Waterfalls, Strategic Plans and Lake Victoria is Rising

 

My visit this year is short and has a discrete purpose, which is to implement the strategic plan I had a hand in developing since 2022. While in Australia most businesses would have an understanding of planning, in a church environment with most staff with little business comprehension, it posed a challenge. So as  I pondered this and how to convey how planning works I decided to start at the top with the leadership team of five.

Implementing the Strategic Plan

To explain their role I used a video to start showing a waterfall cascading down over a number of falls.

So after showing the video I asked the question how is this like a strategic plan? The diocesan secretary who has a number of degrees and has taught at university explained it as the top of the falls representing the strategic plan and going down to the next level in the diocese and then again to the next level. My point was made. The rest of the session was spent discussing the practicalities of implementation - meeting individually with each of them to develop a divisional plan for their areas and then meeting them again with their leaders and developing unit plan for each school, organisation and agency across the area. All up there should be something like 23 plans. We finished by setting a calendar to meet with each individually over the next week.

The Leadership Team discussing the plan and how to roll it out

Thursday and Friday were spent with the Education Secretary and the Development and Link Officer, assisting them prepare a three year plan for their directorates which covers schools and vocational colleges, agricultural activities and more. This was more straightforward than I had anticipated. I left them with drafts and the task of coordinating dates to meet with the staff of each of their areas to develop local business plans. 

Melina the Development Officer and I discussing her area's plan

Lake Victoria

The house where I am staying used to have views of Lake Victoria but since 2019 when the lake began rising, reeds started growing where once there was grass and maize growing - an area of at east 4-5 metres from the edge of the Lake. Since about 2019 the lake has been growing and rose 1.32 metres in 2020 resulting in houses near here being flooded and the road from here to the lake being impassable.  When I looked outside a window this week, I saw the lake has actually come to the boundary of the house. Last time the house here remained habitable as it is built up about 30cm but to actually see the water surrounding the rear and side of the house and covering planted banana trees indicates the significant changes attributed I am told to El Nino.

The garden with planted banana trees

Side of the house

From the rear of the house

Saturday is lunch at Rehema the cafe established many years ago by Amy Vink, former CMS worker here.Heather from England now helps manage the cafe and sewing centre. The cafe is the only western menu from Mwanza to the Kenyan border, about five hours drive. So it was pork and rice today. And that is the wrap for week one.