Recently, the Uttarakhand Cluster in India gathered together for a ‘Linking 2 Learn’ conference for the first time since the pandemic. Cluster mobiliser RAJ KUMAR shares what it was about and how it went..
How often do you have Linking 2 Learn sessions in-person? We usually have two physical Linking 2 Learn (L2L) sessions every year. This was the first physical L2L since Covid-19. The pandemic made it difficult for us to have in-person gatherings but fortunately we were still able to hold meetings and encourage each other via Zoom.
What was your L2L about? We always get together and think about the needs that are in the community. In this instance, we realized that disability inclusion should go beyond organizations and into the church. Therefore, we settled on the topic ‘Disability Inclusion in our Christian Communities.’ We wanted to motivate local lay leaders to create disability inclusion programmes in their churches so that people with disabilities feel included in the community.
Amazing! How was it? It was successful beyond what we had imagined! We opened it up not only to Cluster members, but to other leaders who were interested. Our goal was to have 70 people but 100 people attended! The speakers and teachers in the L2L knew what it was like living with disability and were able to connect with the disabled through sharing their life stories. The L2L also gave Cluster leaders the opportunity to come together and fellowship! It was generally a great experience for everyone and was more successful than we had expected.
That’s great to hear Raj! I’m glad that so many people turned up! The number was more than we had anticipated which meant that the costs went up. But we are grateful because God provided for those additional costs!
Wonderful! Now that the L2L is over, what happens next? During the L2L, we split people into small groups based on their locations. We then asked the groups to plan for what they would do in the next six months. Each group has a leader whom we can connect and follow up with. Our goal is for these groups to run and lead disability programmes in their local areas as we provide assistance, resources and training to them.
That’s great! Now that life is going back to normal, will you meet often? Yes! Other than meeting with the larger groups twice a year, we will continue to meet as smaller groups to plan ahead and work together with member organizations.
Thank you for sharing Raj! We wish you all the best.
L2L sessions are opportunities for Clusters to learn about different topics in an effort to improve community health and wellbeing.
As a member within our network, we have online L2Ls every first Wednesday of the month. Click HERE to watch the previous L2L recording on Coaching.