By Joseph Rutakangwa

Alumnus

YES program - Tanzania

The YES Alumni Training of Trainers Workshop 2013 was held in Bali, Indonesia from 31st January to 5th February and involved YES alumni from 12 different countries. We had 30 hours of training, free time to get to know each other, and visited various palces in Bali such as Kuta beach, Jimbadan, and Denpasar. After three days of training each one of us was given an opportunity to facilitate training to a train-back group. Self-assessment followed by evaluation from other fellow group members increased the efficiency of everyone's training and removed the situation of receiving negative feedback. Throughout the training I was given opportunities to run activities using different methodologies and train others, practices which strengthened my experience.

I learned that one of the most important attributes to building an unforgettable experience is diversity. Diversity creates an opportunity to better networking and when it goes further to an international level the effectiveness of the intended object increases. Memories of new faces and new people of different backgrounds added to my experience as a learner and helped trigger memories of what I learned in my workshop. My experience at the Training of Trainers workshop has been the most valuable experience in my life. Before the ToT, I trained some youth in Ruvuma on effective ways to serve the community and run volunteering networks, but I came to realize that the reason why the impact was only about 40% effective was because my training was not effective. "Learning is not the filling of the bucket but rather the lighting of the fire." From this phrase I realized that effective training should not focus on lectures and reading, but instead it should focus on the interaction that creates hands-on experience.

I now have an understanding of what an effective training should be like, why training should not be "guru on the stage" but "coach on the side," how to effectively train others and when the training should take place. Reconnecting to other YES alumni was like my second year as an exchange student. Thus, my experience as an exchange student never perishes, it grows as time passes. I really enjoyed the ToT and I hope that everyone, YES alumni or not, will benefit from what I have learned and gain the skills and feelings I have toward community service and volunteerism.