GIN & Golden Hearts Workshops

On Saturday, November 9th, we had the GIN and Golden Hearts Workshops. These went on from about 8:30 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, and consisted of numerous games, presentations and activities that revolved around awareness regarding global issues and increased motivation to make change. I felt like this meeting actually inspired me a great deal, urging me to start up my own project and speak out for what I believe is right and just.

The circle - Tito talks to us all

The day started off with the two groups meeting in Mrs Lavender's room and introducing ourselves. The leader of Golden Hearts was Tito, a young man who brought life into everything we did. Whenever someone spoke up about what they were doing or thinking he would make them go "ka-ching!" afterwards, and the group would have to point at them and say "ROCK STAR!" I thought that this was a really nice way of motivating everyone and making us feel good about what we've accomplished, even though it was a little cheesy!

We played some ice breaker games (one called 'fruit basket', which was a little like musical chairs, and another called 'mingle mingle', where we had to form groups of certain numbers), and then sat in a circle and shared what we were currently working on. The Golden Hearts members amazed me, they were not from the most well off families or schools but were so passionate about everything that they were doing. They never stopped smiling, and I could tell that this wasn't about CAS for them - they had a genuine urge to make a difference. I know that I have this same earnest hope within myself, and I hope that I can start doing things as impressive as they are. For instance, one boy had gone back to his village and started up volleyball and football games, etc, as a means of raising funds to plant trees and conserve the environment. He is only 17, and seems well beyond his years in terms of awareness and enlightenment.

Challenges poster 

After the discussion was over we split into four groups and were given poster paper and pens to record our thoughts on various topics. We were told to discuss what success is, and what challenges us (in terms of stepping out and taking action). We also had to think about the pros and cons of our work in GIN (plus and delta). I think that this was really useful for us, as I've never particularly thought about what success is to me, and why I haven't been doing as much as I'd really like to. Not only did it allow me to gain a fresh perspective on how I'm approaching global issues and change today, but it also gave me the opportunity to connect with the Golden Hearts members in smaller groups and speak out. We all presented what we'd brainstormed after a few minutes, and it was interesting to see the range of ideas.

My group and I discuss challenges

We had a brief break in the middle of these activities, and we got to eat mandazi and drink tea. After we had finished everything we went out to eat lunch, and we were served an amazing kenyan meal with soft drinks. We had around 45 minutes to finish, and one of the Golden Hearts boys (the one described above who runs the project) came and sat down with some friends and I and talked about what he's done.
After lunch we had another game. We had to look at the ground and then glance up and look at someone's eyes, if you made eye contact you had to act the most ridiculous death possible. Whomever's death was most earnest got to stay in the circle, while the loser had to leave. This was pretty challenging for me, due to my shyness, but I think that it really helped me to step out of my comfort zone and get to know everyone better.
Then came the workshops themselves, consisting of poaching (my workshop!), gender inequality, water and education. Two went on at the same time for half an hour, and then we all switched. Poaching was one of the first two, so I went with my group up to Mrs Lavender's room and we did our powerpoint and game. The powerpoint was reasonably short, but contained vital information and wasn't too boring for everyone. We focused mainly on poaching in Kenya, so speaking about Elephant's and Rhino's in particular. I presented with Natasha Hira and Elly, while the other three members of the group arranged the game afterwards.

Brainstorming

The game was really fun. We each got a different colored ribbon - transparent, gold, pink and brown. The transparent ones were poachers, the gold's were conservationists, the pink's were carnivores and the brown's were herbivores. The game was a game of tag, where 'killing' was making somebody sit down. Poachers could kill herbivores and carnivores, carnivores could kill herbivores, conservationists could bring carnivores and herbivores back to life (allowing them to stand back up and run), and herbivores could be killed by poachers and carnivores.  I was a brown, and we were the largest group of the lot. The game was very interesting, as as it progressed conservationists had to step out (displaying the fact that people drop out of this area of work due to low pay, etc), and it effectively showed the fact that with all of these threats animals cannot easily survive - leading to extinction.
I think everyone enjoyed our workshop a lot - I certainly learnt a lot from it.

Our posters

Afterwards I went to the education workshop. They gave a small powerpoint, comparing finland (which has the best education) to Kenya, and showing us videos and statistics. The gap was shocking, and it opened up my eyes to the severe inequality between these two countries. Afterwards we had a debate between quality vs quantity. I was on the quality side, and we argued about the role of teachers in society, and the fact that it is better to have one well educated person who can come back and make a change for others than a great deal of poorly educated people who cannot find jobs. The quantity people made various other solid arguments against our points, and was interesting to hear both sides of the 'story'.

Finally, we all gathered in the classroom in a circle and went around and said what we had learnt. People spoke about the educational and fun games, and the fact that they had been surprised by what had been pointed out to them. A girl beside me from Golden Hearts said that she had previously believed that Kenya had good education, which shows how little she has been exposed to or experienced in her lifetime.

Hannah and I present the plus's and delta's

This meeting taught me a great deal about world issues, and increased my leadership skills and confidence in myself. I was prompted to interact with those I knew very little about, which is one of my weaker points, but I feel like I did a good job. I loved seeing people from two different communities coming together in this way, because there's no ignoring the fact that we share the same Earth.
However, it was still somewhat challenging to talk in front of everyone and to be comfortable in sharing my points of views, for fear that people would disagree. Hopefully as I get to know everyone better this will stop being an issue for me.

To conclude, everyone had to say one word that described the day for them. 'Motivating' and 'inspirational' came up a lot, and I used 'enlightening'. As we said our goodbyes I saw a change in the eyes of my peers - we are already seeing the world in a different way, a different light. We are the leaders of tomorrow, and we need to be thinking about these issues and coming up with solutions for generations to come. I am very determined to do something outside of the original CAS groups at school - even if it's just going to KSPCA on my own from time to time.

GIN with Golden Hearts

The Golden Hearts members taught me a great deal, but most importantly the fact that one person - rich or poor, male or female - can light the way for others.