I haven’t had this feeling in TOO long! To many, it’s just another new member training weekend for AIESEC. The same sessions – AIESEC Way, AIESEC XP – but yet, something different. I had to stop and think for a moment… this new member training… is happening in Mozambique. It’s happening here, because of us. These members are discovering AIESEC, just as I did so many years ago, because of our work here. This is why I am here.
They came knowing almost nothing. Yet as soon as we started to dance, they joined. As soon as we cheered, they cheered. As they learned more about what we do, I could see the interest growing in them. When we talked about why AIESEC is relevant in Africa, the passion was clear. Was AIESEC relevant in Africa? YES! Do we want AIESEC in Mozambique to thrive? YES! What a feeling!
It’s a very special moment for Daudo too, after working for two years towards this goal, to see the first members of AIESEC in Mozambique at our first conference.
There is a long way to go yet, but I am very happy and excited about what we have achieved here so far. Our chair is an alumnus of AIESEC in Portugal. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect from us or from the delegates, but tonight after everyone was gone and we were going over the feedback forms filled with positive comments, he said he was really happy and excited with both the members and us.
I think these students have never experienced anything quite like AIESEC before. Even though the conference is small, with no fancy hotel, it has all that magic of a first conference, and then some. I saw one delegate listening to a session this afternoon and he was smiling. Not because someone said something funny, just because he was appreciating the ideas that were being presented to him. I just sat for several minutes and watched him smiling, and it made me feel so good.
I hope we are building a community here that will continue to produce those smiles.
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Now it’s Monday. Yesterday was another intense and emotional day. In the morning we ran the simulation which I was responsible for. It’s so nice seeing your hard work realized! Plus it was really great to see the members working together, doing their activities, trying to divide the tasks, make decisions, achieve the goals they had set. It was the first time we could really see how they work, how much they had learned the day before, and how committed they were to getting things done.
For part of the simulation they had to receive an intern. I wasn’t expecting much, because they hadn’t received any specific training on what they needed to do. Lilian and Daudo played the interns, and what a reception they had! Both of them were picked up at the “airport”, shown all around the “city”, given a nice place to stay, introduced to all the AIESECers, taken to their first day of work, and taken out for a Mozambican dinner. They were so caring for these “interns”!! I am already jealous of the first interns who will come here. They are in for a treat! And over all, they did really well in the simulation. What they didn’t know they asked or came up with creative solutions. Of course there were some disagreements within the teams, but I think it really showed them that working on a team is not easy and that they have a lot still to learn.
After the simulation we talked about working on teams and how the team should maximize the strengths of its members. Then we did some goal setting (which I don’t think they had ever done before) and wrapped up the weekend. Daudo gave a really emotional talk about the impact of AIESEC and the opportunities that these new members had. He also spoke a bit about how he felt, after two years of hard work to make AIESEC in Mozambique a reality and now seeing the members there in front of him.
I truly believe that this weekend we ignited a little bit of fire in these people. As everyone was leaving, several people thanked me for helping to bring AIESEC here. It was a really powerful moment. One guy told me that Mozambicans have been waiting for an opportunity like this, and now it was here. It makes me so proud to be a part of this. I know we are just at the beginning and there is a long, hard road ahead. We will have our problems and our challenges, but I believe in these people and I see a lot of positive things happening very soon!
And now, I would like to introduce to you for the first time ever….
AIESEC IN MOZAMBIQUE!!!!!!
P.S We got internet at home today!! That means I can be online in the evenings (morning PST), I'm looking forward to talking to you soon!
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