YAI Workshop

Exhausted doesn’t begin to describe how tired I am right now. My entire body is heavy and the fatigue sits deep in my bones. Breathing feels laborious and I have lost my voice. But even though my body is depleted, my mind is invigorated. For the past 2 days, I’ve been facilitating a workshop for Liberian youths. There were 25 participants from roughly 12 different youth groups. The theme yesterday was transitional justice, which was essentially the same workshop I developed for one of the groups in Thailand, with more emphasis on truth commissions and specifically the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Today, conflict management was the focus. Again, I used the same workshop template that I developed for my Burmese students in Thailand. We practiced some effective communication skills and then I taught them some problem-solving techniques, including the Circle Chart (also known as the 4 Quadrant Tool).

However, the similarity with my work with the Burmese groups in Thailand ends there. The Liberian group was the antithesis of the quiet, punctual, and focused Burmese students. However, I was expecting it. Firstly, I am familiar with “Africa time,” which means that everything starts at least an hour behind schedule. (I once went to a meeting in Kenya that started nearly 4 hours after the supposed start time. Seriously.) In addition, the setup was not ideal for teaching: we were in a bit of a cramped space with limited ventilation. In order to have at least a little air circulating so we didn’t pass out in the 90 degree heat, we had to open the windows, which allowed the cacophony from below to stream in from one of the busiest streets in downtown Monrovia. So I spent most of the day sweating and nearly shouting to compete with the dissonant mix of American rap, gospel music, and car horns.


Despite these annoyances, the workshop was a real success. Not only did the participants have fun, but they really engaged in the material. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised at just how engaged some individuals were. Despite all the challenges they’ve faced, most were incredibly well-informed, articulate, and passionate. At times, it was tempting for me to just sit back and let them have a group discussion. In fact, yesterday, while I didn’t retire from my role as a facilitator entirely, I changed tactics in the afternoon and facilitated with a very light touch, just subtly guiding the conversation and making sure that people took turns speaking. What made these discussions particularly fascinating for me is the fact that the theoretical material I was teaching was really coming to life. Rather than talking about truth commissions in general terms, we talked about the current Liberian TRC and the issues surrounding it such as legitimacy, participation, corruption, results, misconceptions etc. Today, when discussing various conflict management skills, the group brought up challenging questions and poignant personal examples. Nearly everything we discussed was relevant to everyday life in postwar Liberia, which made for a vibrant and thought-provoking couple of days