Thoughts of a minibus traveller

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  Evaluations are done for different reasons (apart from satisfying the organisers/donors ) and could be useful to the organisers and the facilitator. During the session, the facilitator should be constantly evaluating each segment to see if the specific objectives of each segments are being met, and changing tactics if necessary. If the session is over more than one day, it is good to do an evaluation at the end of the day. The final evaluation of the session should answer the following questions :- Do the participants feel that the session met its objectives? How was the process? What worked? What should have been done differently? Was the content enough to meet the objectives? What did the participants learn? What are some of the follow up actions? These are some ways to evaluate a session :- Use a case study/role play simulation to check on the knowledge ...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  Images edited from http://www.openclipart.org A facilitator could use technology to present information and to record and report proceedings from a group discussion. The following technologies are most used  - sometimes together :- Black board and chalk - coloured chalk is good White board and markers - many colours Flip chart/Newsprint and markers and tape to paste the flip chart paper Multimedia Projector/laptop and screen, with speakers to show video Microphones (A note about newsprint : I find that I restrict myself when using the expensive flip chart pads with the lovely white paper. I prefer to use newsprint - made out of recycled paper and usually available at much lower cost  ) The facilitator should choose technology which is easy to use and which suits the room and the number of persons. These are some random thoughts about the technolog...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  Image edited from http://www.openclipart.com " There should have been more games to liven things up" (Young person)  "The best part for me was the games" "There was too much group work " "I am surprised that I did not fall asleep, I usually fall asleep during these workshops" "The session was not as hot as the previous one " People express boredom and their lack of interest in the discussion in different ways. I think a facilitator should empathise with any person who seems bored or distracted. When I am bored or distracted in a session, I tend to day dream. I tune out of the proceedings. I might ask for an excuse to leave the room and go for a stretch. I read the handouts, or sometimes engage in side conversations. I sometimes will nod to pretend I am engaged. Out of politeness, I will fix my eyes on the spe...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  Images from http://www.openclipart.com A facilitator who does health promotion sessions noted the irony of doing the sessions when the food which was served was not what she considered healthy. As a result, she started to make recommendations for the menu. Another facilitator has some recipes for the kind of coffee break food she recommends ' high energy, low sugar, low fat '. In Guyana, lunch can be on the heavy side of carbohydrates. Some persons could be inclined to doze off during the afternoon sessions. A facilitator usually does not have to get into the logistics of the catering and food arrangements. However, schedules would have to be adjusted if the food is late. Participants could also feel dissatisfied if the food is not satisfactory. It is important to check on dietary requirements before a session starts. Not every organiser does this so the facili...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  "We did not have enough time.. " One of the indicators that people are enjoying a session is the realisation that time has run out, and people agreeing to extend the time. The facilitator is responsible for keeping time. It is good to calculate the time for each activity during the planning. I use the following guides :- Introductions - 10 minutes for any preparation/ice breaking activity and 30 to 40 seconds per person to speak. Buzz Groups - 5 minutes with 2 minutes per group for feedback Vignettes - 10 minutes  with 3 minutes per group for feedback Case Study analysis - 15 minutes, with 3 to 5 minutes per group for feedback Other group activity - 20 minutes to 30 minutes, with a 15 minutes for plenary Role play simulations - 15 to 20 minutes to prepare,  5 minutes per group Closing evaluation , verbal feedback - 1 minute per person Specific pres...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation Listening model learned from http://www.barefootguide.org Listening is half of communication and successful facilitators practice good listening skills. Listening is probably the most difficult part of facilitation. Good listening skills are usually taught to counsellors and others who are doing therapeutic practice.  Listening requires practice. The Barefoot Guide Connection suggests a model in which listening is done at three levels. (The detailed reading is available here or here ) "Listening for the Head" - the Thinking Level - to thoughts, facts, concepts, arguments, ideas and the principles behind these "Listening for the Heart" - the Feeling Level - to feelings, emotions, mood, experience and the values behind these. " Listening for the Feet" - the Will Level - to intentions, energy, direction, motivation...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  I have a memory of facing an assembly of children . The children were very well behaved and polite. I was given an hour to talk about domestic violence (I thought I had 15 minutes). I thought of asking questions and inviting responses. Every question was greeted with polite smiling faces. I moved into lecture mode and delivered a 'talk' which received polite applause at the end. The organisers asked for a review meeting that evening 'to find out what had gone wrong'... A facilitator has to create the environment for equal participation from all the persons - through talking or other forms of expression. One common thread of positive evaluation is when the participants felt that they had good interactions and their contributions were valued. Some of the ways to create an environment for good interaction are :- Establishing a participation contract at th...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  ( Image from http://freedesignfile.com/11995-playing-children-cartoon-vector-set-04/ ) "They really should not have children in the workshop. If so, they should be fed as well” evaluation comment There are some kinds of sessions (including classes) in which the participants have to bring the small children in their care.  I have a memory of an lifting up a child and running a session for about 20 minutes until the child fell asleep. The small child was bored and his mother put him down to walk around. I was facilitating and he came to me and started pulling at my shirt and raising his hands.  I am not 'good' with children but still lifted him and then he fell asleep. His parents kept smiling at me. I have had to decide not to use a video during a training session because small children were present.  In a human right session, the time when a parent start...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation. There are different ways to get to know the people in the group you will be facilitating. A perfect session would have enough time for introductions . There might be cases where the number would be too large and the time would run out soon after the introductions. It is good to think about why you want to know the people in the group and what you want to know about them.  Introductions help to :- get people to talk - and to animate a room. People also get to know each other a bit so that limits the fear of speaking in front of 'strangers'. allow the facilitator to learn who is in the room and get an idea of the experience and interest about a topic give the facilitator some idea of who might have interesting perspectives on a topic. A recent workshop on gender equality for example had two participants who worked in exclusively female oriented and male oriented  ...

