor in Communication. From now, I’m going to try to change that in myself.

-       We are free to share ideas, knowing that it is not going to be correct or incorrect. If I’m incorrect, you’re going to help me understand in a positive way. Here, we can say anything and have the chance to express ourselves.

Happy: At school we only focus on studies, then I came here and I can learn about life skills, which in general I can apply in my life. At school they are just teaching us to pass exams. What if we fail Form 4 exams? With this workshop I came to learn that failing Form 4 exams is not failing in life. What we learn have allows us to choose what we’re going to decide to do if we do fail and face those challenges. With what I learned here I can still do anything in the world.

With the knowledge I’m gaining from this workshop, even if I will face any discouragement I will know how to handle it. I will never let anybody discourage me. Now I know how to treat other people, and I will encourage other people.