IDEALS students learn about BILDing East African leaders
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UK Sport International 18 July 2012
Students from the UK and Tanzania discovered the parallels of their volunteer experiences, as they reflected on the conclusion of their UK Sport supported volunteer programmes.
British students from Sheffield Hallam University part of the International Development through Excellence and Leadership in Sports (IDEALS) programme and Tanzanian volunteers involved with the Beckwith International Leadership Development (BILD) programme, both supported by UK Sport, found they were united in their quest to develop leadership skills and capacity, despite their different backgrounds.
The UK students who were based in Arusha, near Mt Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, divided their volunteer placements between the field and classroom, working with a network of organisations using sport as a tool for development, including organisations part of the YES! Tanzania network.
Working with young Tanzanian leaders
Assisting the BILD programme through the delivery of workshops, the students displayed their cultural intelligence by adapting teaching methods to engage with BILD learners.
Sport Development with Coaching student, Will Stubbs, believes that the teaching element of his placement widened his knowledge as well as personal development: “BILD gave us a lot to think about: how we delivered ourselves, about how to use sport for good in this culture and how it is done in England and whether these differences are critical and how it can be more effective for us and the students.”
Working with young British leaders
BILD students also saw this collaboration between the two sets of students as insightful into culture and working styles. BILD leader, Jeremia Robert, said “I gained a lot of experiences including cooperation with people, skills and confidence and we are now conducting our own workshops and seminars.”
Tanzanian support for BILD and IDEALS
The Secretary General of the National Sports Council, Henry Lihaya, said, “As the objectives of the IDEALS Programme and that of BILD Programme are very similar the IDEALS programme has been such a wonderful opportunity for the BILD Leaders, BILD beneficiaries and the National Sports Council (NSC) of Tanzania in general to learn from one another.”
Students also worked with younger learners in local schools in Arusha to provide Physical Education lessons, in which students took the opportunity to introduce new sports codes, such as handball. They worked alongside teachers to provide similar games and sessions which could be continued after their departure.
Moses Mepukori Mollel, from the Charity School, in Arusha, believes the students have brought “The power of education through games, which can be easily understood by parents,” he said referring to the large number of Masai parents who have migrated from Kenya, and had not experienced the Tanzanian education system.
Beverly Cook, Rachel Mowat, Jimmy Rushworth and Will Stubbs have now returned to the UK.
