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Alia McAdams HDF 413 S.O.L.C. 25 November 2013 I walked into the Uhuru SASA retreat with butterflies not just fluttering, but ramming into the walls of my stomach. I had never before facilitated a four hour retreat and knew I was in for a long day of surprises and challenges. Fortunately I had my fellow facilitators Luckson, Larry, and David by my side giving me confidence that we were about to facilitate a strong retreat for the African Organization. The goals of the retreat as requested by the members of the organization were to work on team building, bonding, and communication. We had carefully chosen activities that would do just this, and with this knowledge I was confident that we could give the organization what they needed. Uhuru SASA is an extremely high energy organization. The second they walked in the doors I could feel a flood of energy fill the Hardge Forum in the Multicultural Center. Because of this the organization had a great time with the activities such as the Blanket Drop name game and the energizer Posy Up. Another activity that worked well was Pipelines which was facilitated by Larry. The high energy of the group kept them from becoming discouraged or giving up. It helped them realize the benefits of encouraging one another and keeping their heads up no matter what challenges they are faced with. However, the group also came to realize that sometimes too much excitement can harm the success of the group. In the debrief they commented on how being calm made it easier to be successful in the activity. The same theories and results proved true for the Hula-Hoop time trial and even Trolleys. These activities helped the group develop stronger communication amongst one another which will help them in meeting and when planning events. Raising the enthusiasm within the group also helped accomplish strong teambuilding.

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For the contract posters we originally planned to divide the group into four groups similar to how it was done for the Chi Omega retreat, however the morning of the retreat we decided to switch it to only two groups. Having groups of around ten to fifteen members is ideal for this activity because it heightens the amount of quality discussion that the group will be able to have. This activity went extremely well with Uhuru SASA. Luckson and Larry worked with one group while David and I worked with the other. At first the group members were a little apprehensive to participate. It was interesting to see this because up until this more serious point they were quick to participate in everything. Eventually the group became chattier and had a strong discussion about what they bring and wish to get out of the organization. An activity that I facilitated which I believe went extremely well is Boundary Breaking. I kept the questions light, especially because there were two surprise guests of the ages of four and eight so I needed to keep the answers appropriate. Knowing that it was a high energy group I began the activity with a calming breathing activity that my dad used when I was young and had trouble falling asleep. I had them close their eyes and counted to four as they breathed in, counted to four as they held their breath, and counted to four as they slowly breathed out. Using a calming voice was crucial for this. Whenever the group became rowdy this breathing activity helped them keep calm and by the end of the Boundary Breaking they were actively listening to one another. I believe this activity was crucial because it taught them to listen and also gave them the opportunity to share deeper thoughts and beliefs which may not have been shared with their generally energetic and playful nature. A few challenges faced included the lunch debacle and taking on babysitting. First of all, there was a mishap with lunch because the payment was not going through. Having lunch an hour later than planned created a drop in energy in the group. Luckson, Larry, and David did a

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great job keeping the energy level higher than it would have been while Raven and I figured out the pizza issue. We were able to figure it out and the pizza was devoured immediately. Another challenge was that one organization member brought her eight year old sister and four year old niece. When the girls became bored they would interfere with the activities. To keep this from happening, when I was not facilitating I would find ways to entertain the girls. Fortunately we had extra paper bags from the complement activity, so I taught the girls to make puppets and hats out of the bags. If I had the choice to redo the retreat I would have prepared more with the other facilitators to help the retreat end quickly and on time. We ended exactly at four, but this caused us to hand out the evaluations as the last few members were answering the final Boundary Breaking question. A few members of the organization commented on how this made them feel rushed and wish we had passed them out afterwards. There are definitely a few lessons that I will take away from this retreat. First of all I realize that food really does affect a persons mood. Not only did I have to try harder to stay on my A game, but also a few members of Uhuru SASA commented on their lack of drive and insisted on being fed. This retreat also taught me to be flexible to the needs of the group. Working around the pizza ordeal, keeping the youngsters entertained, and cutting short some of the boundary breaking questions dependent on the needs of the group were all events which I did not expect to have to deal with. Staying on our toes and keeping strong communication throughout the facilitation group, whether through verbal or nonverbal cues, kept our team strong. I would consider this retreat a success and look forward to facilitating many more retreats next semester.

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! Student Organization Leadership Consultants Uhuru Sasa Retreat November 23, 2013 Group: Uhuru Sasa SOLC Contact: Raven Sannon Goal of Retreat: # Participants: 35 Date: 11/23/13 Time: 12pm-4pm Location: MCC Hardge Forum Facilitators: Luckson, Larry, Alia, David Food Requests: Pizza Special Requests/Needs: none Retreat Agenda: Time/ location 12:0512:15 Topic/Activity Introduction of SOLC Waiver Goals Challenge by Choice and Safety Review of agenda Present Compliment Bags (write name on bags) Name Game Introduce themselves Blanket Drop Energizer Posy Up Posters SASA (drummer, singer, keyboard, guitarist) Facilitator Alia Notes/Supplies needed Waivers Pens Paper bags Markers Africa shaped papers Large blanket

12:1512:35 12:3512:45 12:451:10

Larry

Luckson David SLuckson A -Alia S - Larry A - David Larry Four Posters Markers

1:101:45

Pipeline Regular Blindfold No talking Debrief Hula-Hoop Time Trial Debrief Lunch

Pipelines Blindfolds

1:452:10 2:102:30

David

Hula-hoop Timer Food Plates

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! 2:303:05 3:053:50 3:50-4 ! Handouts: Waivers Africa Shaped Papers List of Boundary Breaking Questions Evaluation Sheets Trolleys Split into two groups Airplane Debrief Boundary Breaking Evaluations Luckson Trolleys

Alia Larry

List of Questions Evaluation Sheets

General Supplies Check list: Pens 35 Paper Bags Markers Blanket Posters Pipelines Blindfolds Hula-Hoops Trolleys

First Meeting Date: Wednesday November 19, 2013 2pm in the SOLC office At this meeting Luckson, Larry, and I created the retreat agenda. Second Meeting Date: Saturday November 23, 2013 11 am SOLC office We met an hour before the retreat to organize our materials and discuss final thoughts and questions about the facilitation. Third Meeting Date: Monday November 25, 2013 4pm in Quinn We debriefed the retreat among the facilitators. Advisor: Lydia Omoaregba Facilitators: Luckson Omoaregba Larry Adigun Alia McAdams David Molina