KISS

Its Thursday. When I look back on my blog, somehow, I always posted on Thursday. Except for last week, but that’s because I took off for Nairobi on Thursday (and it became Monday). Its not on purpose…I swear! I mean, I try to write here every week, and for some reason, by the time I’ve put my mangled thoughts on paper..its Thursday. This week, I don’t have a specific topic. Just more random observations. I’ve just come from a course that my supervisor was doing on Information Management. I went thinking I would be learning something new, instead, based on the material that was being presented, I ended helping him teach it.

The knowledge gap. I have underestimated it. First off, at no point do am I intending to make light of the intelligence of anyone here, or anyone who I have met. Its simply a realization of an underestimation I made. We spent the day teaching health professionals that the process is just as important as the outcome and how to interpret data and make graphs. Simple graphs that most of us do with our eyes closed. But, while at first I was a little taken back at the content, I quickly saw the beauty of it. It all begins somewhere. How important is the ability to interpret data? How important is it to be able to make evidence-based decisions? Think about the changes, and the progress that could be made if we all the ability to make informed decisions. How important are the little realizations that process and outcomes are related. What good is the outcome if the process is flawed? One of my biggest frustrations with the work I have been doing so far is the sense that people are too focused on the outcomes, and achieving results and everything that happens in the middle is just fluff. I had a lot of fun today working with the people in the class, it isn’t often I know more than the rest of the class, and especially rare that I can contribute in such a way (who we kidding, I’m probably bringing up the rear most of the time…).

Everything takes time. Kenya will progress, life will get better, things will improve. It takes time though (whether or not I have the patience to see it through is another questions). Sure it took almost an hour to make people realize that if there are 40 pregnant women in a village and we want 100% of pregnant women to be attending antenatal care classes that would be 40 pregnant women attend. But we all start somewhere. Isn’t that learning in its purest form? Like the old saying goes, everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten. I remember when I was in grade 6, we had to do this class project on something or other (I think it was pulleys and levers), and my partner and I had these grand ideas for this great crane type thing to lift cars (those little hot wheels cars). It was a complete mess, we screwed everything up, and were way in over our heads. The end result was some half-ass project that was nothing more than a piece of string attached to a hot wheels car and a block of wood somehow interspersed in it…oh and a pretty bad mark on the project. I was pretty upset after that and was wondering where we went wrong. That was when my dad sat me down to discuss the project and helped me understand the mistake I made – it was too complicated, and he taught me the simple acronym “KISS” – Keep it Simple Stupid! Work, friends, hobbies, relationships, learning,…life! Keep it simple! We’ve all heard it, but that was the first time I ever heard it, and its something I’ve kept in mind ever since then, and I think that’s what we did today. We kept it simple, to the basics, and hopefully everyone went home with a new skill today that will benefit. Focus on the process, just as much as the outcome. Sometimes, the destination you reach is not as important as the path you take to get there.