Publicity
Reflection: Seika Kimizuka
Seika Kimizuka, who played outstandingly as an intern, reflects on Asian Young Women’s Leadership Development Seminar in Indonesia 2018 she participated in.
The reason why I participated in Asian Young Women’s Leadership Development Seminar in Indonesia 2018 as an intern is that I had a strong interest in women’s empowerment, which is one of the missions of Wesley Foundation. I took part in Asian Young Women’s leadership Seminar held in Cambodia three years ago, and I have deepened my consideration of resolving the issue of poverty since then. Continued learning about it even after the seminar enhanced my interest in empowerment and I was given a desire to commit more to Wesley Foundation to understand its mission, so that I determined to participate in the seminar as an intern.
An intern differs from participants in that he/she must always grasp all about the situation and take actions. In the preparatory stage, I mainly did desk work such as arranging booklets to be used, managing participants’ flight schedules, making a name list of the participants, and supporting the five Japanese attendees by communicating and assisting them to do their assignments. I had difficulty in time allocation to proceed with all of them simultaneously. Moreover, it was hard to convey and understand messages by written words without face to face communication in sharing the information.
During the seminar, I set up rooms and prepared the necessary stuffs for lectures to be given in order to allow the programs to proceed smoothly. I also asked the lecturer and the participants whether they needed some help and responded personally to them. Flexibility and calm judgment were required too in the case that a sudden change in schedule and creating new slides were requested. In the process of engaging in the various kinds of tasks from the preparatory stage as an intern, I learned that a leader goes through a series of patience, calmness, decision-making and practice.
I not only deepened my learning but also got aware of my own gifts through the internship. One of them is drawing. I was given an opportunity to design a cover of the booklet. I have never been trained but I have loved to draw since I was in kindergarten. When those who had looked at my drawing used for the booklet told me that I had the gift, I recognized that drawing could be a gift. Since taking photos is also my hobby I took pictures during the training for the record, which ended up being appreciated by the participants. The unexpected gratitude made me surprised and aware of another gift of mine.
I could challenge myself thanks to the various opportunities given through the internship at Wesley Foundation. I could find out my own strengths and gifts by being trusted with the assigned tasks, so I would like to use and develop them further.
Besides, the word “You do not need to take an all-or-nothing approach” I received enabled me to realize the significance of challenging even if I cannot do perfectly. The internship made grow my desire of becoming the one who can empower others. With the aim of realizing it, I would like to enhance my experience and knowledge, and to challenge new things with being afraid of nothing.