Join me in Kigali, July 16-21, 2023
How do you learn best? As the parent of a child with learning disabilities, I have thought about this question so much over the last 12 years. In experiencing my child’s struggles—from my perspective, of course, because I know that I simply cannot understand from the inside how challenging and overwhelming the world must be for a person with my child’s very particular neural make up—I have come to understand so much more about my own learning.
I managed the challenges of typical schooling and the demands of academic learning just fine, even incredibly well. But I can see now that kinesthetic learning—that is, learning by doing something rather than just reading about it, or hearing it—is my preferred mode. I think this may be why activism, getting up and DOING something, is so engaging to me. It’s why I’m always up and about in my house, and have trouble sitting down to do something “relaxing.” It’s why I like cooking, crochet and sewing and crafting—I love the touch, the physical experience, the connections those activities allow me to make with myself and my mind. And it is a big part of why I love to travel and experience new places and cultures. Taking the leap to move to Thailand when I was 21, with the intention of volunteering with Empower Foundation in Bangkok (sight unseen) was the biggest leap I had ever taken, a full embrace of my kinesthetic learning style. To go and do and learn and be involved. I’m so glad to have looked inside myself and set myself on what I see now as a lifelong journey—to stand with feminist movements, to learn from people closest to challenges for their solutions, to shift my perspective and try to comprehend everything outside of myself by doing and being involved personally in it.
This style of learning, and the kind of energy I feel when I am immersed in an experience in this way is surely a big reason why I am so excited to be taking a group of people to the Women Deliver Conference in Kigali this summer. There is simply nothing like connecting, in person, with the activists, the thinkers, the artists and innovators who are visioning a new world. I am not only excited for my own opportunity to engage with thinkers and practitioners focused on issues of gender equity, reproductive health, youth organizing and climate justice, but even more to open space for others to learn, particularly those who have resources they can deploy to support this work and advocate for more resources to flow to it. Especially after nearly three years of pause on gatherings like these, I know that the energy is going to be immense—and we have a responsibility as a global community committed to change to make the most of it, to work together to find and fuel the ideas that are rising up in spite of the nihilistic avalanche crashing down around us. When we activate our energy with others who share our determination, we are unstoppable.
I hope that if the idea of getting out of your comfort zone, connecting with others who are on a journey to spark hope out of despair, and immersing yourself in the kinesthetic learning experience of this trip appeals to you, that you’ll get in touch with me. I will be leading the trip with Tracy Mack Parker, whose work with The Philanthropy Workshop, Women Moving Millions and her own Citizen Philanthropy is infused with joy and truly inspires me. It will be an amazing trip. I for one can’t wait.
