|
Work
birthday
Last
Wednesday, Juliet and I ended up going back to the office at about
four o' clock to have a talk through some things we were working
on - we normally work most of the day at the computer cluster.
 |
| Celebrating
Susana's birthday |
When
we entered the office, we spoke to some of the local people working
to the foundation, and suddenly more and more people were arriving.
It
happened that it was Susana's birthday, a woman in the office, and
a number of people from the university came to have a few drinks
and cakes. It was such a coincidence that we had just then gone
back to the office.
Spanish
getting me in trouble
Standing
and trying to make small talk leaves me struggling. Every time Juliet
is trying to speak Spanish, she looks at me for help and remembers
they she can speak better than me! It all tends to be quite light-hearted
and we laugh the confusion off.
This
time however I thought I was being asked "would you like to
play with the children" from the schools we help in... The
word was "jugar". In fact, that *is* the word for play,
but it then emerged that I had agreed to play football with people
from the university on Monday at 6.30!
Fear
of football
I have
to emphasise now that I have not played football in at least ten
years and avoid it at all costs. I got really excited as I thought
it would be really great to play with the kids... When I realised
what I had agreed to, Juliet thought this was very funny and everyone
teased me over next few days. Football is one of those things I
know I'm not good at, I don't enjoy and, therefore, don't play.
The
Blue Man
 |
| Poster |
Last
September during Freshers' Week, AIESEC in the United Kingdom launched
a ''teaser campaign' nationwide called "Who is The Blue Man?"
It featured posters and flyers around campus, people bodypainted
in blue, T-shirts and all sorts of other promotional activities
to recruit our new members. Why the blue man? On the AIESEC
logo, there is one figure standing out detached from the rest.
The
idea is that AIESEC makes you stand out from the crowd: it gives
you the skills and opportunities to do something different from
the average student at university.
As
Sonya is working with the local committee of AIESEC Uninorte this
summer, on the Cultrural Envoy for Exchange Development programme,
she shared her experience of the Blue Man campaign and manged to
implement the same concept here.
 |
| Andrea
with a cut-out Blue Man |
Not
having the funds to professionally print posters and recruitment
materials, they improvised and spray-painted their own designs modelled
on the UK examples.
For
over a week, Sonya helped the local AIESECers advertise AIESEC around
the university and spoke to people at the information stand.
Recruiting
people
 |
| Sonya
& Omar make posters |
It's
hard to convey what AIESEC can do for someone and why they should
join. You can say it's the world's largest student-run organisation,
and we facilitate an exchange programme but what does that mean?
You are given the opportunity to be part of this amazing network.
I can't
imagine where I would be now - I definitely wouldn't be the same
person and would certainly not have experienced the Philippines
and Colombia within a year.
Zonalito
 |
| Ivy
and Juan on the bus |
The
end of the week came soon enough and on Saturday we were out of
the city again for the AIESEC new members' conference. Once potential
new members had applied to be a member, after seeing the Blue Man
campaign, each candidate had an interview and an induction afternoon.
This
weekend was for the members that had been chosen. Arriving at the
university, we all clambered onto a bus and within 20 minutes had
arrived at the resort, complete with palm trees and swimming pool.
It's 15 minutes walk from the beach. It sounds a lot nicer than
it was, but there was nothing to complain about - locals describing
the dorms as "army-like": three-storey bunk beds.
Time
for a reflection
 |
| Ivy |
Before
the evening's main events got underway, there was half an hour of
'AIESEC mystic time' this was when older members of AIESEC shared
with the new members their experiences of AIESEC and individually
try to convey what it has given them.
Someone
started by lighting a candle and speaking and then passing the flame
on to another person for them to share their experience.
As
I sat there thinking about how far I had come since I joined AIESEC
almost two years ago, there were so many things to be thankful for.
Although I didn't understand the words being said, it was clear
that everyone that spoke had been positively affected by the organisation.
Written
by James Eder
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