1-3 August - The Arrival of Ma n Pa

1^st August saw me lead a session at the Poly where the Trainees helped me with a needs assessment. I am doing a study into how we can improve the institution. The first phase is asking the following questions of trainees, potential trainees, parents, staff, Board and the community:

1         Which courses are most popular with trainees or potential trainees?

2         Which courses are most needed in the community?

3         Which courses are most in demand for adult education?

4         Why do people drop out of Poly?

5         Why do those eligible not come to the Poly?

6         What could we do to influence them to come?

It was quite an entertaining session as there are varying levels of English and some have only limited Kiswahilli. But with the very able and patient support of Faith the Hairdressing Instructor we received some good results and some useful insights. The group session allowed me to capture 35 people’s views in an hour whereas the other 50 community etc interviews had been undertaken individually. The trainees filled their answers on a pro-forma paper and asked if they could be confidential which was fine and allowed them to be more honest too…..!

So far I have interviewed 85 people and only 15 to go. It is a great way to meet the community too and they really value being able to input. I will feedback the results later but one thing that struck me from the trainees feedback was that 2/3rds for the females cited pregnancy as the main reason for dropping out and none of the boys did? Should I be surprised by that?

We closed the Poly 2^nd August and I dropped into the Kibe’s place for chai and lunch. We had a long chat and they are getting almost as excited as me because my parents arrive 4^th August for a 3 week visit to Kenya to experience “real Kenya”. I have taken them at their word so I hope they meant it!!

At 71 I am very impressed and proud of them for coming out.