1. “Together, how will we begin to host and
harvest conversations
that matter in service of Kenya’s future?”
Day three - BLOSSOM
Check in - welcoming new people
Teaching - Divergent Convergent
and designing spaces for hosting
Pro Action Cafe on two projects:
Mango girls secondary schools and
Food Systems in Kenya
Check out and witnessing circle
3 days of nurturing seeds for Kenya
Art of Hosting Kenya 2013
Three days of nurturing seeds for Kenya, learning the Art of Hosting
and Harvesting conversations, and looking courageously into the future.
Thank you for the generous support and sponsorship from Caritas Austria.

2. Day one - ROOTS
Why are we here and what do you remember?
Welcome - frame - check in
Teaching the different levels of Art of Hosting - signing up for practice
Remembering our stories - when did you feel proud to be Kenyan?
What supports strong roots in Kenya and what do we dream of?
Being in conversation about Kenya and our work
Feeding forward from yesterday - Four Fold Practice
What practices sustain and nourish us, what are our learning edges?
World Cafe: What time time is it in Kenya? What role can we play in
creating the future we want to see?
Open Space - Check out
Day two - TRUNK
Day three - BLOSSOM
Check in and feedforward - welcoming new people
Teaching: Divergence Convergence and Design
ProAction Cafe on two projects: Mango Girls Secondary School and Food
Systems in urban growing centers in Kenya
Check out and witnessing circle
Everybody is a teacher,everybody is a student.Our roots are the same
How to involve community in
solving their problems?
Check in
How to resolve conflict of land and water so we can move forward?
How to involve community
in solving their problems?
Participatory
leadership, what is
working, can we bring
back what we’ve lost?
Be better change makers.
What’s my path in this world?
Building bridges. I know
how to do this
Change the way that
education works. Involve
children in decision
making
How can we localise Art
of Hosting and make it
simple?
This is a personal
work journey
We are loosing our essence.
Can we remember with the
current pace of Africa?
Who are you and what inspired you to say yes to
this invitation?

3. Consolata’s story was about the
presidential award she received in
2008 for the community work she
did with the NGO called Mango
Tree. The award was for helping
people to improve their lives and
empowering them to take care of
orphans in the community. The
Prime Minister wrote to Mango Tree
that this was a model that should be
replicated not only in Kenya but also
in other African countries.
THE GANG
WHAT DO YOU DREAM OF NOW FOR KENYA?
CHARISMATIC LEADERS WHO LOOK AT NEEDS AND RESPOND
WITH LOVE AND CARE. A MORE UNITED KENYA NOT TRIBAL
DIVIDED. A LESS POLITICAL SOCIETY WHERE WE COME UP
WITH OUR OWN SOLUTIONS - A SENSE OF PRIDE
Story telling
Consolata’s role model was her mother, a very inspiring woman full of faith
and a big heart for people. She believed in discovering the good in
everybody. Inspired by God she first became a nun and her motto was to
listen and talk to people, mobilize resources and to educate. Then she felt
she could do more outside the structure of the convent and studied Social
Ministry. After graduation, Mango Tree International hired her. She wants to
bring back African models of childcare, putting children in orphanages is not
good. The children are loosing their roots. It is much better that they are
kept in their community. “How did Africa deal with the poor and orphans in
the past?”. Finding African solutions to African problems.

