Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

It's been a while since my last post, and we've been making strides here. Yesterday, Heather and I visited the program in Nsambya to run a workshop on goal-setting. We were told that we would be starting the workshop promptly at one, following the conclusion of Rafael's church service that morning since the church building was the venue we would be using for our workshop. We arrived in Nsambya at ten, figuring we would just attend the church service with Rafael prior to our workshop. Well, five hours and two church services later, we finally got up to present our information on goal-setting. I have had enough African church to last me for about six months. There is only so much singing and dancing and praying and preaching (all in a language I can't understand) one can take in a day (or month). So, that was a bit rough to sit through, but fortunately the workshop was a success...

We had decided to use the acronym "S.M.A.R.T" to convey an appropriate way to set and evaluate goals. S-Specific, M-Measurable, A-Achievable/Attainable, R-Realistic, and T-Timely. Whereas we had been expecting between about 15-20 people to attend, we ending up presenting to 87 people ranging from 18-30 years of age. Although a bit daunting at first, we proceeded slowly, trying to explain the acronym and it's meaning in English, which Rafael then translated into Swahili. The community in Nsambya is composed largely of Congolese refugees, so they speak a mix of French-Swahili. The most satisfying part of the workshop was when we asked for volunteers from the audience to come up and share goals they either had for the future, or had already met, and to evaluate them using the S.M.A.R.T. framework. There were about four people who came up to share, and they did a great job at sharing their goals and walking everyone through the S.M.A.R.T. steps. It was so encouraging hearing these refugees talk about their goals, many of which had to do with education. And, I think that hearing from their peers within the context of the information which we had presented was much more powerful than us simply talking at them the whole time. A success all in all!

Since both Arsenal and Chelsea had games Sunday night, we decided to head to Kagalagala with Rafael and Jasiri to find a spot to watch the games. We went to a Congolese restaurant where I had my first taste of Congolese food, so delicious! In my opinion, way better than Ugandan food, much more flavor. We also got into a heated argument with the restaurant staff after they overcharged Rafael and Jasiri without serving them everything they had ordered. It ended up going nowhere, but it was pretty funny watching the argument unfold, especially skinny Rafael who couldn't stop smiling and laughing if his life depended on it, getting in the face of the waiter. We ended up leaving to watch the game elsewhere when the power shut down anyways.

So, we relaxed at this really great, very chill bar on couches to watch the Chelsea match. I was happy to see that Fernando Torres is finally starting to resemble his old form, as Liverpool pulled off the surprise win against Chelsea, 2-0. It was a great weekend of results for Manchester United, as they moved into second place in the standings with losses from both Chelsea and Liverpool. Unfortunately, they are faced with a tough mid-week contest against Man City on Wednesday. I am hoping for the best! All in all, a great day spent with friends, capped off by Premier League games and listening to a great artist from Cote d'Ivoire playing on speakers in the background. Doesn't get much better than that in Uganda!