Day 16: Something called HOME! - 19 Nov 2011

The team I shared 2 weeks of my life with!

The final day of going home has arrived. I was up at 05h30. Quick shower, breakfast and off you go to the airport. The wait at the airport felt like eternity. Boarding time and finally HOME HERE I COME!

The plane did not fly fast enough! I was looking forward to be with my hubby and kids. You won’t believe the faces I saw, crying of happiness and joy. For moments we just stand there embracing each other!

The rest is history…

As I have promised the song which I decide is now a poem called:

CLLA-5 Experience

The Carnegie Corporation

Has made a restoration

To develop library leaders

And encouraged vision readers

And although it was a challenge

The program had a balance

And here we are today

With thankful hearts we say:

Carnegie, Carnegie you have sowed the seeds in our lives

And to perfection we pledge to strive

The UP coordinators, Martha and Ujala

Prepared a 2 week training gala

Consultants and professors

Gave presentation lessons

Creativity inspired innovation

And the group gave full participation

Carnegie is melting

A pot of diverse talent

Yellow, red, green and blue personalities

Public, academic and national libraries

Watch out for SA’s leading

Librarians emerging

Now for the hard work! Assignment 3

Till next week!

My own creation and motivation through the 2 weeks!

Day 15: The way ahead…Winding up - 18 Nov 2011

Friday morning has finally arrived. Most of us got up early and meet in our groups to go through final altering of our presentations.  No ‘gym’ at all, no breakfast for most of us.

The hour has come for the morning session to start. Prof TheoBothma (Head: Dept. of Information Science, UP) gave us an in depth explanation of the new trends in technology, interesting facts of the impact technology has globally as well as new technological gadgets.

Prof Christine Stilwell (Head: Dept of Information studies, UKZN) gave a presentation on the way forward for libraries in SA. What was outstanding is the approach to presentation. Something extraordinary and kept your attention. It was like a wrap up of the whole two weeks of presentations, yet it was ‘new’!

Lunch, we ate in silence! The moment of truth has arrived. We were quiet and yet excited. Group 3 presented and the fear left us all. It was our turn second: Group 4. I feel that we have done extremely well, but wait for feedback. All the groups gave their best!

Feedback started and Prof Christine was open and complimented all of us for the good presentations. A sigh of relieve! Ujala did the last part of feedback for the whole academy and we went to prepare for our gala event. Group 4 in the picture!

The gala event was great and we enjoyed every moment of it. Why? We were happy that everything was done and over with.

What is left: packing and sleep!

The last night in a hotel room tomorrow I’ll be sleeping in my own bed!

Day 14: Advocacy and visit to Constitutional Hill - 17 Nov 2011

Thursday morning! I feel like I’ve never slept. I drag myself out of bed. Feel excited too, but still have to analyse the excitement.

No one was there to walk, run or gym, except me, or did I miss it??? Never mind. I walk back to my room and start working on our presentation layout. Fun!

08h30 we were entertained by Karin Kitching (US Embassy Librarian). She spoke on the advocacy toolkit. The most outstanding activity in this session for me was: create a 30 second elevator speech to have an impact on the most important person in the elevator. I realised that sometimes we want to have an impact on people’s lives, but we say the wrong things. Nonetheless, I am having the opportunity to work on the right speech!

The Director (UPLS) Robert Moropa spoke on Locating Libraries on the radar screen. A very unique and interesting topic! We had fun with him and his sayings… so where do I see myself in the next 5years. Out of practice or on the radar screen of International librarianship? Had you wonder for a second…

How exciting were we when we got lunch boxes packed like school kids for our visit to the Constitutional Hill. I really do not want to say more about this as I still feel hurt for the treatment humans had in this place! However, we stick close to each other and encouraged one another to walk through and hold on. We hold hands to show our togetherness in all facets. On the ride back to the Hotel we were sitting each one with our own thoughts!

The rush of fear hit us after supper. Groups had discussions and uncertain question about the presentations of the next day. Deep down in my heart I had excitement too, but the fear was predominant.

Very late that night I realised the excitement was: There is 2 more days to go home!

Day 13: Current Trends in LIS sector - 16 Nov 2011

Today was different: I could not wake up by myself. I was so exhausted and confused when the alarm buzzed. I could do with more sleep, but I got up anyhow. The morning 'gym' did wonders to my tired body.

Back in  my room I got the inspiration to write a song about my experience at the Academy. It need some tweaking and a beat.

Our first presenter Prof Willem Landman ( Ethics Institute of South Africa) gave us an in depth straight to the point view on personal ethics and organisational ethics. Within an organisation structure there need to values that must be transparent with honesty and accountability and a sense of responsibility. The question that stick to me about ethics is: What makes our action right, consequences or behavior? Makes you think!

Ria Groenewald (Digitisation Co-ordinator, UPLS) and Bettie de Kock (Information Specialist, UPLS) gave us insight on digitisation & preservation and online gaming, respectively.