4. How to involve community in
solving their problems?
This is a personal
work journey
Hosting ourselves - The Four Fold Practice
WHAT IS THE EDGE OF
LEARNING I AM STANDING ON
RIGHT NOW?
DOING MORE OF WHAT I KNOW
NOT LEARNING MORE
PRACTICING PATIENCE AND STOP
POINTING FINGERS AT MYSELF
GETTING OUT OF MY HEAD
LETTING IT BE, JUST BE ME
GET MY PRIORITIES RIGHT AND
ORGANISE MY TIME BETTER
THE WORLD VIEW IS SO DIFFICULT
TO LET GO OF
WHERE DO I FIT IN KENYA OR
EGYPT?
NOT BEING A PERFECTIONIST
FINDING MY NEXT LEVEL OF
LEADERSHIP
HOW DO I CHOOSE?
WHAT NURTURES US WHEN
THE GOING GETS TOUGH?
BEAUTY
CHI GONG
MOVEMENTS
MEDITATION
MY LIFE FORCE, MY ROCK, MY
ANCHOR
JOY
LIGHT
GRATITUDE
PRAYER
GOING SLOW
TOUCHING THE SOIL
LEARNING TO BE OK
SEEING GOOD IN PEOPLE

5. World Café
We need to start
from where we are
Linkage and bridges
Being fire-keepers
Ecosystem as a
container to host us
No borders
Catalysts for change
Build love, peace and
harmony
We are all connected
Women are magic
GOLD NUGGETS
Open Space
Power napping
Working in spaces/places where
hope is lost
32
Open Space Technology (OST)
Open Space Technology is a process designed to facilitate parallel
working/dialogue sessions around a central theme of strategic
importance. Participants create and manage their own agenda
by convening and engaging around issues of concern to them.
This dynamic process invites people to boldly speak to their
passion and take the lead in stewarding its development toward the
collective vision. The outcome of each conversation is reported
back to the whole group to bring everyone up to speed with
possibilities and opportunities for collaboration. It can be used
for strategic direction-setting, envisioning the future, morale
building, stakeholder consultation, and collaboration. OST may be
less suited as an opening methodology, prior to the group getting
more comfortable with working together and in participatory ways.
‘Discovered’ by Harrison Owen.
The Weave – Dialogue-Based Methodologies
Conversations between people of conflicting interests
How can we make the AOH practice grow in Kenya?
How to hold space for cultural awesomeness?
Creating and maintaining healthy conversation between
people of conflicting interests?
How do you hold a space when one individual’s mission is
to destroy/destabilise?
31
ple into
eaking
ements,
g of all.
at times
ocus
gs the
ention
ment,
rson
o any
here?’ It
are why
sional
ith me
World Café (WC)
The World Cafe is a collective conversation with an overarching
theme. Participants move between conversation clusters (café-
style tables) in successive rounds (usually three), sharing ideas
and insights. A “host” remains at each table to share key insights
and questions with new participants in each round, and harvest
the final results. Often used early in a process, World Café creates
the space for individual relationships of trust and transparency
to form. Within a very short time, every person in the room will
have had deep conversation with as many as twelve others. There
are many times throughout an engagement where the benefits
of dialogue in a ‘Café’ setting can bring clarity to the collective
intelligence of the group. It can be useful at the earlier stages of the
engagement, for example, to explore sustainability in the context of
the participants’ personal and professional lives, to surface current
strengths and challenges, or for a high level sustainability principles
analysis. This methodology is also suggested as appropriate for
reconvening to assess progress on the strategic action plan. Co-
founded by Juanita Brown and David Isaacs.
The Weave – Dialogue-Based Methodologies
SESSIONS:
What’s happening in Kenya and what role can we play to contribute to the future
we want to see?
What do I want to explore further in more depth ?

