Inclusion as a catalyst of partnerships

Inclusion is the state of being incorporated into a given group for the positive achievement of the interests of the given group. In the past two weeks or so our team was involved in a conference named Resilience Workshop. In the resilience workshop two of our team members represented our organization. The two team members, Chelimo Njoroge and Kevin Kadiri, aided in different capacities during the workshop. The inclusive strategy that was employed by the facilitating team of the workshop made the attending executives proactive and active through out the whole workshop.

In the beginning of the conference the participants were urged to give a list of their expectation. The list was pinned on a sticky wall so that during the conclusion of the conference, each expectation would be evaluated whether it was met or not. This was a motivation to the participants as their expectations were used as guidelines of the conversation around resilience. Also in understanding how the representatives from different organizations can embrace resilience to bounce back and overcome challenges while working in their different areas of expertise. This method of inclusivity attracts partnerships within organization and helps in building of networks between the participants since their opinions are highlighted and used as part of the decision-making.

“I enjoyed the process of using the sticky wall as it acted as a present reminder of my expectation and focus of the workshop during my time there,”admits Kadiri during his review of the workshop in a team meeting at our offices.

In addition, Resilience workshop had creative methods of involving the participants and ensuring they were incorporated in the activities of the event. They introduced the world café concept whereby members visited the different projects of participants that embraced resilience and learned more about them. During this session they were able to understand the diverse solutions that participants from different sectors implemented in their communities to enhance resilience. Another exciting inclusive strategy that helped the participants bond and network was Agora. This ideology was centered on exhibition whereby participants would observe and learn from the other members and the resources they were bringing to the whole concept of resilience. This enabled them to interact as professionals and build their capacity in the areas that each partner specializes in.

The most adventurous and exciting activity that the workshop embraced was a visit to the David Sheldrick’s Elephant Orphanage. This orphanage took through the participants how their work has embraced resilience in managing the orphanage and saved more lives of elephants in Kenya. This gave the participants a practical point of view on embracing resilience in their projects while working with different communities. The participants in a different session were taken through various steps of how to handle emergences whose response by an organization can be judged as resilient or not.

Inclusion is key in developing partnerships and key networks for any organization. It facilitates building of capacity and enables the development of organizations as they benefit from the each other. The Resilience Workshop gave each participant a take away home skill to embrace in their projects to improve sustainability of the projects they are implementing in different communities. This in the long run will promote the development of projects to solid and sustainable solutions that benefit more people as they use resilient approaches and inclusion in their activities within the community.

“When I learnt, I didn’t need to have big money to start my business, I started my cosmetics business immediately!”

“With my income, I pay my children’s school fees, health issues and my personal needs.”

The Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (SLP)

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Inclusion as a catalyst of partnerships