In less than a month, I will be going back to Sitges for CTI’s Leadership Retreat 4. I look back at my journey as a leader and can’t help but shake my head and smile. My journey as a leader has been nothing but full of adventure, doubt and feeling inadequate. There are many times I feel like I am biting way too much than I can chew. And right now, I am venturing into another adventure. I am embarking on journey to save Lifesong Kenya, a nonprofit that I founded in 2013. Before I go on, allow me to say this. Hello and welcome to my blog!
My Leader’s Quest
In 2012, way before I knew about Co-Active Training Institute, I visited juvenile prison and met 100 young men. Some had committed all sorts of crimes, some petty offenses while the rest genuinely had not done anything wrong except get caught in the crossfires of crime and conflict.
Well, just like in the movie Shawshank Redemption, no one is guilty of the crimes they have been accused of. And so, the assumptive (if there is such a word) belief is that as long as you have been arrested and behind bars, you are guilty.
I have chosen to use the word ‘assumptive’ because this is a conclusive belief that you are guilty. Because I had been in a position where I ended up getting arrested and spent 8 days in police custody, I saw a reflection of myself in each of the boys and young men I met at the Nairobi Remand Prison.
Without knowing about a Leader’s Quest, I chose to embark on one. I started going to juvenile prison to meet the boys and with time, I started meeting their families, the people they had wronged and the police officers who had arrested them.
This birthed a nonprofit organization that at some point was sustained through sewing buttons for children who had lost buttons and torn their clothes. Then in 2020, something beautiful happened. I met Carol McLean CPCC, PCC, CNTC,CRTC online who introduced me to the Co-Active Coaching Model and I fell in love, at first sight.
Welcome to my blog!
Three things have happened since then. First, I got a scholarship to go through my CPCC certification. Secondly, I started renting a 3-bedroomed house as a Halfway House for boys in crisis. Thirdly, I got another scholarship to go through Leadership Program in Sitges.
You see the photo I have attached to this post? This is exactly how my journey as leader has been and now that I know that I have been on a Leader’s Quest, there is no getting out of this, hard as it is.
After I came back home from Retreat 3, I felt lost, defeated and on the verge of giving up on my Leader’s Quest due to years I have had to run Lifesong Kenya on limited resources. I asked for help by asking other organizations to take in the 3 boys who are still at our Halfway House.
Since I didn’t find a place for the boys, I picked up my bicycle and started looking for campsites where I am planning to create leadership facilitation programs using retreats, camping and hiking.
On this day, my Leader’s Quest was to find a campsite whose website needs revamping. After several unanswered phone calls, Kevin and I headed towards the campsite. In this photo, I am too deep and can’t give up or turn back without finding the camp.
Eventually, we found the camp and a caretaker who stays there. “The owner is overseas,” the caretaker said. “But, I can give you his number so you can share your business proposal with him!”
Well, I have got to go! Did I really introduce myself? My name is Hawi James Ouma and welcome to my blog. I will be sharing about my journey and leader’s quest as I continue leading Lifesong Kenya. Learn more about Lifesong Kenya here.