Growing Leaders

So this past Saturday DHF held the 2nd Leadership workshop for our village banks in the Los Banos. Amy and I got to the workshop "dining room" 1/2 hour early to set-up and prepare. We found another group using our contracted dining room, which worried me at first, but then I remember, "We're in Peru. We'll figure something out." And we did. The other group moved into another space and we started prepping. 3 o' clock on the dot came and went and we only had 3 participants. I was worried. 3:10pm. 3:15pm. Well, right around 3:20pm everyone streamed in. All at the same time.

So we got started, 1/2 hour later than I planned, but with a good solid group of 14 women. The workshop topic was: How am I a leader in my own life? The goal today was for each women to recognize their leadership abilities, give themselves more credit than they usually do and identify their internal voice that gives them strength. We did this through a number of activities (not requiring literacy skills); We started by sharing stories of leaders in our own lives, then we identified our own leadership skills through HAND drawings and finally we allowed the women to recognize their internal voice and strength through a partner activity and finally a meditation exercise. I noticed the women laughing, engaging and participating much more than our first workshop. Many because we had different activities on the agenda. Maybe the women felt more comfortable the 2nd time around. Maybe the women came with a more open mind and heart. Regardless, it felt good. It felt like we are growing leaders.