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What an amazing day with the community leaders of Kakamega.
There were representatives from health care, education, the legal community and local and national government.
The day began with the guests arriving in the morning and receiving a name tag, notebook, a pen and a handout about the EVE team.
Our MC for the day was Fredrick and he helped with the flow of the day. The day was opened with introductions from the guests and then the EVE team.
Debbie gave a wonderful talk about the history of the EVE team and the impact interpersonal violence has in our communities.
Next we outlined the plan for the day and Ashley read out the EVE team vision statement which states: We envision a world where violence is not considered commonplace. We do this by engaging people in discussions, to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and find solutions. This statement guided us as we went through the day.
I reviewed the types of violence which are physical, emotional, sexual abuse/violence and human trafficking.
Angela gave an insightful talk about the cycle of violence and the impact violence has on families.
Then the brainstorming sessions began!
The participants were asked to identify the current concerns in their communities. From this the participants then picked the top 3 concerns to be discussed in the next session after the refreshment break,which was delicious!
After the break the participants broke off into 3 groups. Group 1 reviewed the impact of social media, group 2 reviewed unemployment and group 3 reviewed poverty. The groups had rich discussions about their topics and how it relates to interpersonal violence. Next one member of the group presented to the whole group about their concerns and possible solutions. There were many questions and conversations with the whole group. During this part of the day a huge thunderstorm happened and the power went out!
After lunch the groups worked on solutions and to break down the steps on how to reach the solutions realistically. Group 1 and 2 were able to present their solutions to the larger group and then we ran out of time for group 3 to do their presentation. Luckily we have tomorrow to continue the leadership training day.
The end of the day brought my thoughts back to the Vision statement and how the day meet the words of the Vision statement.
The day was filled with respect, openness, deep and insightful discussions about violence and how violence impacts our communities.
I am looking forward to day 2 of leadership training with the wonderful community leaders and my inspiring EVE team members.
