Hiske: "Bye project"

Geplaatst op 03 juli 2019 om 10:37 uur

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Habari za Randstad!

First I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Hiske Bolt, 25 years old and via Randstad I got the opportunity to go to Tanzania as a volunteer for VSO. Back home I work as a HR consultant for Randstad (Netherlands), but the last three months I have worked as a communication specialist for the Lake Zone Youth Empowerment project of VSO Tanzania. I just concluded the project in Mwanza Tanzania and it was an amazing experience! I’d like to share my VSO placement adventure with you, because it has been an interesting and constructive period. I’m used to working in Holland, which is in so many ways a different (work) culture compared to Tanzania. “Hakuna matata” (no problems, don’t worry) and “pole pole” (slowly, slowly) are the guiding themes that I faced here. This has led to interesting situations (I experience the WOW moment quite often) and also some frustration. Below some cultural differences that I faced between Holland and Tanzania:
-              Flexibility: You need to be flexible, otherwise you will become a bit crazy in Tanzania. The people can say “A” and a couple of hours later they do “B”. In the beginning this frustrated me (and it still does sometimes), but I learned to let it go. -              Time management: Time is not really a strict thing here in Tanzania. In Holland it is rude to be late at an appointment. In Tanzania nobody cares about time.
-              Patience & Tolerance: You need to be patient, because the work pace I’m used to do not apply here. “Pole pole“ (slowly, slowly) is the answer that you get quite often.
-              Communication/Relationships: They use 1000 different ways of saying hello in Swahili! Which can be quite confusing, besides that it is important to great everyone with a handshake and eye contact.
-              Feedback: Here in Tanzania it is not common to use a very direct way of communication and feedback, compared to the Netherlands. Critical feedback are not appropriate compared to the more western culture. In Holland we are used to giving a more constructive feedback. My manager said in his farewell speech to me that he appreciated my direct way of communication and critical view, but I’m not sure if that really was the case (ooops).

Besides the learnings this experience gave me, I’d like to share one of the stories of the youth I’ve met during my work in the LZYE project. The story of one of the marginalized youth showed me why this project is so important. Imagine that you are 15 years old and very motivated to finish your secondary school. But due to the disappearance of your father, there is no money left for school fees. Besides this you must earn money for an eye surgery to get your sight back, instead of following classes. This happened to Neema.

Now a days, Neema is 23 years old and mother of a 7-months-old kid. Everyday her challenge is to get enough food and drinks for herself and the baby. She is happy that she is able to work on a better future and being part of the LZYE project. How this project helps her to build on a better future? Every day she learns more about motorcycle repairs, which will help her to get employed.

Neema: “I will never give up, no matter what others think and say about a girl who is following a motorcycle technician course. My advice to other girls? Never be afraid to do a 'men’s job' or let gender influence your choice for a job”. That she is very motivated to follow this classes is for sure. Every day, Neema needs to walk 20km to reach the classes, but this will not stop her!

My VSO placement has come to an end, but this experience will impact my life forever. Before I go home I’m going to visit Kenya, Uganda and Zanzibar, so I get the chance to explore more of Africa. I’m looking back to a great period with lots of fun, nice new people I met, new knowledge. It has been a great experience that I will never forget!

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Hiske: "Bye project"

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