The past 1o days have been an eye opening
experience for me. I spent a week in the OXFAM Nairobi Offices volunteering
with a team of great young people to make the African Women Leadership Symposium
(AWLS) which was held in Safari Park on the 24th and 25th
August a success.
If you follow what happens in the women’s
movement closely, then you probably know that this was a huge symposium that
brought together powerful women leaders from all over Africa to Nairobi
including our very own Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Amina
Mohammed and Cabinet Secretary for Defense, Raychelle Omamo.
Preparing for such an event has its ups and
downs/pros and cons. The pros include the experience and the exposure you get
of course dealing and meeting with high profile women leaders across Africa,
the less empowering moments and experiences, well, read ahead!
The week at the Oxfam offices was intense,
among other tasks included, putting up a list of all the women who would be
attending and their details, including their flight details, organizing for
their airport transfers, et al. We had a team from Oxfam who we worked directly
with led by Saida Ali who was the project manager for the AWLS, who did a
difficult job really well and set the standards for us.
One of the Cons according to my experience
was the fact that we spent too much time working on the list that some of the
other critical issues as the AWLS drew nearer fell through the cracks. For
example, the final list was to have been sent to the printers for name tags
printing sooner than it actually happened. At the beginning, part of the tasks
the volunteers were given was to provide logistical support which included
picking guests from the airport. This didn’t go as planned and due to some
miscommunication, some guests arrived without having people to meet them at the
airport, there was a case of a guest who arrived and found that she had no
transport waiting for her at the airport, which resorted to her making her own
arrangements to get to the hotel. At the same time, human is to error, but as a
great mentor always tells me, some errors are expensive. If you ask me, this
was an expensive error!
I met and networked with different women
leaders, Ministers, former ministers, executive directors, etc. I have to say
however, leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example. In
my leadership training, I have learnt to be very keen and observant in my
environs and surroundings, and honestly, I did
not see the actions and the examples in some women I interacted with. I think I
gave my total commitment and dedication during
the symposium, I worked extremely hard, including late
nights and early mornings to ensure that I delivered and that I did not disappoint the team I was working with
Over the years, I have learnt to always
pursue excellence in everything that I do and getting reaffirmed goes a long
way to ensure that excellence is pursued. Collectively, we got reaffirmed a lot
by the Oxfam team we worked with during preparations of the AWLS.
I don’t know about the other individual
volunteers but during the symposium, I met different women leaders who
appreciated the support we were giving them to settle in, find their way, among
others. They were polite and thanked us. But there were others who felt enough
was not done for them and perhaps because of their status or professional
positions, would feel offended if asked for their names or even denied a second
conference bag. Which begs the question, isn’t leadership making others better
as a result of your presence and making sure that the impact you make lasts
even in your absence? Just as some Sisters were pleasant, others were
dismissive and arrogant and made some of us volunteers feel very inadequate.
All in all, the Symposium was a huge
success and I got very inspired by the stories told by younger sisters and
older sisters. I took advantage of the space to network with powerful women in
various sectors and learn from stories told and shared by different
individuals. For this, I sincerely thank Saida Ali and the Oxfam team for such
an opportunity for exposure, learning and experiencing African women’s
leadership in action!
The Views and opinions expressed in this
article are those of the author and do not
reflect the official position of any agency.
Article by
Ivy Nyawira
RCWG Staff and Alumni
Article by
Ivy Nyawira
RCWG Staff and Alumni
