Carmel by the Sea

Took this photo this morning ...
Amazing beauty.

You can see Pebble Beach from where
I was. Awesome golf course.

Clint Eastwood sold this place a
few years ago, but they still serve
Dirty Harry Burgers!

The Biblical Garden at
The Church
of the Wayfarer.

The streets of Carmel.
One of my favorite places,
although the taxes here make
the cost of cigars quite high.

While there is a noise ordinance here,
it is evidently not strict enough.

The courtyard of the Lamp Lighter

Normandy Inn. The hotels here are
all funky, boutique places.

This is the Cypress Inn, owned by
Doris "Que Sera, Sera" Day. My favorite
hotel in Carmel.

The courtyard. Really cool place
especially when they have the fireplace
roaring. See the dog? I think
most everyone that lives here
owns a dog. Weird.

A few of the houses. The entire town
has the feel of a small town
in Austria.

This is my favorite house. It's at the
end of Ocean Ave. Some years
back I was here when the house
was up for sale: you could have picked
it up for 8.5 million.

Another view of the same house.

This is the view from walking toward
the ocean on Ocean Ave.

Leadership Development

The two workshops (one three-day for
eight trainers/coaches; the other,
two-days for twenty-five recipients
and potential recipients of micro-enterprise
loans) completed our
Leadership Development Trainings
that we began earlier in the year.

The focus in these trainings was on

The Basic Foundations of Communication
and Persuasion.

Purpose: To impart fundamental communication skills
that will increase the participant’s effectiveness.

The two critical learnings were
1) paying attention —listening—to your audience;
and 2) using what you have “heard” in
crafting a well-formed presentation based
on intended outcomes.

The coaches (see above photo)
were trained to be on the ground
support for the loan recipients.
It was amazing to see just how
far they had come from
six months ago.

“Listening,” of course, requires that
we engage
not only our ears but also
our eyes and our ability to sense
people’s present psychological states.
Most of the useful communication is
not spoken but, rather, seen and felt!
We used various exercises to demonstrate
not only the accuracy of this presupposition
but how to increase their calibration
--“listening”--
skills.

“Listening” also involves investigation:

Who is your audience?
Ages?
Education?
Economic status?
Gender?
Present psychological state?
(Eager to learn? Anxious? Skeptical? Etc.)

To attain the greatest possibility for
effective communication and persuasion,
the speaker will want to “hear” as much
as possible before crafting what she
is going to say.
And this is true whether it
is a conversation with one individual
or an audience of fifty people.

What do you want your
audience's to be feeling
as you are speaking?
Curious?
Frustrated?
Respect?
What?

What do you want tp
see them doing at the
end of your communication?

What do you want to hear them
saying as they walk away?

What do you want them
feeling as they walk away?

Now,
let;s craft a presentation
that will accomplish
this!

While my emphasis was on skill,
Davide’s was on character.
Davide is somewhat like an
Italian Socrates

If the individual does not have a mindset
(beliefs, attitudes, and such) that will
support the skills, then the
individual’s ability to effectively
utilize those skills will be severely restricted.

Some of the conversations focused on

Power v Influence,
Preaching v Conversation, and
Fear of Mistakes.

Up until recently,
it was the practice
of local schools
where
if a student received,
say, a 70 out of possible 100
on a math exam,
he or she would
receive 30 lashes with a cane:
1 lash for each error.
Do you think this might make
people a tad nervous
about the process of learning??

The feedback from those trained
has been incredibly encouraging.
While we will monitor the actual
results--success in business,
pay-back-ratio of loans given,
the effectiveness of local coaches--
I have no doubt that these people
are making quantum leaps
not only in their level of skill
but in making the kind of
internal adjustments
to their mindsets that
will have an enormoous
impact on every area of
their lives.

