Tenteleni Project Coordinator Training Weekend 2011

The Tenteleni Project Coordinator Training Weekend 2011

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Friday

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It was a mid March Friday evening after long weeks, respectively, when Tenteleni and newly recruited project coordinators converged on the large house of one generous committee member to embark on a weekend of PC training. After being a Tenteleni volunteer last summer I am new to the committee this year myself and, much like the group of PCs perched tentatively around the room, on my arrival at the house I had little idea of what to expect from the weekend. The training weekend is held every year before the volunteer training and is a chance for the PCs to get involved in sessions facilitated by the committee, board and even themselves; it’s a chance for them to learn a lot more about Tenteleni, to meet the committee and other PCs, to share ideas, worries and generally prepare themselves to undertake their coordinator role within the charity over the summer to come.

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After rounds of introductions, and of course standard Tenteleni get-to-know-your-partner- style ‘ice-breakers’, Tom Wells from the board of trustees gave a short speech about what Tenteleni means to him. Highlighting that Tenteleni started off in South Africa and grew within the country from the passion of UK volunteers and partners with whom we work. He then stressed, something which had not occurred to me before- that Tenteleni then moved up into other countries, such as Kenya where our Shiriki programme came to life, and subsequently Shiriki has travelled back down the continent and our volunteers take part in the Shiriki programme in South Africa as well. For me this encapsulates the key ideas that make up Tenteleni, that by sharing ideas and experiences we can learn from each other and that we can be links to that help pass those ideas around.

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So feeling inspired and energetic about why we were all there in that large house for the weekend (and with a couple of new ice breakers under our hats) we set about a group dinner, a great time to relax, get to know each other and get a rest before the hard work to come!

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Saturday

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Saturday began bright and early with computer club, sorry did I say computer club, I meant very serious and important finance session obviously; but looking in on all 10 PCs sat around the kitchen table with laptops out one could easily have been confused. This was perhaps not the most exciting session of the weekend but certainly involved extremely relevant skills to acquire to be able to keep to strict project budgets.

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One of the key aims of the training weekend is for PCs to come away understanding what is expected of them in their role- cue the ‘What is the PC role?’ session. Obviously coordinating a group of volunteers who are undertaking their Tenteleni projects entails a great deal of responsibility. The PC role is demanding and coordinators will have to undertake not only finance management but team training, be the ones who sustain relationships with our partners, perhaps research new projects, as well as be the point of contact and support for volunteers who may be away from home in a developing country for the first time. However equally important is for the PCs to learn what is NOT expected of them and what they do not have to cope with. Committee member Helen Jordan highlighted to the group that sometimes volunteers can expect PCs to be super human and deal with all their problems but that is not the case and not their role, ultimately volunteers are responsible for themselves on project- which I imagine put some of the PCs worries to rest!

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After a well needed lunch break a few more active and energetic sessions took place; one a favourite of the group being the ‘Nightmare Volunteer Session’. As PCs will be the first point of contact on project for their volunteers, they will also be, in part, responsible for guiding their volunteers’ behaviour. In pairs this session allowed the PCs to act out, in very charades-esque fashion, how their ‘nightmare volunteer’ would behave and discuss how they would deal with them.

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The pairs boasted some hilariously lazy, uncommunicative and culturally insensitive volunteers, but most importantly this kind of interactive session let the PCs learn some great ways to train their own volunteers on project. In week one of all projects PCs facilitate in country training for their own volunteer group and partaking in this type of energetic and inventive training themselves allows the PCs to naturally pick up methods and tips as not all PCs have ever had experience of facilitating such activities.

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Next was onto the Shiriki programme Tenteleni runs within some of the projects. Held outside for a breath of fresh air the session was preceded by a relay race across the lawn to get the juices flowing again and wake up those of us suffering mid afternoon fatigue.       Shiriki means ‘Partnership’ in Swahili and is, on some projects, where Tenteleni has formed an on going relationship with a local organisation and our volunteers have a chance to spend their project working alongside young volunteers from the local area. Not all projects have the Shiriki programme running within them but the session got everyone involved; as part of the PC role can be to research new relationships Tenteleni can embark on some PCs may be in the position of aiming to find organisations who may want to work with Tenteleni in future years. So the session was appreciated by all.

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After some tea and biscuits a health and safety session began, facilitated by Caludia, another member of the board of trustees. Although not the most exciting of sessions again PCs highlighted afterwards that learning about specific scenarios that had happened on previous project made them feel more comfortable about dealing with any situations that may arise.

