First Day on the Job at Obzside Adventure Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

by Kate Fleming

The first day of my internship was exciting, yet stressful.  I got to work that morning hardly knowing what to expect and left that afternoon with my first project successfully completed…victory! I first met with Sean, my boss, who oriented me to the office, and told me what was expected of me.  Then he put me straight to work. I was in charge of going to backpackers’ hotels and hostels all throughout Cape Town and talking with them to make sure the backpackers book their scuba adventures through Obzside.
So, on my first day, my project was to make a display for the brochures. Sean showed me my computer and told me to get to work…I sat there staring at a blank screen for a solid twenty minutes considering why I didn’t brush up on my Photoshop skills before I came to work… “Oh, THAT’S right….I have NEVER USED Photoshop!” Sean nonchalantly mentioned that he thought it would be nice if the project was completed by this afternoon, and so there I was again having an “oh s*** I am in Africa” moment… feeling lost, beads of sweat starting to form on my upper lip, and looking at the plain white, empty document gazing back at me from the computer screen, when all of a sudden, another employee asked if I wanted to go catch some lunch. I think I was out the door before he even finished the question. I am sure he thought I was the fat girl who had only been in the office for an hour and already jetted for the door when there was mention of “food” …but oh well…I wasn’t going to get anything done sitting at that desk, might as well have a scrumptious snack to kick start my brain-right?
     Well, I got back from my lunch break and got to work, starting to push and play with random buttons in Photoshop and decided to use a combination of old Obzside projects from the computer AND my creative juices. As it turned out, I finished the brochure display by 4:30 pm and was very happy with the work.  I started that first day feeling completely ill-prepared and under qualified, and now I am leaving this organization with a full portfolio of Photoshop projects and a lot more confidence.
     When I first arrived I was little hazy on how I could make an impact at Obzside Scuba Diving Club because it seemed to be a perfectly functioning business. But after about a week of going to meetings, observing, and talking to other employees I realized there were many things in the organization that needed improvement. I thought my ideas to fix these problems were relatively simple, but when I presented them to my boss, he was shocked at how “right on” my suggestions were. I think that just being an outsider gave me an advantage. They had been struggling with a brochure for months, but all they needed were fresh eyes and an outsider’s new perspective to make it a success. I also think that coming from the US I have a different perspective on the business environment, so my international ideas paired with their knowledge of South African business flourished into a recipe for success.
     The most important benefit of my internship has been to gain real life experience in a business environment. This has been my first internship and it was not what I had expected. I was unaware how much work interns were expected to do, but I rose to the challenge and am so thankful I was out in the business world working hand in hand with business executives and not that girl in the office making copies and serving coffee. Even more important than just gaining real life experience has been doing it abroad. I feel now that if I can survive in the South African business environment, I can survive anywhere. I not only had to move across the world alone, adapt to culture differences in both the social and business environments, and make new friends, but I had to work. On the professional level I have flourished. I am confident when speaking with people at higher levels than I am, and I no longer look to Sean for approval with everything I do. And through this professional development I have acquired several positive personal skills: I have become sovereign, self-assured, and have gained more experience in 3 months than most people do in 3 years.

 

Turkeys don’t like Motorcycles and other Lessons of Life in Kenya by Emma Nierman

Editor’s note: These are excerpts from an email written by Emma shortly before Thanksgiving. The sentiments she expresses about the difference between understanding what ties us all together and really UNDERSTANDING it are what keep us motivated to work with all the great IE3 interns. As regional directors, we are grateful for the glimpses into a more hopeful future that come from reading the many updates from our interns abroad.

In a P.S., for those of you concerned about the welfare of Gladys, Emma notes in an update: “The Turkey didn’t work out. We had chicken.”

_________

Another volunteer and I are planning a big dinner here and have been spending the last week tracking down a turkey… really long story short I am now the proud owner of a very large- very alive Turkey named Gladys who is wreaking havoc on my host- mother’s farm. How I got the live bird from Mombasa to the village is another story for another time, but suffice to say Turkey’s DO NOT like motorcycles.

