Wednesday April 23, 2014.

This Is The Social Innovation Safari! (Part 3)

Recently I got a chance to catch up with Bestoon from the Social Innovation Safari through Wats app where we got to share a lot. I pitched the idea of him sharing his experience during the Safari with us through an interview to be conducted through e-mail then to be shared on my blog and he responded to the proposal positively. Here are his accounts of the just ended East African Social Innovation Safari.

TG: This Safari was the first of its kind in East Africa. The participants and coaches were from all over the world.Having taken part up to the very end of it, are you positive that the insights imparted on participants are practicable in all disciplines and regions of the world?

Bestoon: Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely! I have to admit that in the beginning I was very hesitant and was pessimistic about the merger of my background and having to conduct this safari in a place like Kenya where I had never been to before. The different cultures at first did not look as able to harmonize to a beautiful cocktail that would offer a good learning experience. I was also asking myself how it would be to immerse myself into the African and Kenyan environment to face the situation here and problems for the first time. To my amazement, I ended up realizing that social issues are just similar in different settings if you look at them from the solution seeking angle. What’s even better is that the plans and strategies used by the organizers and coaches in the learning process can be interpreted to mean the same thing in any other language.

TG: Innovation is fast becoming one of the most sought after skills in the world right now. What were some of your assumptions about the term "social innovation" as you were coming to the Safari? The new insights after the process of innovation itself?

Bestoon: I was very impressed by the way the organizers and coaches presented the lessons about innovation for us to be able to easily learn about it in just ten days. I related the progress we made to the stages of conflict resolution. However, what makes social innovation different and more exciting than conflict resolution techniques is that while in conflict resolution the target is to simply stop the conflict, in social innovation, the solution that is looked for will produce a new process that will have a new effect and bring big benefits to all actors involved. This solution can then be adopted and replicated in other similar challenge situations that will be helped by the innovative inventions made earlier on. For example, in conflict resolution in Sudan, the process will also start with sensing the problem and going in until the impacting stage. The solution that the social innovation safari participants offered for the challenges at LVCT for example can be applied in a similar setting where an organization is seeking ways to have more females in rural areas to take part in their programs.

TG: Being that this was your first time in Africa, it is pretty obvious that some of the misconceptions you had been made to believe earlier on about Africa have been crossed out. Tell us about this

Bestoon: Oh yes! Even after I posted photos during the safari on Facebook, the people who had warned me against coming to Kenya claiming that I would be kidnapped as I left the airport for the town center for example couldn't believe that it was safe and good unlike they expected. Others even said that I would be pierced with pins if I walked past crowds of people and that if I sat on chairs in public places like a theater for example I would contract the HIV virus. The most outrageous warning was that if I was walking alone on the roads, I would be stripped naked and all my belongings stolen.  However, as I posted more photos during the safari, the same people became more interested and started asking me questions about Kenya.

TG: The world is moving fast towards cohesion and peace all in a bid to solve the challenges that face some of the "left behind societies". Africa, in the 20th century had been thought of as being left behind by the rest of the world as far as innovation and inventions were concerned. Having participated in this Social Safari where you got to interact and work together with Africans, what are your thoughts as far as Africans being able to formulate solutions for their problems is concerned?

Bestoon: If I could just make a pronunciation about that from my observations during the safari, I’d say that there is a new generation of young people in Africa who are breaking from the norm and are seeking alternative solutions to problems through innovative means. They are the main determinants of the trends and direction that will characterize development in Africa. It might take a lot of years to realize this kind of change but having a spark is better than the whole darkness.


TG: Any way you would want to apply what you have learnt during the Safari in your home country, work place or personal life?

Bestoon: I have learned during the safari that for a long time now I have been trying to reach solutions to problems in a random and not systematic manner. I was actually excited when we started learning to realize that these were things I had actually tried to employ somewhere before, just that I wasn’t systematic and orderly. From this point on I’ll be sure to solve my problems more systematically.


TG: The activities during the Safari brought out the best from the participants. Having a background in medicine and health practice yourself, did you always relate to the tasks at hand?

Bestoon: I knew about HIV and sexuality in its very medical and biological definition, but engaging in researches and study plans on how to educate and share knowledge about this science and applying the social innovation steps to solve issues related to health care systems for example opened my eyes in a way. There is more to be explored.


TG: You are quite a globe-trotter yourself, where is your next destination?

Bestoon: I believe it will be the USA.


TG: Anything else you would like to add. 

Bestoon: I would like to say that I was fascinated with the life and the people in Nairobi. Ever since the moment I arrived in Iraq, my friends and relatives here are asking me about Kenya. My answer to them has been very simple, that I learned many things from them, and I am still learning from the memories I have of that place.