The last session of the day was presented by Dr Nisha Sewdass (Dept. of Information Science, UP) on Gaining a competitive edge. We did an interesting activity. We were to tell what animal we wanted to be and why we chose to be that animal. I love the eagle, because of their strength and eye for detail. They can look from above and have a clear vision in mind on whatever they do. They assist their family and friends and stick close to each other. They also love to help those in need. This is how I see myself! One of our colleagues wanted to be a Hyiena - why? Just because all the other animals were taken so desperation for uniqueness pop up! Made us laugh...

Boy was I exhausted. We had dinner and group discussion till who knows what time that evening! Our presentation was finish after we left the conference venue.

A hot bath and straight to bed...

3 Days to home - can you believe it?

Day 12: Responsible Leadership, Knowledge Management & Innovative Thinking - 15 Nov 2011

Tuesday morning...12 days of the Academy has passed. I woke up long before my alarm buzzed. Opened the curtain and sliding door to have fresh air and embrace the melody of singing birds in the trees. This time of the morning the only people on my mind is my husband and kids. My daughter asked me to sing her a song and send it. I did it and it brought tears to my eyes as I miss them so very much.

Anyway, life has to go on. I meet the team outside for gym, but to my surprise some did not pitch, they were too tired. I felt relaxed after half an hour of running and walking and what is most important is that my mind has to be open for the day. The food of the hotel is so amazing, but it can be too much at a stage. I decided not to have breakfast and blog instead.

Our first speaker for the day, Dr Eben le Roux (Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership, UP), spoke on Responsible leadership. The lesson: "Being a responsible leader requires more than being an effective, visionary and good manager. It also means having and adhering to the right values, and having a good character." In this photo a mind map on strategic leadership development.

Knowledge Management presented by Marietjie Schutte gave us in depth information on how to document knowledge for centuries.

The most outstanding presentation of the day was that of Prof Johannes Cronje (CPUT) - Innovation and thinking outside the box for South Africa Libraries. We did a learning style model and a lot of creative activities highlighting the essence of strategic documents.

This was one of the better days...

Our group discussion went on until 22h00. We finished our presentation and I am so proud of the group! Even though you went to bed later than normal you felt some fulfillment and relief. One can at least have sweet dreams...

4 days to going home; I start doubting the idea of the countdown...

Day 11: Dynamic Organisations - 14 Nov 2011

The beginning of a new week! The last week of the academy, can you believe it? Time has fly and I feel totally overloaded with information and ideas.

Today I woke up @ 05h00, well rested and looking forward to the challenges of the day. The normal routine of gym, shower, breakfast and off you go!

It seemed to be a very exciting program: Strategy alive: The living organisation by Johan Greeff (CEO and founder of Treetops). This session was about stress management and assertiveness. I love the statement: Work is a place where we bring our personal gifts. This makes it very special. We make our love for life visible. It is about conceptual thinking and thinking ahead.

We had an exercise called the Holy Exercise. We had to peep through a hole in a cloth which covered obstacles on a table. This was a real strategic way of looking at our problems. We had to think strategically and came up with the best solutions. The lessons I learned is that there is more than one angle to the same thing. Diversity adds value and individuals must do their best. Speak your truth, listen, listen, listen with an open mind and seek the truth. The bigger the hole the don't necessary yield more information.

This was a day full of exciting activities explaining strategic organisations.

We were invited to the Opening of the Carnegie Research Commons of University of Pretoria. This was  a gracious experience meeting the sponsor (Carnegie Corporation) Omotade Aina and Dr Rookaya Bawa, the Vice Chancellor and Principal - Prof Cheryl de la Rey and Robert Moropa (Senior Director: UP library services). In this photo all the attendees for the 5th Carnegie Library Leadership and the above mentioned colleagues. The program coordinators of the Academy is also in this picture.

It was a memorable day and one I will never forget.

5 days to go home!

Day 10: Weekend tasks and group discussion - 13 Nov 2011

Since this was another day off for sessions, we could negotiate free time within our groups.

Today I was up a bit later 06h00. Today is Sunday (the second one in my entire life that I had to cater to work). Today is normally family day for me. Today I decided to attend church (I have arranged with a friend to pick me up). Today I MISS MY FAMILY!

I did my hair as this is a two hour operation to get it dry and perfect. Had breakfast with the group and off I went to attend church. The theme of the service was obedience. It linked in with leadership obedience and I could just enjoy every second in the presence of God. I felt revived when I got back and was ready for the challenges of the week.

I called home and had a two hour conversation with my husband and kids. We had laughter and could not help to shed a tear. I had a hour nap and @ 18h00 our group met again for more discussion and group work.

It was quite a lazy day if I may call it that? I went to bed @ 09h30 but could only fell asleep late. I had too many things to think about; did introspection and had a marvelous time with my Creator. All I know is that it felt sweet when I got up on Monday morning for the regular drill as my countdown to go home has start.

                                                                           6 DAYS TO HOME!