My malaria is officially history and I finally feel back to normal. Being sick put me really behind at work and I have been putting in tons of over time to catch myself back up. Even when I go away for the weekend I have had to bring work with me, which has been less than exciting… but I only have 3 weeks left here and I want to make sure all my projects are finished before I go.

On January 1^st the Women’s Sewing Co-operative, to which I have devoted much of my time, will officially become an independent group and I have been really stressed about getting their finances, constitution, post office box, etc. ready for the transition. I can’t wait to get home and show you all some of their awesome products! Check out the catalog on the East African Center’s website if you are interested in supporting a great cause while buying some really original and amazing Holiday gifts! [http://www.eastafricancenter.org/]

Kenya’s presidential primaries take place today and the country is totally buzzing. The last week there have been political rallies in the village almost every night… one of which took place at my house. My host brother works in Nairobi for a candidate named Uhuru (who is Jomo Kenyatta’s son) and my host mother is the leader of the village’s Political Women’s Association. As you could guess, being in such a political family during election season has been really intense and I have learned a lot about Kenyan politics as a result. The political apathy often attributed to those living in the “developing world” is totally absent here and the fervor surrounding this election has been 10 times what we see in America. It really shakes the image sent to us via the media that Africa is a hopeless place whose people aren’t capable of helping themselves and improving their own lives.

As my time wraps up here it is hard to fully measure all that I have gained in the last six months. But I know for sure I will never look at a picture of an orphanage in Malawi, a bombed out village in Darfur, a slum in South Africa, or an over served Aids ward in Nairobi the same light again. If I learned one thing during my short time here it is that people are people… no matter where they live, what language they speak, or how educated they may or may not be. When a child dies here it hurts as much as if a blonde American girl with braces dies at home. And when a parent can’t send their kids to a good school it frustrates them as much as it would any of us. There are no people on this planet that deserve to or can live with dignity amongst substandard sanitation and filth. And there are no people who don’t aspire to improve the lives of their families. Of course before coming here I understood this, but I am not sure I really UNDERSTOOD it. As Americans, we are so used to seeing Africa and Africans in pain and suffering- I think a part of us starts to believe it is somehow natural for them to live in a way that we would never consider acceptable for ourselves.

Dakar, Senegal

Chris
October 9, 2006
Dakar, Senegal

Ahh, the joy and the terror of encountering a new place. Dakar is intense and arriving here has reminded me that no matter how much you have traveled, there is still plenty out there to discover. Despite my travels throughout Africa, this is my first visit to West Africa, a place I have heard enough about to create some strong mental images but not enough to realize how inaccurate those images would be.

For starters, the heat was overwhelming from the moment I stepped off of the plane at 1:30am. And no kind breeze even attempted to alleviate this. Not exactly what I had expected in a city on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic – Africa’s leading finger pointing west. The heat is the kind that doesn’t go away even after sundown. The kind that leaves you dripping wet the moment you step out of the house and makes even a cold evening shower (usually a shocking experience) feel only mildly refreshing. But I am told I picked the wrong time to visit – October is the worst month, both for heat and for humidity. In January, people told me, it gets really cold – all the way down to 70 degrees Fahrenheit!

I also had expectations, for whatever reason, that Dakar would be more cosmopolitan, more fashionable, more “hip.” While I wasn’t able to conduct an exhaustive search in the short time I have been here, I did not locate Dakar’s Rodeo Drive or Fifth Avenue. What I did find was a sensibility in both dress and lifestyle. Sure, there are some really terrific Senegalese outfits, both for women and men (those who know me will have to see my new suit when I get home). But, equally prevalent were simple lifestyles, respect for tradition, warm, familiar greetings and a value in the richness of family and friends.

