For future reference to anyone planning on travelling to Africa:
Bring the same clothes you'd wear on a hot summer day to work wherever you come from... Because that's what they wear here. If you're white, you already stick out enough... don't make yourself look like a wannabe humanitarian with cargo pants and work boots/sandals. Nice trousers with leather shoes will do!
I find myself wearing my cutest stuff actually... The women here are very stylish!
I made the mistake of bringing only one pair of heels - not even real ones.. kitten heels - and I wish I would have brought at least one fun pair with matching clutch. ALDO anyone?! Speaking of my kitten heels, I figured out I needed a new pair of lifts when I got here, so I sent them to the "cordonnier"... bad idea. Instead of a new pair of plastic lifts, I got two pieces of old tire rubber stuck on the heels. Sick. So I can't wear them anymore.
With that said, next time I go to Africa, I plan on bringing:
- wifi modem... trust me I'll need it –
- dvd's - LOTS
- unlocked blackberry... great for texting and I would have been able to use a phone chip from here - much cheaper.
- one nice pair of stilettos and matching clutch... Just because.
- 3-4 bathing suits
- 3 pairs of flip flops.. because surprisingly, I only brought one pair.
Things I plan on doing right after I get back to Ottawa (this list will be updated as time goes on... You can count on it)
- take a HOT shower... the cold showers here don't bother me but it's a "because I can" thing in Canada.
- mani/pedi combo among other things (hello waxing!)... and maybe a hot stone massage.
- Eat a rare delmonico cut steak... with Montreal steak spices and roasted garlic mashed potatoes... and asparagus. and paparadella alfredo with chicken and procuito... and Proseco to drink... and Lava cake/cheesecake/gelato for desert. Yes These are my favorite things and I can't have ANY of them here because they're just not available. I will eat a Big Mac as well.
- Watch Sex and the City movie
- smother on satsuma body butter... because I forgot to bring some and I'm going through withdrawal.
Speaking of food, I ate my first meat sandwich yesterday... it reminded me of a Lebanese meat pie... except not. It cost me $0.44 Canadian. That's all I have to say.
As for the more serious part of my internship, I have now developed a comprehensive plan of action with timelines.
Although my original mandate was as marketing consultant (which includes commercialisation – logo, brochure, etc...), I'm taking on a second role as Information Technology (IT) Specialist. My skills as the sister of an IT specialist (thanks, Sean!) would get me nowhere in Canada, but at AVOH they are undeniable, seeing as only one employee knew how to turn on a computer when I got here. I have given several "formations" on the basics of using a computer to five students (my secondary homologues, if you will). We've managed to move on to Microsoft Word, Excel, and finally the internet and this week we will go through all their computer's files (it is an old Pentium II computer with back-dated files from 2005) and organise them in folders and sub-folders. The secretary, Nathalie Sawadogo (she was the only one who could turn a computer on and off) was ecstatic at the fact that she will only have to spend one minute to find whatever document she wants. And when she goes on maternity leave (she's pregnant) the other kids will be able run the ship.
I keep reminding them to create the habit of turning the computer on every morning and starting to use it for their everyday tasks, namely accounting (I taught them how to draft excel worksheets for accounting – formulas and all) and documenting all meetings with the computer, etc...
After the IT pseudo-mandate is completed (this Friday), we will move on to the marketing side. Because I've been working with the five young workers in IT, I've decided to include them in all marketing aspects as well, seeing as they are the future of the association, thus responsible for carrying on after I am gone. We will have marketing meetings with "the team" almost every day, and I will have each person take their turn for typing the minutes of each meeting into the computer, to better develop their typing and text treatment skills. Hopefully it will stick after I'm gone.
So that's when the fun stuff will happen – we will be designing a new logo – a standard one that will show up on all official documents and packaging alike – and will also develop an information brochure that we can send to aid organisations and clients alike... Anyone interested in investing in this fantastic Association. We will also draft a list of all important events in the country – anything we can send one or two representatives to with samples and brochures – to spread the word. I plan on attending a few while I'm here and then letting them take the reins soon after... Word of mouth seems to be the most efficient marketing technique here.
So that's about it – I'm hoping you are all doing well and enjoying your summer... I sure am.
Until next time, be safe and take care!
Afton
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