And truthfully it’s not that hard.  Today we hit a little roadblock – the files wouldn’t play, the sound won’t come through, oh yeah and half my class didn’t show up because there was an epic futbol game going on.  So, I spent about an hour figuring out how to reformat the files and finding a new set of speakers to try and actually play the newly formatted files.

 

As for the attendance – well I don’t know what could be done about that.  I try to make class fun, but I also have to get stuff done.  That’s one of the difficulties with training in general – you have to walk this line between delivering on the objectives of the program and delivering on the incentive for participants to come.  It’s easy with adults and large budgets.  I can’t tell you how many times in Iraq I was asked whether or not we would pay our participants to come to class.  Now, I’ve never paid a participant to show up, but I know a few who do.  I prefer to incentivize my participants with tangible long-term benefits – skills, projects, and candy.  ;)

 

With adults in my last project we provided them with the tools to run their own advocacy and organizing campaign.  With these kids I think the program will benefit from internships available to the kids.  Of course, that’s a great idea in the making but it’s too late to put that in place now.  The next fellow coming in this summer will spend the time making the relationships with the NGOs Walters and I found to actually establish those internships.  For now I’ve just been using candy.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

 

Office hours start tomorrow and then Monday we’ll start again with new speakers, formatted files, and an additional laptop for the kids to work with.  I’m hopeful that most of them will be there with bells on.  We’re going to get these podcasts done and move onto the video portion.  They are learning – slowly but surely and I’m going to figure out a way to deliver on my objectives one way or another.