6. How to involve community in
solving their problems?
ProAction Café
HARVEST
TIME TO WALK AROUND AND TRAVEL BACK
AND SEE WHERE WE CAME FROM. TIME TO
SHARE HOW WE ARE FEELING NOW AFTER
THREE DAYS OF BEING WITH EACH OTHER
IN LEARNING, EXPLORING AND SHARING
OUR KNOWLEDGE, PASSION AND SKILLS.
32
Open Space Technology (OST)
Open Space Technology is a process designed to facilitate parallel
working/dialogue sessions around a central theme of strategic
importance. Participants create and manage their own agenda
by convening and engaging around issues of concern to them.
This dynamic process invites people to boldly speak to their
passion and take the lead in stewarding its development toward the
collective vision. The outcome of each conversation is reported
back to the whole group to bring everyone up to speed with
possibilities and opportunities for collaboration. It can be used
for strategic direction-setting, envisioning the future, morale
building, stakeholder consultation, and collaboration. OST may be
less suited as an opening methodology, prior to the group getting
more comfortable with working together and in participatory ways.
‘Discovered’ by Harrison Owen.
Pro Action Café (PC)
This process was developed to deepen the level of inquiry into spe
projects, leading to wiser and more collectively informed actions.
a relatively new methodology that combines the conversation clus
and rounds of World Café with the participant created agenda of O
Space Technology. Participants bring their specific projects to t
rounds of deep and focused conversation to discuss the ‘quest’ beh
the question, what might be missing and the next steps toward act
It is well-suited for the strategic prioritization and action plann
stages, bringing the added benefit of cross-pollinating projects
insights and ideas from different departments within an organizat
or different viewpoints within a community. Its strength lies in
deep level of inquiry into a specific project, the opportunity to ac
a diverse range of perspectives to strengthen the outcome, and
resulting awareness of the scope of projects within the group. Th
methodology was originally developed by Art of Hosting practitio
Rainer von Leoprechting and Ria Beck for use in policy making w
the European Commission.
The Weave – Dialogue-Based Methodologies

7. “ANYONE WHO CREATES MAGIC
IS MY FRIEND.”
“BEHIND THOSE CHILDISH EYES
THERE IS A SHARP MIND.”
“YOU HAVE TAKEN ENCHANTED
PATH AND YOUR PASSION
CALLS FOR THAT.”
Witnessing circle,
offering and receiving gifts
and checking out:
“IT HAS BEEN THE TRUTH I
HAVE BEEN SPEAKING.”
“AFRICAN MAMA WITH A
BIG HEART.”
“I don’t know where I’m going but the
journey is wonderful”. “I don’t know
where you’re going either but the people
who will meet you we’ll be blessed to
have you.”
“You are an inquisitive catalyst for change.
You have a permanent smile and beautiful
eyes. You are deeply connected to your
roots, you are humble and caring. Kenya
needs a lot of you.”
“NOW YOU HAVE SOME MATES
TO ORGANISE THE NEXT ART
OF HOSTING. YOU ARE SO
RESILIENT AND HAVE A BIG
HEART.”
“I am in love with you. You are a beam of
light and an inspiration to your students.”
“YOU ARE A FIRE CRACKER,
ENERGETIC FREE SPIRIT. YOU
B R I N G S U R P R I S E S A N D
UNPREDICTABILITY, HEALTHY
CRAZINESS. A LIVING WILD
WOMAN.”
“You are a young
energy, don’t be
afraid of yourself.”
“You are like Mercury, so resilient.
Great things were started by few
people.”
“You are an amazing woman with a brightfuture for Kenya. You are always lookingfor the goodness within people.”
“You are a down to earth
person, a fire carrier. You
have a good smile.”
Work like this, feels for
me so light and right
It is a miracle!
It was a joy to be here
I could be myself
I will never be the same
Thank you
It was very natural
I am very glad to
experience
Art of Hosting life
Unique is that I will
remember the
importance of reflection
You get a deeper level
The real needs that needs
To be done
You made me feel
Myself again. We were
Authentic and true
It’s been a journey. I
Will use it to enrich my
Work
I really don’t know
Where I am going, but it
is filled with richness
There was a place for
Silence, to reflect, to be.
It made me fall in love
with Kenya again.

8. CONTACT DETAILS:
Contact details for AoH Kenya:
Judith Stemerdink-Herret
Tel +254 788 516 866
aohinkenya@gmail.com
Contact details hosting team:
Linda Joy Mitchell
www.lindajoymitchell.org.uk
linda@lindajoymitchell.org.uk
Silas Lusias
slusias@gmail.com
Art of Hosting international webpage:
www.artofhosting.org
www.artofhosting.ning.com