How it all started©

My Life my Purpose

When I take a deep look into life and try to describe it, I realize that it is an evolution and connection of different chapters that have made up to where and what I am today.

I would love to share a bit of my AIESEC chapter with you, as you might find it a bit useful.

One decision that led to a continous journey of achievements, fulfillments and a future

In year 2000 when I got into the University, you know young, flamboyant and ready to rock and roll, I really didn't know what I wanted in life, it just felt nice being in the university and I just wanted to have fun and that was it. However, one faithful afternoon I met a group of students dancing and really trying to get a lot of attention to themselves... noticed they all wore face caps with a similar logo so I knew they were from an organization and so I tested out my curiosity by going over for a brief probe. Well to cut the long story short... this was how I met AIESEC members who were actually doing a recruitment campaign. When I made the decision to join AIESEC I had no clarity of what I was going into... I just saw it as a place where I can get some fun and that was it.

Precisely 20 months after I had joined AIESEC and already attended close to 8 AIESEC National conferences my highest motivation was still derived from fun and parties, although I learnt a bit but learning wasn't a priority at that time, and to top it up I was from the worst performing LC having over 120 LC Members yet we could not achieve any results. (we didn't really care because we didn't even know what to do).

The turning point came when my LC was closed down in January 2002 (20 months after I had joined AIESEC) at my 8^th National Conference due to non-performance. That was when I realized that I had been in the organization for the wrong reasons and after realizing this and the fact that my LC was however dear to me I said to myself that I will not be part of a failure and I decided not to let go but go further and do what is right to help my LC regain its membership.

I ran as LCP for 2002/2003 term and won. It was my first strategic role ever in my life. I was faced with real challenges of making sustainable decisions in a place where I had so many friends; a lot of people were going to get hurt because a lot of restructuring had to be done, but I was driven by passion and the determination to make a difference than by what people would say. This was where I began to learn the responsibility of leadership. Cutting the story short, my dream was actualized at the end of the year and my LC had realized 7 exchanges from 0 exchanges in the previous 4 years and that year I won the Most Outstanding Leader Award.

This is where the aspirations and ambition of Kenoma became strengthened because I could now feel and see the value of taking an active role in my own learning - and the key secret was "learning by doing"

A lot of things continued to happen after this great achievement, but sorry there is not space to share them in details. In 2004/2005 I became MCVP Exchange, 2005/2006 I became MCP and African Growth Network Chair and I spent this last year here in Switzerland as an External Relations Manager along side with doing an Internship with the United Nations, where I currently work as a consultant.

This is just a summary of a 7-year AIESEC Experience and a lot has not been said… But what I really want to get across is this: What made the difference for me was one single decision that I made – to run for LCP in order to save my LC. And because I paid attention to the principles of self-driven learning (through challenging my world view, increasing my theoretical and practical experiences, creating a network of contact and self reflection) I have now seen so much more and learnt so much more than I could have earlier imagined.

Learning is a continuous process …. AIESEC has a lot to offer you, but that responsibility of what you get out lies only in your hands.

You are privileged to know this now. If I had known earlier I wouldn't have wasted my first 20 months but I am lucky I didn't fall out along the line… because a lot of people did.

Your time is now!!!! Make the best use of it.

 

Still More to come