T.O.T Training Of Trainers.

 Welcome to TOT!

 It was a jolly day for the participants

TOT also known as Training of Trainers is a short course that is run by Cornerstone Veritas to equip people who are interested in teaching our 10 principles of leadership short course. We were happy to host this one day training at the Cornerstone offices in Kampala. 16 people attended the training from different parts of the Uganda including Soroti, Jinja Nakasongola and Kampala. Our interns, staff and friends from Cornerstone Veritas gathered for this course. Noelle and Frank facilitated this course while organization was done by Edmond and team.

The morning session was on vision casting.  The participants learned the vision for why we teach this course. Several of the reasons we discussed were, individual transformation, bringing the Kingdom of God on earth and seeing the transformation of Africa as a whole. We openly discussed the problems in Africa and concluded that the course strengthens us to solve these problems. To solve them, individual transformation is important in influencing transformation in the rest of the societies of Uganda and throughout Africa. TOT empowered participants with practical tools to go to their communities and teach the ten principles of leadership which brings about individual transformation for members of their societies.

 CV Staff: Bosco, Edmond and Frank

After the session on vision casting, we had a short break and then when straight into the second session.  This training is supposed to take two days, do in order to pack it into one we had to move quickly.  Noelle took us through the 2^nd session, which was the core part of this training.  We learned how to facilitate a course, what to expect, our responsibilities as facilitators, class management and how to use the facilitation manual.  Noelle gave many examples and stories of times that things had gone wrong to help us understand how to correctly teach this material.

 Noelle and Interns

The best analogy she used was that of the human body.  She told us that the notes which we have provide for us bones and muscles of the talks and session, and that the examples which we come up with ourselves put the final “ flesh” on the body and help what we are teaching to become our own.  This was a helpful analogy that empowered each of the participants to understand how to use the resources and outlines they are given.

That session went a little over time, so we only had time for one teaching exercise before lunch.  Noelle broke us into groups of two and gave each of us sections from the manual to read through and prepare to teach.  After lunch, every group member presented the topic they had been given before lunch.  It was an interesting session filled with fun and laughter as participants tried to use funny examples while teaching.

Working in pairs to prepare practice sessions

 Session 3 three was as well taught by Noelle. She explored the tool box by explaining the different tools used while facilitating this course. Some of the tools include news prints, dynamics, team relationships, facilitator’s instructions and other necessary interpretations of each talk.

Representatives all the way from Jinja!

The fourth session was a closing and last part of the training. Noelle took time to analyze the general areas of improvement. While teaching TOT, she encouraged teachers to make participants understand the content of the course, through use of relevant examples, maintaining the integrity of the material among others.

It was a happy and successful day for the C.V family and interns.

Intern Profile: Katusabe Perepetua

Katusabe Perepetua, Cornerstone Veritas Intern

My name is Katusabe Perepetua.  I am 20 years old and am a Mukiga from Kibale district.  I gained so much from my time at Cornerstone Leadership Academy.  From the Leadership and Character Development program I learned how to be proactive, put first things first, and begin with an end in mind.  During my internship with Cornerstone Veritas, I hope to learn skills like reading, writing, and socializing with others. 

At university I want to study statistics.  The reason I want to study statistics is that I would like to work in a population census or as an accountant.

Perepetua was the top student in the CLA girls graduating class!  Congrats Perpetua! She is currently mentoring our primary school students, and comes to Kampala to participate in internship events. 

Intern Profile: Odeke Emmanuel

 Emma is helping with our programs in Soroti

 

 

My name is Odeke Emmanuel.  I am 20 years old and I come from Katakwi district in Eastern Uganda.  I would like to study either civil or electrical engineering at university.  I would like to study one of these because they are in high demand, and there are jobs available.  Before I go to university, I am participating in the Cornerstone Veritas internship program.  As an intern, I hope to learn how to serve and help people living in the world today. 

During my time at Cornerstone Leadership academy I was inspired by the principles of Christ Centred Life, Be Proactive and Seek First of Understand before being Understood.  This is because they have challenged me to live my life for Jesus, and improved the way that I relate to people around me.