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Post health and safety the PCs, committee and board members alike were all glad to learn it was dinner time and settle down for a bit of relaxation after a hard days work. To this I must add that when I joined the Tenteleni committee concocting spaghetti bolognese with the online content officer, Sarah, for about 20 people was not specified in my role outline and not something I immediately expected; but that’s why I love still being involved in Tenteleni, constantly being surprised and constantly learning from other members of the team- who knew nutmeg was a key ingredient?!

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After dinner came the part of the weekend I had been looking forward to, the chance for PCs to give presentations relaying their new knowledge of Tenteleni. Now I know what you’re thinking- the word ‘presentations’ for me brings to mind University seminar power points filled with dreary bullet point after dreary bullet point and someone babbling so much that you forget what your own name is. But these presentations had to be true Tenteleni style- each group was given a theme to present theirs in- Blind date, X factor, The Oscars and Ready Steady Cook among them. I highly recommend you view them on the soon to be Tenteleni You Tube channel, however I apologise about the jittery camera- there was way to much laughing going on to hold a camera still. The X factor Tenteleni rap being source of much amusement at the end of a long day!

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Sunday

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With everyone digging into the last of their energy reserves for the final day of training this day was orientated to be project specific so that PCs could learn about their individual projects where they would be putting all of this new knowledge about Tenteleni and their role as part of it into real action!

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As Tenteleni aims to be as sustainable in its approach to working as possible this year the previous years PCs from projects travelled to the training so as to pass on specific knowledge and guidance about their projects. This also meant that the new PCs would have more accurate information in terms of how to progress the projects and also in general ask any project specific questions and discuss worries. If you have ever been around anyone who has come off a Tenteleni project when they talk about it, it’s hard for their excitement and passion not to be infectious- especially if you are to spend your next summer in the same place! So it was also a chance for the new PCs to get even more excited about the projects they will be helping to coordinate.

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There was also a very special presentation about project management from Joana, an external speaker and lecturer in project management from UCL. She talked about the project being like a friend, which PCs inherit from last year's PC and hand over to next year's. She displayed ‘the project’ as something we have to look after and to nurture the friendship. It was brilliant that this was interspersed with project-specific sessions discussing how to put this theory into practice within each project and was another interesting and lively take on something (‘project management’) that could sound quite dry and clinical to new ears.
After lunch there was another interactive session to enable PCs to get to grips with difficult situations and brain storm how to handle them on project. In this ‘Hot Seat’ exercise Claudia (trustee) and Helen (Project manager) did a fantastic job pretending to be the nightmare in-country partner that the PC has to go and talk to. PCs had to take it in turns to talk to her, thinking carefully about how to manage difficult conversations and make language clear.
               A final highlight of the day was, you guessed it, another ice-breaker- The Porridge Ice Breaker- Where we learnt how to make porridge with every body part, bellowing out "One day, my mama say, let's make PORRIDGE", and got very out of breath in the process!

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And so with very tired eyes, not to mention limbs and brains everyone clambered into cars and taxis back to their far flung corners of England- special mention to Laughlan who came all the way from Scottland on a 10 hour bus journey- which ironically enough is longer than it will actually take him to fly out to his project country in the summer! That’s some real Tenteleni commitment for you right there from the beginning. But I just used two important words that for me sum up the weekend: everyone and commitment.
               From my perspective as a new member of the committee it was really inspiring and impressive just how much everyone did get involved and how the weekend was such a mix of people. There were new PCs who had been connected to Tenteleni before (either as volunteers or on the committee or through friends), there were new PCs who had only heard of Tenteleni a few weeks previously. There were long standing committee members and newer committee member as well as members of the board of trustees, whom to be honest I had not expected to see at such an event. There were professional external speakers giving their skills and precious time for free, and there were past PCs, a whole year after their projects, still willing to come all the way down to training, (not to mention the two house cats giving everyone a bit of love).
               That level of commitment from such a diverse range of people really encapsulates what the weekend is about and hopefully gave the new PCs a clear impression of Tenteleni as a whole- Everyone together sharing ideas and imparting skills and knowledge, and that includes the new PCs sharing their ideas and worries surrounding the summer ahead with each other. A  range of people bringing a real level of enthusiasm and commitment to a project year that’s just starting to come to fruition is incredible and one of the main reasons I love Tenteleni, and that will hopefully mean the new PCs do now as well.

March 30, 2011 at 8:38 pm | Training and Preparation | No comment