By: Benjamin Kent
Sawubona Readers!!
This is the second of two back-to-back posts I have! I felt that there was so much more I could talk about, both in terms of work and an exciting experience I had this past weekend.
There was some rain this past weekend, but despite rain’s normal tendency to “rain on the parade” so to speak, the rain mixed with the warmth of Swaziland, in combination with the rolling mountains of Mbabane create a really cool site!
The overwhelming amount of rain, mixed with the mountains, can also turn the side of the street into a miniature waterfall!
This waterfall may look small from the way I took the picture, but it’s actually about 12 feet tall!!
Now onto what I have been doing! As of late the whole office has been preparing for the Sports Administration graduation we are hosting at the Olympafrica Centre in Lobamba. My job has been a little tedious, but also a fun challenge! I have been compiling the lists of people that have to be invited, emailing them the invitation and details, phoning them to invite them, and phoning them once more to confirm they will be attending. There have been roughly 200 people invited to this function so the duties stack up after a while. It has been interesting to actually talk to all of these people, attempt to say their name properly, and have actual conversations with new people from Swaziland. This type of calling is an important part of planning and serves as valuable experience for event preparation and facilitation. Ensuring numbers and guest lists is crucial for hosting these types of large scale events.
Another task that was assigned to me recently is to develop the proposal for the Olympic Day Run for 2018. This is an event that takes place in late June, but, as with many large scale events, planning must start months in advance to ensure the event runs as smooth as possible. This proposal consists of outlining the theme of the event, target audience, working plan, promotional items, budget, and many other components that combine to create a well thought out and efficient event planning and facilitating process. This planning may not give me the best hands-on experience, but it does provide me with awesome knowledge on what documents need to be completed in order for outreach programs and events to run successfully.
You may remember from my last post that I was going fishing this past weekend. I have been so lucky that Janice and Derek have provided me with so many opportunities to see the beauty, culture, and sport of Swaziland! Me, Derek, and 3 of Derek’s friends all set out for an hour and a half drive to Maguga Lake this past Saturday. Once we arrived we lowered Derek’s boat onto the water and set out for what would be a 6 hour fishing adventure!
**Here you can see Derek captaining the ship as we set off at 1 p.m.**
We fished in large open spaces in the water, along the sides near large rocks, and even down side streams and creeks!
As the day went on Derek and his friends had caught a plethora of fish, of many different varieties. It was around 6 p.m. and I had yet to catch a single fish! Just as I was getting ready to call a quits, I said “This will be my last cast!” and wouldn’t you know it, I caught one!
Okay, so it may not of been the biggest catch of the day, or anywhere near it, but it was the perfect way to end off an awesome day of great conversation and exciting sport on the lake! By this time it was around 7:oo p.m. and it was time for us to trek back. I realized this was one of the first times I was outside of my accommodations after sunset, so I took this opportunity to snap some beautiful pictures
Can’t wait to see what the next couple of weeks have in store, looking forward to new work tasks and exciting adventures too! Stay tuned for more!!
Sala kahle!