Experiences

Story time

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The long awaited time is finally at hand (lunch hour). Don’t jump to the wrong conclusion. It is not the prospect of food that excites me, no, it is a new aspect that has been incorporated into the company. We call it story hour but it actually runs for thirty minutes. During this time we get to share the stories we have from the field and get feedback from the team on how we can make them better and more appealing.
This follows a resolution over the weekend on the importance of story time on a daily basis after a similar section was held successfully. The idea is to brainstorm on the articles written for the Kuza Biashara site by our staff members. This is in a bid to improve on the quality of stories posted on the site while ensuring cohesion of the same. For the members who were absent during the previous section, they seem to have different expectations. Some are nervous thinking that it is time for everyone to narrate a personal story while the rest see it as a mere waste of time, especially those who hardly write stories for Kuza Biashara. This is in contrast to those who were present as they already have the agenda of the day at hand.

At exactly 1:45pm, my colleagues start to stroll towards the venue. These are majorly the people who are through with their day’s targets. They hope this will be a sure way of passing the afternoon time. However, they are wrong as we are here for business.

For the rest of us, we have so much work on our desks that the program manager has to practically drag us from our working areas to the meeting!

On arrival, we find Nicole, the production assistant reading out a story that has been written by the Office Manager, Ms. Lydia Webule. This happens to be a human interest story. Ms. Lydia narrates how her persistence in following up with the CEO, Mr. Sriram, finally landed her a job in her dream company which is Kuza Biashara.

Surely, persistence pays.

What captivates us even more in this is when she describes the flexibility of her job here at the office. This has led her to be an SME (prepares food and sells to her colleagues at fair prices).

The story is so intriguing that it leaves us wanting more of the same. However, we brainstorm on the same. After Nicole is done reading the story, the staff members raise their suggestions which range from the title of the story, integration of Kiswahili words to the kind of language used in the story.

Finally, Nicole reads out a story she has written based on the huddle held on Saturday that led to the birth of story time in Kuza Biashara. Her story is also captivating and once she is done, it is time to give our suggestions which polishes the story and makes it fit for posting on our KuzaBiashara site.

Time seems to move fast because in spite of having prepared for five stories, we are only able to work on two. It is now time to go back to our working stations.

What a unique way of bonding, team work and also sharing of ideas!



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