Perhaps most importantly, though, this was my first visit to a predominantly Muslim country, and in the middle of the month of Ramadan, when observant Muslims fast from sunup to sundown. With all the negative coverage that Islam has been receiving in the media, with implied connections to terrorism and intolerance, I will confess to being a bit wary. Not for my personal safety at all, but about the degree of tolerance I would encounter towards my own religious beliefs and non-observance of the fasting practices of Ramadan. Again, my anxious anticipations proved unfounded as I found people to be completely accepting of my beliefs and interested in sharing theirs as well as learning about mine.

I spent my first day in Senegal visiting the office of GEEP and their partners and I feel even more confident that this will be a great new opportunity for students in the IE3 program. GEEP is doing incredible work supporting reproductive health education clubs and curricula development in secondary schools across Senegal, and also works closely with some community radio stations that will also be able to accept GEEP interns.

GEEP Office in Dakar on the grounds of the Cheikh Anta Diop University

I also had a great visit with one of our longest-standing internship programs, Tostan. This is an incredible organization that works with local communities to teach people about human rights and equip them with the skills and knowledge necessary to address violations of their human rights. There are three IE3 interns there now and I was able to touch base with all of them to see firsthand the great work they are doing.

 

Interns Emily Riley (left, OSU) and Amy Sokal (right, UO) in the Dakar Tostan office, preparing for a trip to Kolda in the south.

 

I also had the privilege of observing a workshop at Tostan’s training facility in Thiès. A group of thirty community leaders from both the Gambia and Somalia had come to learn the Tostan community education method so that they can return to their countries and share it within their communities. With the new Tostan program in the Gambia, Tostan internships will also soon be available to students with no French language ability.

In closing, Senegal has reminded me of the balance that must be struck in advising travelers preparing to go to a place for the first time. While a certain amount of advance information is essential to be sufficiently prepared to function upon arrival, sharing too much in advance can actually diminish the traveler’s experience. There is really nothing that can beat the excitement of gradually building your own understanding of a place while watching all your preconceptions crumble around you.

Waiting for a Plane

Chris
October 5, 2006
Washington, DC

Awaiting my flight to Dakar, I am sitting in the Washington Dulles airport, watching the people around me and wondering about their stories. What sends them to Africa on this day? There are well-dressed South African businessmen returning from business trips. There are retired American couples, presumably headed for high-end safaris. There are development and aid workers, headed to the continent to do their part to try to help resolve the challenges that Africa faces. And a group of missionaries, headed to do their part, too. And there are young people, perhaps headed for semesters abroad, Peace Corps assignments or even international internships.

At the same time, on the CNN airport network Anderson Cooper promotes his week-long special, reporting from Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with accompanying reports from Jeff Koinange in southern Sudan and Dr. Sanjay Gupta in some other desparate African village. The series has some clichéd title like “The Dark Continent” or “The World’s Shame” or “On the Brink of Hell.” The teaser alone is a litany of the ills of the African continent; poverty, disease, war, ethnic struggles, crime, corruption, exploitation and the kicker that seems a part of every news report these days, the “big T” – terrorism. All of these are the reasons that Africa provokes such visceral reactions – of either excitement or horror, but they are also the reason that the continent is so poorly understood.

The Africa of CNN is hardly the same continent I will land on in less than seven hours. My encounters in Africa have largely been characterized by peace, comfort, engaging diversity, cultural richness, natural beauty and the most tremendous graciousness and generosity I have ever encountered anywhere in the world. But surely these positive stereotypes do not serve Africa any better than the negative ones of CNN. The truth is that Africa is a complex place – one that can’t be understood through the blog-style ramblings of a traveler or a series of 10-minute news segments, even if they are broadcast live from a field in Eastern Congo at 4 in the morning.

Instead, to fully grasp this complexity, one must engage with Africa directly. That is why international internships and study abroad are so important – to provide opportunities for us to encounter Africa at a personal level so that we can begin to move beyond the stereotypes. I am excited about this trip and the opportunity it presents to return to a place I know so well to identify new opportunities for others to engage with and better understand a small piece of Africa.