My time in Kenya has helped me realize that I need to have more faith in myself. Jim‘s challenge of not saying: “I’m not that good, sorry.” while working made me have to look further into my actions and how they impact my mindset. If I begin to loosen up, not take myself so seriously, and give myself room to grow – that comes across as more genuine and allows me to believe in myself.
My time in Kenya has helped me realize how there is a healthy balance between stress and work. In our group, we have talked a lot about “African time“ meaning that our plans fluctuate as needed based on others. I have come to accept that time is of the essence in my day-to-day life, though my motivator was the expectations and opinions of other people which often influenced my ability to get tasks done, my mental and physical well-being, how well I could get the task done, etc. I find that I have been able to succeed in my efforts on this trip in a way that I have forgotten how to do. African time doesn’t just affect our daily plan, it is also a way in which the focus of our work is switched from how fast we can get the work done. How can our work be done in the most effective manner? This shift in mindset has proven [beneficial] in the quality of my work, as well as alleviating the pressure of a time constraint.
My time in Kenya has helped me realize that just because sometimes life is different from mine, does not mean their life is worse.
