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Crossing Cultural Boundaries with Creative Planning

We had only been in Zambia for one week and already we felt at home with the warmth we had been shown. Our journey took us to the Banani School located just outside of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. It is one of the few schools providing secondary classes for young women. It was started by Jane and Michael Richmond, who both worked for the Ba'hai Institute. Starting with only a large plot of land and lots of imagination, the school has grown over the past ten years into one of the country's finest educational institutions providing high quality education for a segment of the population that is often disadvantaged because of gender.

We were impressed with the impact the Richmonds had had as we walked through the surrounding villages. The school provided high quality jobs for many people and was clearly seen as a positive influence in the local economy. Beyond that, Michael seemed to have made a habit of visiting with local people and he was well liked by the folks we met in the surrounding area. I went with Michael on one such walk-about and saw first hand the respect he was given by local officials.

Our friend, Kim Richmond, Michael's sister, had been working at the school for one year. A few months earlier, she had suggested the school could benefit from the facilitation skills we had. We were already coming as volunteers in a health project, so readily agreed to offer what help we could. The school had been through a tremendous growth period and the staff was ready to take stock of their accomplishments and consider their future potential. New leadership was emerging as Michael had left for other challenges in nearby Lusaka and the school's interim Principal, Nancy Oloro, had enthusiastically accepted our offer of facilitation help and was curious about the Creative Planning Dialogue method.

As we talked about the principles behind the Creative Planning Dialogue, I could see she felt at home with the concepts being described. The notion that representatives from all sections of the school, including maintenance workers, security personnel and students, fit well with one of the primary goals of the sessions - inclusiveness. So after some discussion, we set a date for a pre-planning session to get clear on what question the school would like to focus on and the outcomes they desired from the session. The fact I had brought yellow stickies and red dots from Canada generated a few good laughs.

Some of the school's department heads, (Mr. Augry Malambo, Mr. Anthony Mkomba and Mr. MDomingo), together with Ms. Oloro scoped out the overall question we would focus on and determined that the participants should encompass a wide range of staff. We formed a steering committee to take care of the logistical arrangements (e.g. invitations, room, refreshments, etc.).

News spread quickly through the school that a new process called the Creative Planning Dialogue was going to be used. Curiosity was high about the new folks who had arrived, but cultural values kept people from asking us directly about what we were offering. Instead we were asked where we were from and what tribe we were a part of. The pre-planning session generated even more enthusiasm and by the time we had finished designing the large session, everyone believed this would be a unifying experience that could help the school's transition into the next decade.

Approximately 30 people representing most facets of the school's operation attended the larger session. The question we considered was how staff members could contribute to the overall development of the school. After the usual caution and learning curve of how to participate in a Creative Planning Dialogue, participants began enthusiastically using this unique experience to share their perspectives on the challenges facing the school and possible avenues for building an even stronger foundation. I was impressed by the accessibility of this process. Participants had a range of literacy skills and those with limited written skills were assisted by others to help get their ideas across.

I have since spoken with Kim Richmond and she believes the sessions helped unify the staff and prepare them as they moved through the transition from the building stage to ensuring the institution continues to thrive through the next decade. Ms. Mehri Rouhani believed the session helped staff understand more about other people's work and that they have "applied much of what they learned in the session".

The Banani school is now an intricate part of the local economy and provides needed employment. It's well being is very important to the local community. However, the schools impact goes well beyond the local region. Given the challenges facing the country, developing the potential for well educated leadership may prove to be an important contribution of the school to the future of Zambia. Mr. David Smith, the school's new Principal, and his dedicated staff at Banani should be proud of their accomplishments over the past decade and we wish them well for the future.