Kisa Class Captain shared her experience of Kisa with new recruits
Kisa Project Manager Esther Piniel interviews an applicant
Kisa Mentor Eligrania Lema interviews an applicant
Recruitment is an annual process done in two parts, one, the introduction of AfricAid and the Kisa Project to prospective Kisa Scholars, and two, interviews for the girls who are interested. At the beginning of each school year, at schools the Project has already partnered with, we introduce AfricAid and the Kisa Project to new comers to encourage them to join the Project.
The nominated Kisa Mentor works with the School Liaisons and the Kisa Year Two Scholars at their particular school. The Year Two Scholars share their Kisa experience so far, how Kisa has changed their lives, and how they have improved compared to how they were before they joined Kisa. They provide examples of this change so that prospective Kisa Scholars can see the benefits.
The second part of the recruitment process involves providing an application form to those new comers who are interested in joining Kisa. In the forms it mentions that there will be a simple oral interview for each individual girl in order to get to know them personally and to learn their individual stories. This interview plays a huge part in their selection process because we get to find out about their interests in leadership and if they seek to improve not only their lives but that of their society in order to be accepted to join the Project.
Recruitment at Moringe Sokoine Secondary School started on the 4th of February. We had 17 girls present and 5 more girls who expressed their desire to join Kisa but couldn’t be present at the meeting for various reasons. We coordinated with the School Liaison to get the girls all in one place so that they could hear what Kisa is all about.
Swiftly we began talking about AfricAid and its projects, Kisa being the biggest one. We talked about all the other schools which AfricAid has partnered with and the annual events that are also part of Kisa. These events provide an opportunity for Scholars to meet successful leaders and of course other Kisa Scholars from all other partner schools.
As we had organized for the Year Two Kisa Class Captain to talk about her Kisa experience so far, she took over and got the girls excited by asking them questions about their confidence, their future dreams, and their role models, including what they would ask them if they got a chance to meet them. Then she proceeded to talk about the status quo in our societies today and what she had learned about how the society thinks of her and how she perceives herself.
After she was done talking about her experience in Kisa we rounded off by providing application forms to the girls and with excitement they each took the one, which we collected the following Saturday.
Interviews were scheduled for the following week and the team was greeted by an anxious group of 20 girls from as young as 15 years old to 21. One by one, as called by name, they walked into the interview room and we had the opportunity to start getting to know each girl, especially what challenges they face in their communities and what kind of changes they would like to see happen. Some were brilliant and able to express themselves well; others knew what they wanted to say and although they lacked the English words to express themselves fully, they showed an eagerness to be part of the project. All in all the recruitment process went smoothly and we are excited about working with a new group of Kisa Scholars.
By: Eligrania Lema, Kisa Mentor
