Kikao

by Peter McTiernan, Kesho Leo Project Manager

Organising a meeting (kikao in Swahili) for all staff members and residents of Kesho Leo is not an easy thing. Askaris’ work nights, Teachers’ work mornings, and Mudi, the Kesho Leo Manager, seems to work all the time.

The meeting was first discussed at the 2010 foodwatershelter Annual General Meeting before I left. When we were discussing it in Australia I loved the idea, however by the time I got here I had a little trepidation as you wonder if things like that translate culturally.

Mudi (Kesho Leo Manager) showed a lot of excitement when I raised the idea to him so most of my trepidation disappeared.

Slowly we prepared for the event, translating the goals into Swahili and speaking with different staff members about the goals they were going to discuss.

On the day the lunch went well, however lunch begin to drag out as we waited for all the staff to arrive (1pm sharp can be quite a while later when running on Africa time). The mood had started to drop and as Mudi began the meeting both he and I had a feeling that the attention from the crowd was not what we had hoped.

Certainly all my trepidation regarding the meeting had returned in that moment, you cannot make people listen if they are not interested. Luckily, just like any other speech, as Mudi got further in he started to ad lib and the crowd turned their attention to what turned out to be a fascinating meeting for the staff.

Many staff members have commented that they learnt lots of things about foodwatershelter that they never knew.

Lucy Dismas had a great suggestion that every employee go around the table and introduce themselves. It proved to be a great idea as it was a fantastic way to break the ice between employees who had never met.

To see staff members show their talents in public speaking and have staff members make fantastic suggestions like Lucy made my - and all the volunteers’ - day. Foodwatershetler has always focused on facilitating Tanzanians to run Kesho Leo and a day like Friday showed the fruits of all our labour. I literally could not stop smiling as I sat and tried to decifer as much Swahili as possible.