The NIS Inspector said "Sorry sir, we cannot reduce your assessed earnings without you having the tax assessment, etc". He saw my kind of stunned face and said "You know, why are you reducing it? You should have faith , and reduce the negatives" There were a set of Congrats on the 6th Anniversary of the 'Independent Consultancy/Contractor' job which I had put on my LinkedIn profile .  I had made a choice to leave a job with guaranteed salary for another contractor type position which the expired suddenly.  The shift to being 'self employed' which is sometimes a euphemism for 'unemployed and looking for wuk' was brutal . I have not made the adjustment as yet - as personal circumstances have taken up some of the planning time. While the initial intention was to hold on the 'self employed independent thing' , that has changed since flexible hours are needed to respond to adhoc personal demands. The 'Congrats' messages...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  "Vidya's appearance was a disgrace. He should comb his hair, shave , put his shirt in his pants. He is no representative for Hindus..,. and it distracted from what he had to say" Participant's evaluation comment "Vidya was good but he should pay attention to his dress" Another evaluation comment at the same session What to wear? Sunday afternoon domestic violence training. The facilitator, an experienced social worker , in Church clothes. She then takes off her shoes and says.. Good Afternoon, I look forward to the session, I am taking off my shoes because I am more comfortable barefoot" A lesson learned early on in facilitating work is that in Guyana and the Caribbean impressions are formed by dress. Dress too much and there is a barrier and dress too little there is another kind of barrier formed. And so I go through in my...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation.  "Plan and prepare well and then surrender to the moment, knowing that it is a learning experience for both you and the participants" Rolinda Kirton There are different ways to plan for any kind of session (workshop, discussion, etc).  The following questions in my experience guide the planning :- Why is the session being held? What can we assume about the people who are coming to the session? What do we know about the age group, ability, literacy level and  prior knowledge of the topic or issues? What are the prerequisites for persons to participate in the session? How many persons are expected to attend? What are the objectives (learning objectives if an orientation or training session) and expected outcomes of the session? How much time is available for the session? What resources are available - budget, equipment etc ? What kind of activities will...

Brief morning light to start a day, or repeat a cycle Bus man pull up. Driver alone. Heading to Mon Repos market. I jump in front. Murti on de dashboard and flowers.  My mood lil weird and I friken fuh talk. Is until we reach UG I try a ting.. how de wuk, yuh just start? He seh yeah.. trip and half, is january, road dead. He seh stabroek good fuh buy greens .. early in de morning. Don't worry wid Mon Repos.. I agree. He supsin as we pass. We pass Starlite..  a girl come out but she not going . "She sister deh wid a blackman'..  I cringe.. I not able wid dis. I seh.. well he mussee good. He seh.. you gun see how election deh , how dem face gun lang lang. I seh, whuh yuh wan' black people fuh do?  And Look how de AG behave, ..he want kill Kaiteur? Bus man seh.. nah.. you aint hear de AG seh dat provocation does bring violence. .. you aint listen what de man seh.. I seh "man, but dat is de biggest lawyer in de country'.. he seh me aint want blackm...

