Sweet success

I think we're all feeling quite pleasantly self-satisfied. The two weeks we've been working here have been extraordinarily challenging, and I said early on that I'd be satisfied if we impacted at least one person through these efforts. It's been fraught with the challenges of scheduling meetings and identifying the right people with the authority and motivation to get stuff done. We started to feel a glimmer of hope early last week when the Director of the Centre for Research Development offered to follow up on the equipment distribution and usage. He's a really fantastic guy with a lot of experience both in Kenya and overseas. He's also got the right skill set and position to make a lot of positive change around here. He enthusiastically agreed to coordinate the chairs of the different departments, inventory the equipment, oversee a website that will detail the locations and contact info for each piece of equipment, and regularly check on the usage of log books so we can see that the equipment is being used and properly maintained. So if that all happens, win.

He also connected me to a number of people on campus he's recognized as needing extra assistance with grant writing. I had a meeting on Tuesday evening with a group of three women and was expected scientists. So I was pretty surprised when one said she's in the School of Fashion, another was in Finance, and the third was in the library. The woman working in fashion has a proposal to develop a skills training program for high school drop outs. The finance woman is writing a proposal for materials and support to increase alumni giving to the university so they can establish scholarships for orphans and disabled students. The woman from the library is writing a proposal to increase availability of library resources for the blind by developing a recording studio to turn some of the frequently used materials into audio books. So of course I was honored to help - and incredibly intimidated and a little terrified at first. But a lot of the essential principles of grant writing are consistent across disciplines, so I think I was able to be helpful. I'm scheduling another meeting for Friday through the research development office to follow up on these few and help others that are identified this week. And there's some talk of having me perhaps come back in the future for an intense one week grant writing "boot camp". We'll see. I said I'd be happy to come if they could provide the financial support for my trip. That puts some of the motivation in their hands and means they'll make the most of my time if they put the resources into having me back again.

But the most satisfying part of the entire two weeks was our final "wrap up" on Thursday afternoon. We plastered the place with flyers openly inviting all of the faculty, staff, and students - including the director of research, the deans, and all of the chairs. We were a little worried it wouldn't go well because of the hierarchy here - students and faculty wouldn't speak openly in front of each other. But we were encouraged by all of the higher ups who wanted to hear what we had to say and were intrigued by the unconventional format. So we put together a handful of slides highlighting our key observations and used that to guide discussion. It was fabulous - beyond all expectations. We have had a core group of about 15 students at all of the workshops, and they rose to set the tone. They talked openly about all of their concerns and frustrations - the faculty don't challenge them enough, they don't get enough mentorship, they'd like the opportunity to assistant teach. I watched the faces of faculty for the first half hour or so, and a lot of them looked pensively sour. But they sat there, and they listened. Then one of the lecturers who is deputy director of one of the research offices spoke up and thanked the students for their insight. She said she'd never heard these words from the students before and felt it was eye opening to realize their perspective. Then more and more faculty started to speak up, and before we knew it they were all engaged in a really frank discussion about their expectations of each other and hopes for the future of KU. The director of research, dean of sciences, and several faculty made little speeches about their new vision of collaboration at KU, and the director of research encouraged everyone to strive not only to be the best in Kenya or Africa, but to see Harvard as a benchmark for success.

Afterward, the students and faculty said that nothing like that had ever happened at KU, and they felt empowered. It was awesome. I emailed the group of students afterward to thank them for taking the time to be with us for the full two weeks and encouraged them all to remain in contact with each other and with us. Most of them have since written back with thanks and appreciation for our time and efforts. Several of them said that we have shown them that research is difficult but worth the effort. They say we've open their eyes and changed their lives. So even if we only impacted this small group of students and encouraged them to keep striving, I feel like we've done a pretty amazing thing.