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008

Nakuru: A Day Off Before Workshop Begins

CJ, Davide and Monte at the Equator

We decided to have some fun
on our only day off and show CJ the sites
around our campground at Lake Nakuru

Tuckered out after a day in the mud

Bored with the tourists

Before

After

Nakuru: Dedicating Newly Drilled Water Wells

We came into Nakuru a few days before the workshop
begins, so that Davide could dedicate two wells
provided by the charity he manages:
Comitato Mani Aperte

The first ceremony begins with the school children
who would directly benefit from the water
singing and dancing their way toward us.
They sing about how important clean water is to them,
(Sixty-percent of all diseases there are water born)
They sing about how grateful they are for the water

One of the song and dances is about the prevention of
AIDS and how, if you do not do all you can do to
prevent it, you will DIE ... and as they sing the
word "die," they lean way back and slide
their right hands across their throats in a slicing
motion, as if they are cutting their throats
with a knife. Pretty Dramatic, eh?!?

Davide and David Maina (Life Water Kenya)
dedicating water well.

Davide sharing with the people how grateful
we are to be able to serve them
by providing the clean water so necessary
to their health and well-being.

CJ Doner joined us for
the first four days
of our trip.

Each of us were asked to plant a tree
as part of the dedication ceremony.
CJ decides to act as if the ground is made
of stone, which the children thought was
hilarious. He has an amazing ability
for connecting with children.

Two Firsts fpr me:

I had never participated in a dedication service
where the children, en masse, came in on
their day off!

This group of children wrote a poem for
me and Davide extolling our greatness and
generosity in bringing them clean water.

At least that is what David Maina told us:
Not knowing Swahili, they could have been saying
"Are you believing these two White Boys made
us come to school on a holiday?!?!?"

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008

Your Unique Path

I am listening to a man tell another man what path he should take in life. It started out as some sort of career-oriented discussion, but quickly shifted to a discussion of the younger man’s journey through life. On one hand, I am impressed by the subject matter: how many people go through life without giving a single thought to the meaning and purpose of their individual life-- without a thought given to why they are here, at this time, in this place? On the other hand, I am a bit miffed at how easily the older gentleman is holding-forth on his opinion as to the correct path for his younger friend.

“Paths” are unique. Your path is your path, and not his path. Others may have wisdom regarding what to look for, what you may want to avoid, etc., but no one can discover and map out the path of another human being.

One of the first stories I read of the Holy Grail was where Arthur and his Knights are sitting at the Round Table waiting for their meal. Arthur was concerned that his men were getting a bit soft, losing the sense of purpose and mission that had forged them all together years before. Finally, he announced that they were not going to eat until something magical occurred, something that would reawaken their vision.

After considerable time, the Holy Grail appeared before them, hovering in the air. As it floated around the table the Knights were in absolute awe, stunned by the miraculous apparition. Once the Grail disappeared, it was agreed upon that they would all go on a Quest to find this chalice.

At this point of the story, Sir Percivale said that while the Knights most definitely should go on the Quest, it would be ignoble if they went as a group. Rather, what they each should do is make their own way. And then, as the story is told, it is said that each Knight went to the deepest, darkest part of the forest they could find, where there were no other paths, and there they would enter and begin their Quest.

From a Christian perspective: It was the same Quest (knowing the True God), the same Holy Grail (encountering the God who is Light, Life and Love), the same forest (God’s kingdom)…but different paths. It is the same for each of us. Each of our stories will have many similarities but are, at the same time, quite unique. Your path to the Grail will be your path. You will learn from the journeys of others, but at the end of the day, your Quest will be unique. +

Today I depart for Kenya. Davide and I will be facilitating a training on Communication and Persuasion for young entrepreneurs in Nakuru. Won't be posting any more blogs for at least 2 weeks.

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008

The Acropolis of Athens

The Parthenon, built in 5th century BC

As you walk up to Parthenon
a part of Proppaia Podium on
your left: it was used as a pedestal
for 4-horse chariot, erected by
Aggrippa

Just outside the entrance to the Parthenon
is the Theater of Dionysos

During the Olympics there would be
theatrical performances, dance, and music

Standing in front of Parthenon,
looking down on Mars Hill
where Paul first shared the
Good News of Jesus Christ
with the Greeks. Gutsy.

The Erechtheum

The Erechtheum and the 6 Caryatides

Sanctuary of Zeus