I am now a Better Leader, Thanks to CFC
August 10, 2016
My name is Doreen Jemutai, a 4th year student at Moi University pursuing Applied Statistics with Computing. I have been involved in leadership activities both in my community and in the university. I have served as a secretary and a vice chair person in two local youth groups, Baringo change makers and The Alpha Youth group respectively.
Participating in a global run even in Oslo
Through the two groups, I have been able to follow my passion in community work and serving Humanity. Some of the projects I have been involved in include ‘a child a tree’ a noble initiative geared towards environmental sustainability which saw the planting of trees in a number of primary schools within my community. Also, through the groups we have identified challenges affecting the young people in our society and came up with solutions towards the same. Some of the solutions include organizing talent shows, coordinating school tournaments specifically for high school students with the aim of creating awareness on the effects of drug and substance abuse. At the university level, I am a member of Onward Kenya, a Social platform that is volunteer based and which seeks to realize positive change in our society. It operates under five pillars: Education, health care, youth and vulnerable groups, peace and security and urban development.
I got to know about Communication for Change-CFC International Exchange programme through a colleague. I got interested in it because I wanted to learn a lot about global issues, gain leadership skills, and basically expand my knowledge base. I also wanted to travel, interact with fellow young people from different countries and experience their new cultures. The interviews were quite competitive and through the Grace of God I got into the program. During the preparatory course we got to learn more about our Norwegian counterparts and what we were expected to do during the entire period. After completing the first part of our exchange program we got to travel to Norway. It was my first time to travel abroad. It was surely exciting. We went through thorough security checks on our arrival in Paris en route Oslo. My travel partner and I had to let go of some of our personal belongings since they couldn’t allowed beyond that point because of security. We got to Norway and the temperatures were incredibly low at -20 degrees Celsius a completely new experience for us.
Our 4 ½ months stay in Norway was characterized by a lot of interesting activities. Some of the activities included a campaign on Stop Poverty, Ethical Trade Campaign, Issues on Climate Change, winter festivals, Tax Havens free zone Campaign, information tours, Global run, and co-curricular activities like skiing and mountain hiking. We also got an opportunity to visit our Norwegian counterparts and interacted with their families. Also, during our tours we were hosted by different host families and we got to learn more about the Norwegian culture.
Through the program I have gained a lot of skills and knowledge. I have reinforced my leadership skills as I was the CFC student representative. I also learnt conflict management skills which was useful to me as a leader of the group. Among them also include team work, communication skills, interpersonal skills and intercultural experiences and cross cultural skills. Through the program I also got an opportunity to network and a lot more.
For the last two months since I returned to the country from Norway I have engaged in a number of activities as a way of putting into practice the skills and knowledge gained as a result of participating in the exchange programme. I have first of all been able to sensitize youths on CFC programme through various platforms including AIESEC Kenya-Moi University Chapter and Youth for Christ and Education a group based in Eldoret. I have also been involved in campaigns including ‘Jenga sister’, a program that is geared towards providing sanitary towels to girls in rural schools. I have also been able to do motivational speaking in Asururiet Primary school and Chepkogin primary school both located in Eldoret.
I am sincerely thankful to The National Council of Churches of Kenya for the opportunity to be part of Communication for Change International Exchange Programme.