I have enjoyed teaching the leadership development material which I learned at school, to other people during my internship.  Finally I want to appreciate Cornerstone Veritas for this great opportunity given to me.  I have learned and am still learning more basic skills in life and I am being molded into a responsible person. 

Jumpstart!

Jumpstart is a course for young leader which the Cornerstone Veritas team hosted at the Cornerstone Head Office.  It was open to anyone who wanted to attend and took place from February 19^th to 21^th. This course was facilitated by Anthony Elliot of Youth With a Mission and his team of 3 others.  It was attended by all the Cornerstone Veritas interns and the staff, as well as a number of other guests.             

 

 According to Anthony, he described this course as a personal potential discovery experience. He used a Mr. bean Clip to illustrate how a fainting man was jumped to life using an electric shock. He further explained that we may possess abilities, skills and talents but that we have not received the Jumpstart (knowledge)  we need to use them.  We need to be inspired and encouraged to maximize our potential and use what we have to live purposeful and fulfilled lives. This is what the Jumpstart course is about. 

Finding focus:

Anthony explained that when we are still young, it is very difficult to know what we want for our lives.  This specifically means that we don’t have a clear set of goals and a personal vision. Young people struggle to achieve goals because they lack clarity and direction.  However, as we grow older we should work hard to clarify our personal vision and goals for our lives. He used a dart game illustration his point about age.  3 people stood in a line; the youngest in the back, the next in age was in the middle and the oldest was closest to the dart board.   The youngest threw his dirt from far away, it did not get very close to the bullseye. But the oldest, who was nearest to the board, hit the target. The explanation was that as we get older, we gain a clearer understanding of what our life goals and vision should be.

 

 Identification of our gifts and talents:

This course also enables people to thoroughly evaluate and discover their talents and gifts. Anthony took us through an exercise that considered the talents and gift of our family members, so that we could see where we have come from and what we may have gained from our family. In the end we learned that our gifts and talents can originate from those of our family members.

We also took a series of long tests, during which we had to decide how we would behave in certain situations, and which words best describes who we are.   These tests helped us to discover our physical abilities, metal capacity, and spiritual gifting.  We also played a game where we had to move based on the answers to different questions, this helped us to get an idea of where we fall in the DISC personality test. 

  Defining your ideal motivational environment:

Jumpstart also defines the different working environments that exist and also describes the different individual characteristic which make up our personality types.  It then combines and understand of work environment and personality to help people learn their ideal motivational environment. 

Mission and Vision Statements:

Finally, the course helped each participant to use all of the information they had collected about themselves to write their personal mission and vision statement.  Each person had the chance to share creatively about their mission and vision statement, as well as create goals which will help them achieve what they have set out to do.  It was a great time to learn about how everyone is different, and were designed uniquely for a specific purpose. 

Overall, Jumpstart was a great success.  To enjoy time together, on the Wednesday during the program Noelle made us all dinner at Cornerstone and we played games.  It was a great time of laughter and fun. 

The whole Cornerstone Veritas team, as well as our guests, enjoyed the program and learned a lot from it.  We look forward to running it again next year.   

Jumpstart was great for everyone who attended! 

Intern Profile: Kizito Tadeo!

Greetings Friends!  My name is Kizito Tadeo.  I am 20 years old, and I am from Central Uganda, Luweero district. My home village is called Ndejje. I am a Muganda by tribe. I want to study Social Administration at University. I want to get this degree because I need to learn more about the way people live, work, and relate to one another.  Then I hope to work with the Red Cross Society, using what I have learned.  I want to work with the Red Cross, or an organization like it, because I feel that I should serve the needy, especially those afflicted by war.  I feel there are many people who need help throughout the world, who unfortunately do not have access to the help they need.  I feel I would like to be a part of extending the services needed to such people. Also, I am currently discerning the call to priesthood, specifically as a Franciscan Friar.  I hope to be of service to all people, no matter what work I am doing.  

Through my internship with Cornerstone Veritas, I hope to learn many new things.  I would like to learn computer skills; specifically improving my typing and how to use different programs on the computer. Also, I am excited to gain a deeper understanding of Character Development.  Finally, I hope to improve my public speaking skills through the training I will receive during my internship.  I am glad to be an intern!