Uncle Raghu asked where I will be singing to plant Holika. Struggled to find words to explain that I didn't feel like chowtaal.. trying to avoid PPP politics this season and also just trying to avoid people and having to focus and think.  A cuss up in the minibus and then also another bad communication with a lady about skin lightening in my head and I am thinking I need to shut up. Day before with a whole set of things to do and just staring at recipes for cakes on the internet and praises to the friend who brought doughnuts with cream which were eaten because the body enjoyed a good yoga routine.  Battling the urge to keep wishing that I could just switch off and fade away (I am not suicidal ) because of all the back and forth conversations in my head while not managing all the changes which are happening. Mental health management.. reading about the young man who survived rape who cannot say yes or no to whether he wants his brains fried so he could talk and wonde...

My ballot paper.. The young man told me he resigned from the PPP recently. We both agreed that if we had the chance, we would leave Guyana.  I am not sure which place I would want to go, but someplace where garbage is not an indicator of development and progress. We both agreed that while we were here we had to find a way to live in the place. We both agreed we not voting in 2015 (well he said he still not sure, but like many coolie people I suspect they will choose not to vote again rather than vote for anybody else, black or coolie ). Another woman who want to leave Guyana send a text to ask her friend who she hope will help her leave.. to support the PPP in May 2015. A lot of people believe that elections bring change. In Guyana, though.. in 1992 and so on.. the changes were not made and we have a Government which is not accountable and no Constitutional mechanism to hold any 'elected' leader accountable especially to those who did not vote for that leader. El...

This blog is one of a series of Facilitation Thoughts which look at various aspects of facilitation. What makes a good facilitator? Different people have different styles and some qualities are needed more in certain settings. A good facilitator has to communicate well. It sounds cliche, but the ability to speak clearly AND to listen well are important. Speaking clearly which means using words which the participants would understand and listening which reflects what is being said. In Guyana, creolese should be freely used and accepted in most parts of the coast.  Juliet Solomon worked as a community facilitator in Guyana's hinterland and noted that 'creole' is not often spoken there. Some of the other characteristics are described here. Empathy Empathy is demonstrated in understanding that people have different experiences and ideas. Some sessions are organised, eg domestic violence, child abuse prevention, to change behaviours and ideas, and empathy helps...

Hardware Freedom Day(HFD)  is a day set aside to promote Open Hardware. According to the HFD website :- For some Open Hardware is a logical evolution of the Free Software philosophy applied to physical stuff, where both code and design blueprints co-exist. However no one can deny that humankind has evolved through a DIY and hack & share-it culture until patents prevented us to do so. Hardware in our definition is used in its full meaning and covers not only electronic products but also stuff which do not run code such as furnitures and any "low tech" physical object you can think of. For the scope of Hardware Freedom Day Open Hardware is a term used to describe physical objects which design is created and shared publicly without restriction, allowing people to modify, improve and redistribute their contributions. The design includes drawings, blueprints, software code that may be running in the device or used to generate some of its parts or d...

Mind in a mess the last few days. Over indulgence in ice cream and crunchy junk solve the problem temporarily Trying to figure out sweetness. They say nothing is permanent - joy sorrow.. but the flipping joints which can't move with jarring the brain seem to be very very permanent. Nuff cures.. diclofenac works for a few days.. hole in the stomach though. Honey and Cinammon some say.. and then there is tumeric. Mark Jacobs makes trouble and also grows and grinds the tumeric . Fromhttp://markjacobs.co/2014/08/07/tumeric-powder-made-in-guyana-take-2/ I make a cup of tea.. (tea imported, milk imported).. with the tumeric and the mangrove honey. No sugar.. thinking that this is going to be a nice healing cup of something. Probably not put tea or find some lemon grass or something. A cup in the hands.. taste is nice.. I aint know if the or when the tumeric gun wuk but it wouldn't kill.. and the power of the powder.. is like a lil kunchy bit in de cup of hot ...

The Guyana National Youth Council  hosted a discussion event ' Conversations with Professor Danny Shaw - On Movements, Advocacy and Activism' at the Georgetown Club - Monday 12 Jan, 2015. I was curious as Professor Shaw's bio did not seem to be a man who would be encouraged by any of the donors. I was cautious though, because I not young . I know that these conversations could be dominated by people who like nuff talking. Nuff people come. One of organisers said they did not expect that amount. Two others kept muttering and grumbling about how they would not have come if it was not for the white man professor (my words.. they said 'guest' ). I thought maybe Georgetown Club was a nice safe space..rather than the streets for a protest. People dress up nice. I know why I aint see nuff of dese people before.. I does deh in some of dem protest pun de road and I doan really deh in youth forum and dem nice sounding ting. One of the girls did say that she is pol...