Kenya is hosting one of the biggest events of young people from all over the world, in a week-long celebration of cultural diversity, mentorship and life-changing discussions.
AIESEC will host over 600 young leaders from over 110 countries, as well as the top management from over 50 companies. The global event will kick-off on 20th August with different nationalities showcasing their cultural diversity at KICC from 2pm.
The International Congress, which includes discussions on global issues, business summits and forums is an annual international meeting of AIESEC delegates organized by the world's largest student-run organisation, where cultural and professional exchange contributes to the vision of peace and fulfillment of humankind's potential.
The event is quite special for Kenya, especially for AIESEC Kenya considering Kenya will be the second country in Africa privileged to host the International Congress in its 62 year history. This year's conference will focus on the change agent role that high potential youth play in business and society. As you can imagine, organising an event of this scale and magnitude is no simple task. From raising funds, marketing, logistics, hospitality to the special events; all handled by a members of AIESEC from different countries across the world.
We met a few of the 80 + team members behind the organisation and planning of the conference. 54 of the team members have been working and living from their 'command centre' in a nondescript residential house in Ongata Rongai. It is convenient since Multi Media University will be the venue of the congress. The team leaders have been in Kenya for the last one year, while most of their team members joined them three months ago.
Once in a lifetime opportunity
Peter from Botswana quit his job as Operations Manager back home to take up the role of team leader of the Business team. He says his stay in Kenya for the last one year has been an eye-opener in terms of the cultural adaptation and pushing forward his core objective of bringing on board corporates and the business sector as partners and sponsors.
“I can definitely say it is worth it. I have learnt so much and discovered my potential in leadership,” says Peter. “Botswana has a population of 1.4 million but has a larger land mass. Seeing so many people in Kenya and the faster pace of life was something that I have had to adapt to,” adds Peter.
The selection process of the team leaders was both rigorous and competitive. A panel of corporate managers and senior staff from different companies interviewed candidates for the posts.
Freyja from Iceland had to fill a 20-page application form including an essay and a list of achievements during her tenure at AIESEC Iceland and New Zealand.
“I then had two phone interviews as a follow-up to the application. After two weeks, I was told I had qualified for the post,” says Freyja.
For Freyja, and for most of the members from different countries, the Matatu (public transport) culture in Kenya has been one of the areas that they had to adapt most. With the speeds, haggling of prices and almost chaotic way of ferrying passengers, it’s a learning experience for most.
For Ana, who is from Croatia, security was one of her major concerns but after staying for a few months, she now says Kenya is relatively safe, though bargaining with vendors in the market is something she hasn’t been able to do quite well.
Ana is part of the team that is charged with organizing the Business Summit which is part of the Congress.
The Business summit will be held from 27-29th August at MMU, and entails the Business Forum - a series of workshops revolving around East Africa's business and investment potential. The Alumni Meeting, which will follow the business forum will have sessions of alumni interacting with Aiesecer's and also discussions on how alumni members are changing their environment.
Big brother drama?
Contrary to popular belief that having a bunch of young people leaving in the same quarters is recipe for drama and chaos, the 54 house-mates have co-existed peacefully in spite of their cultural differences.
“We all know why we are here and we all do our best to work as a team to achieve the common goal of making this congress a success,” says May from Uganda.
May is a member of the Finance team, though she studied Engineering at University. So is her team leader, Nitin from India.
“We have never had a fight in the house. We may disagree on some areas but at the end of the day we reach a consensus,” says Nitin.
Apart from discovering hidden or unexposed talents, the experience of organizing such an event has helped some team members to focus their talents.
“I was not sure what I wanted to pursue for my master’s degree, but having worked in Business and communications, I now know communications is not my thing,” says Ioala from Romania.
The in-house cultural shows, games and social activities have helped the team bond and build multi-cultural cohesion. The organizers are of course ensuring that all participants will discover the beauty of the country during Kenya Night on 26th August, where traditional performances, gourmet food and cultural treasures will be showcased.
Most said the main take-away from the whole experience will be friends, experience and personal growth.
Several key personalities will be addressing the delegates and major international companies will also be represented.
Kenyan students can attend Global Village, Global Youth Forum and Opening Ceremony. Tickets are sold on http://www.zetu.co.ke/nairobi/enjoy-global-experience-opening-ceremony-aiesec-in for KSH250. One ticket gives entrance to all 3 events on 20th of August.
Collepoa will be covering the congress. Keep it here for updates..
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Comments
RSS feed for comments to this post.