“GROW¡ LEARN! THRIVE!”
With Nyaka Global!
“Talent is the multiplier. The more energy and attention you invest in it, the greater the yield.”
When John Maxwell states in his book "Power of Moments," "Stretch for Insights," that is exactly what the Mopane' leadership department went through when tasked with delivering the Nyaka Staff Retreat in August 2022. We prayed for guidance on how to creatively offer a retreat for 115 people. A number with which we have never engaged or interacted since the retreats began in 2019. Indeed, heavenly intervention was required. My CEO, Ms. Jacqueline Asiimwe, frequently states that our retreats are spiritual in some ways because of the things and attention we put into curating the setting and content to be given. In terms of preparation, preparing for 115 individuals was no different than our usual procedure.
We selected the facilitators from our Mopane' faculty, talked about the content and flow of the retreat days, talked about activities, and prepared our execution plan. The message was Soul Song, and our hearts were racing for Nyaka.
"The devil always has a way of spoiling wonderful plans," the pious remark. Fortunately for us, and owing to our Relationship Weaver Jacqueline, we had a backup plan in place with an able facilitator from our faculty to replace Jacqueline, who had been the primary facilitator when she suffered loss.
Reliability is one of our institutional values, the plan for completing the work had to be altered with the new commanders in order to remain dependable to the pledge we made to Nyaka, which was to provide a terrific and unforgettable retreat for its Team. With our hearts devastated and wounded by the news of our beloved elder's death, we set forth to Kabale to give the promised retreat.
Nyaka members danced and shook their bodies to the loud sounds of afrobeat music in the early hours of the morning of August 9, 2022, before the sun lit up the heavens, supported by the famed Koona Dance instructor. Felix, an energetic, self-motivated, and fun-loving professional dancing instructor, stands before them to awaken their bodies, brains, and spirits. Dear reader, you may be wondering, "Why dance?" Dance is one of the ways to activate wellness as a program focusing on wellness and wellbeing since it enhances muscle strength and endurance. Dance as a kind of exercise helps the cardiovascular system perform more efficiently by delivering oxygen and nutrients to tissues. It also keeps the heart and lungs healthy, giving you more energy to go through the day. It also increases the release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone, serotonin, which helps with sadness, and endorphins, which make us joyful. The songs differed in rhythm, harmony, lyrics, genre, tone, and melody, requiring the team to use all of their muscles.
After morning refreshments, the happy and invigorated Nyaka team was led into the lovely, tranquil location where they would spend the next two days experiencing what was in store for them. Days filled with lots of fun, joy, play, creation, connection, introspection, and building for Nyaka through the Mingle Mingle game to ignite connection and relationship building among the game, singing competitions to awaken our young selves and child souls that live within us and are often hidden from the rest of the world, meditation, and affirmation to remind the team of who they are as Nyaka and as a team that serves Nyaka, wellness through conversing.
The two days were just what we had hoped to do. We returned to Kampala with an organization with a soul, thanks to the capable facilitators Ms. Penelope Sanyu, who energized the team with her energized spirit and humor, and Ms. Grace Kabatangare, who energized the team with her calm spirit and supernatural power to get into people's hearts, spirits, and souls. Mr. Koona Dance Felix, who raised Nyaka's spirit with dance and waist twists that left the team happy and more connected, and our able web Ms. Treasure Layola, who provided team access and connectedness through heart, body, soul, and spirit, and ultimately Me.... Allen Asiimwe is the accomplisher. We did it, as most Ugandans claim. We were challenged and stretched to put our best foot forward, which we did.
Now that we have demonstrated our ability to "break the script," as described in John Maxwell's book "Power of Moments," please do not hesitate to contact CivSource Africa for any retreat-related inquiries. We are your go-to group.
The ultimate competitive edge is an organization's ability to learn and quickly put that learning into action.
Story By Asiimwe Allen