CLP at Norte Vista International Teleconference

On January 13, 2011, CLP held an international teleconference on the Norte Vista High School Campus. For the most part, I think that the event succeeded immensely and that we all learned a lot from the event.

The event was originally scheduled for January 10th, but due to some issues with the school and finding a space on campus to host our event, it was pushed back several days. For the most part, the schedule change helped us as we were better able to prepare and gave us a chance to breathe a bit.

The interns came up with this schedule, one that we thought would be the most efficient and helpful for the parents and students who showed up.

6:00 PM: We arrive at NoVi to set up and make sure everything is working well.
~ Hand out questions cards to people as they arrive
~ Pick up the cards and sort through them. Select the questions we will be asking Sam.
6:30 PM: Brief SU2I information session by Serkadis and I.
7:00 PM: Start the teleconference with Sam (with Serkadis reading the questions, Gilbert/Karla translating).
8:00 PM: Wrap-up begins.
8:30 PM: Clean up and we're finished!

Since Sam was in India during the planning, we (the intern team) did our best with planning and trying to think about any issues that would come up. We knew who could make it, what their roles were, what the plan was, and how we wanted to execute it. Sam and I Skyped the night before to ensure that there would be no problems connecting to one another, testing out the sound and video quality. Overall, we felt satisfied with our preparation and I felt that we had planned as well as possible, given the time limits.

However, nothing ever goes according to plan and that was something we truly learned that night. First, when I arrived at NoVi, I was told that my computer (a Macbook) would not work because the adapter would not work with it. Therefore, we switched to Sara's computer (that she brought as a backup in case there were problems with my computer), which did not have a webcam. This meant that we would be able to see Sam and everyone else in India, but that they would not be able to see us. We had not prepared for this possibility and, to be truthful, I started freaking out a bit. This was also augmented by the fact that there was some confusion about the purpose of teleconference. There was apparently some miscommunication about how there was a teleconference and a separate parent night (for SU2I information), which showed the lack of communication that had occurred.

Even though we had planned it all out, the technical problems became first in our minds and we abandoned the schedule as we began worrying more and more. In hindsight, I should have been better about trying to keep the event on schedule, despite any slight hiccups, as it left the youth and parents feeling as though we had no clue what we were doing. Thankfully, a parent was able to assist us in fixing the problems and we were able to start the teleconference, albeit later than we had planned.

Not surprisingly, the youth had a hard time at first asking questions, which was expected. However, after we had the youth introduce themselves to the webcam, many seemed to slowly open up. By the end, we had students who were eagerly answering question posed by the partners in India and we were forced to stopped due to time running out. It was amazing seeing how excited they all were, as it the reality of the program and SU2I became more apparent to them. These were the people that they would be meeting if they became part of SU2I. Another great aspect was being able to see how supportive the parents were, as they spoke of how glad they were that their children were involved in CLP. It felt amazing knowing that the youth and their parents believe in what we are doing, which makes all of the work truly worth it. While we were cleaning up, I was able to talk with a few of the students and they seemed excited about CLP and SU2I, especially with July looming closer and closer. Overall, the event was a success because it made everyone, including me, much more excited about the reality that we are going to India in a few months. It is going to be an amazing and difficult few months, but I feel ready for the challenge with the CLP team and the NoVi youth and families.