Sanibonani (Hello) everyone!
After a very long (and unplanned) 52 hours of travelling and 2 hotel visits, I have arrived in the beautiful Kingdom of Eswatini! I have now been here for 2 weeks and have adjusted to living here quite nicely.
View from our cottage (well worth the 52 hours)
In this blog Narissa and I will both briefly talk about what we have been doing at the Eswatini Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (EOCGA). And in our next blog post you can read more about what we have been doing together for the past two weekends including EOCGAs Annual General Meeting and non work related activities. This post will be together as we basically come as a package deal now.
Since my very first day in the office, I have felt extremely welcomed into this organization. All of our coworkers have been very helpful in the office with work and also showing us around town to the local shops to buy groceries and where the kombis are (public transportation). On our first day Narissa and I and our CEO Sidney Simelane decided upon a few tasks that we can focus on throughout our three months here. The main task that I have been working on is helping EOCGA enhance their social media presence on all social media platforms and updating their website. I have been assisting Mbali (pictured below) with running the social media accounts including creating videos and a social media plan for the remainder of the year.
Since Day 1 Narissa and I have been attempting to update the website, but for unknown reasons we have faced multiple technical issues leaving us being unable to make any changes to the website. There has been some progress towards fixing these problems but until then I have been focusing my attention on preparing for my other main task for the term.
Here is a photo of everyone from the office at their desks!
(From left to right: Mbali, Beauty, Pretty, Nomcebo, and Mfundo)
Starting this week I am very excited to begin our assessment of the Olymafrica Sports Development Centre (OAC) which is a centre located in Lobamba (about a 30 – 40 minute kombi ride from head office in Mbabane) that includes sport, games, courses and workshops to educate people of all ages in Eswatini. Our assessment will look at the functionality of the centre and provide our own recommendations to stakeholders on how to further enhance the OAC.
I look forward to the opportunities in the next three months and exploring more of what this beautiful country has to offer.
That is all for now friends and I will pass things over to Narissa.
Sala kahle (Goodbye),
Carly aka Jabu (my new Siswati name meaning happiness)
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Hey everyone!
Unlike Carly’s lengthy travel, mine went smoothly. I flew from Toronto to London, had a five-hour layover until my flight from London to Johannesburg. Then I flew from Johannesburg to Manzini. No delays, no issues, and pretty much just the best possible scenario being my first time travelling this far. As for settling in, it felt like home as soon as I got here. The way of life is very similar to how it is in the countries of my cultural background, so I had very little adjustment issues (other than being jet lag the first few days).
As for the first few weeks of the internship itself, it has been great. Everyone has been so welcoming. For my tasks this far, it’s a pretty open decision on what work I want to take on. Carly and I decided that throughout our stay, we want to do an analysis on their OlympAfrica Centre. That will be one of the main tasks for the semester but so far, I’ve done a lot within the office itself. From updating athlete profiles and making charts to display their results to creating and editing the reports for the annual general meeting to even just trying to edit and improve the organizations website, there is always something to do.
My swazi name on my desk at the office (Busisiwe – meaning blessed)
Now that I’ve comfortably settled in, all the “tourist-y” planning as begun. Carly and I have a plan for pretty much every weekend from here on out starting with a Braai and hike for this upcoming weekend. I’m super excited for what’s to come with our experience here and can’t wait to keep everyone updated along the way.
The view from a coffee shop near the office
Until next time,
Narissa/Busisiwe