I recommend biting off more than you can chew
"I liked talking about being made in the image of the Creator"
"I didn't like that it is so hot in this room"
"I liked tracing the causes of extramarital sex and drug use in our community"
"I didn't like that the AIDS manual you gave us has incomplete sentences and broken Bangla"
"I liked learning about stigma through games"
"I didn't like learning about stigma through games."
These are some of the answers I got in response to the first day evaluation of the workshop I conducted last week. All 40 staff of Expectations, one of the Committee's partner organizations, participated in the 3 day workshop about HIV & AIDS awareness and prevention. Together we explored what it means to be made in the image of the Creator (a term acceptable to Hindus and Muslims as well as Christians), before getting into what is HIV, how does it spread, why does it spread and what we, as an organization, can do about it.
I love presenting new ideas and watching the participants struggle to apply new content to their situations. Though I can tell them statistics of how many people engage in a particular behavior, they know firsthand why there is so much extramarital sex and drug use in their communities. With a few exercises I can guide them to express this knowledge, than figure out how to help people change their behaviors.
These workshops always stretch my Bangla abilities past the realm of my knowledge and into that gray space where I'm quite sure I know what the participants are saying, but I'm not sure if they are understanding the messages I am trying to share. I am always grateful when the teaching-intensive first day is done and we move on to more participatory activities in the last few days.
By afternoon of the third day my voice is hoarse and my brain will no longer compose even simple Bangla sentences. The participants are restless and everyone wants to be done. Next week I am conducting a 5 day workshop on Advaced AIDS prevention and Reproductive Health. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed, but I'll find out what happens when I sign up for much more than I'm able to do, instead of these merely slightly over my head experiences I've been doing for the last year.
When it comes time for evaluation and closing I am always rushed. I hand out the certificates of attendance and finish my final words at 5:00 on the dot. Then the Director comes up and says a "few words". Then he invited a few participants up to say a few words. Then the resource coordinator gives me a gift, a new set of clothes, as a thank you, then I am invited to say a few words, then it's the director's turn again. No one is rushed about it, everyone (except me) stops looking at their watches and participates fully in this closing ceremony. It happens every time - I forget that after my time-bound western workshops it takes a full hour to close the workshop in that relationship emphasizing non-western way.
"I didn't like that it is so hot in this room"
"I liked tracing the causes of extramarital sex and drug use in our community"
"I didn't like that the AIDS manual you gave us has incomplete sentences and broken Bangla"
"I liked learning about stigma through games"
"I didn't like learning about stigma through games."
These are some of the answers I got in response to the first day evaluation of the workshop I conducted last week. All 40 staff of Expectations, one of the Committee's partner organizations, participated in the 3 day workshop about HIV & AIDS awareness and prevention. Together we explored what it means to be made in the image of the Creator (a term acceptable to Hindus and Muslims as well as Christians), before getting into what is HIV, how does it spread, why does it spread and what we, as an organization, can do about it.I love presenting new ideas and watching the participants struggle to apply new content to their situations. Though I can tell them statistics of how many people engage in a particular behavior, they know firsthand why there is so much extramarital sex and drug use in their communities. With a few exercises I can guide them to express this knowledge, than figure out how to help people change their behaviors.
These workshops always stretch my Bangla abilities past the realm of my knowledge and into that gray space where I'm quite sure I know what the participants are saying, but I'm not sure if they are understanding the messages I am trying to share. I am always grateful when the teaching-intensive first day is done and we move on to more participatory activities in the last few days. By afternoon of the third day my voice is hoarse and my brain will no longer compose even simple Bangla sentences. The participants are restless and everyone wants to be done. Next week I am conducting a 5 day workshop on Advaced AIDS prevention and Reproductive Health. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I agreed, but I'll find out what happens when I sign up for much more than I'm able to do, instead of these merely slightly over my head experiences I've been doing for the last year.
When it comes time for evaluation and closing I am always rushed. I hand out the certificates of attendance and finish my final words at 5:00 on the dot. Then the Director comes up and says a "few words". Then he invited a few participants up to say a few words. Then the resource coordinator gives me a gift, a new set of clothes, as a thank you, then I am invited to say a few words, then it's the director's turn again. No one is rushed about it, everyone (except me) stops looking at their watches and participates fully in this closing ceremony. It happens every time - I forget that after my time-bound western workshops it takes a full hour to close the workshop in that relationship emphasizing non-western way.
3 Comments:
Wow, interesting. Well, maybe you should start your final words at 4pm ;) Harsh comment on your Bangla... do you have someone to copy-edit your writing? Some native Bangla speaker? (J)
Some of it gets copy edited, but for most of it "no-one has time" and "It's your (read Alana's) job."
I say they deserve the crap copy if no one will help me make a good copy. There is lots of frustration on that point. But oh, well.
Ok, sucks. Well, first of all, I'm sure it's not crap! Camon! Second, seems the material will be more valuable as a whole (read re-usable) if the language is accurate and sharp. But maybe, it's just meant for the workshop and not for later on? (J)
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