Felt so good seeing Wola Nani bowls at Anthropologie.
From Cape Town all the way to the states.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Here I Am
It's been a week and a day since I've been back home in the states. It's still a little difficult for me to pin-point what kind of perspective changes I have gone through and a little more time needs to pass before I draw my conclusions. But for the time being, I will give a little synopsis of what I did for the past 4 months and what I have learned from them.
Working for a non-profit organization that specializes in providing aid to those affected by HIV/AIDS in one of the highest victim counts in the world has been utterly challenging and eye-opening. From the first day I walked into the office to greet my supervisor, I sensed a connected and warm feeling from the organization and its staff members. I went into the job knowing that I needed to be patient, open-minded, and flexible. But what I did not realize was that I would need to be more than that. On top of being a typical proactive and punctual employee, I needed to be personable and receptive. It was just that kind of environment. I started off with a few projects on my plate - the main one being to re-design the website. A few others were to research potential donors, brainstorm new products for the income generation project, and to work on the catalog. As soon as I got my hands onto the income generation project, my supervisor and I both kind of knew that this was where I was needed most. The income generation project is something that helps families impacted by the AIDS epidemic. It provides income to many women who are HIV+, and also provides a sense of accomplishment, hope, and even distraction. When customers and buyers from all over the world order some paper mache bowls or beaded items, our clients (the women) will make them and receive money in return. I had the opportunity to expand this project. I started off with getting a feel for what colors, designs, and trends were popular this season. But then I realized I needed to just design pieces that were timeless, fun, and practical. So I started cutting and pasting all sorts of color swatches. And then I sat down with my supervisor and we chose a group of color combinations that would be made into prototypes. The turnover took awhile - maybe a week or two. But as soon as all the samples came back, I set up a little panel in the boardroom for my co-workers to choose their favorites and their dislikes. After drawing conclusions from the survey, I decided on 12 new designs. Just as a side note, Wola Nani has been carrying the same 10 or so designs for the past 10 years. So I helped them expand their product range to double the size. After deciding on which ones would make it to the catalog, I needed all the women to create every single color in every single shape and size. This was the hardest part because there are many sizes available - all the samples that needed to be made numbered well over 100. But in the meanwhile, I started to retake photos of all the original products. I created a new product catalog layout and started to edit and reformat the pictures. This was a verrrrrrry tedious task. It required a lot of patience and dedication. I actually worked up until the 2nd to last day I left, and even on my weekends. But I finished... well, for the most part. Although all of the products aren't on the catalog, it is easy to insert as soon as the samples are returned. It would've been nice to completely finish the catalog, and even the website design, but with the time I had in South Africa and the other opportunities to travel and spend time exploring a new country, it was honestly difficult to solely dedicate my time to the job. And on the first day, my supervisor advised me to take time off to go out and explore. So it's been a huge mix of work and play. I still committed to keep working on the projects while I am here, so my relationship with them isn't over just yet.
Apart from my job, there was still 50% of my time that was spent with friends, exploring, and experiencing. After work, most of the interns hung out - in same circles, groups, or overlapping cliques. But the point was, someone was always doing something. Whether it was hiking Lion's Head or Table Mountain, grabbing dinner at one of the hot spot eateries, watching a movie at home or at the theatre, going for a run at the boardwalk, playing soccer by the ocean, or just straight chilling. That is probably one of the things I miss most about Cape Town. How easy and accessible my friends were. I was never bored or anxious to do something. If anything, I was burnt out from doing too much. I was once again forced to break out of my comfortable and familiar bubble to expand my group of friends and to learn about different cultures. I met great friends along the way. Friends I can see myself hanging out with regularly once I get back to Boston, and even meeting up with in different cities. I can see that I have changed a lot over the past year with all the traveling and new experiences, but that is exactly what I wanted and needed. Different = good. Change = good. Now it is my job to assimilate my old life into my new life. Taking my old values and goals and placing them into my new lifestyle, with new ambitions and perspectives. All in all, it has been an incredible (geez, I need to find better adjectives..I seem to play them out too much) experience. Definitely unforgettable, eye-opening, and nearly impossible to leave.
Working for a non-profit organization that specializes in providing aid to those affected by HIV/AIDS in one of the highest victim counts in the world has been utterly challenging and eye-opening. From the first day I walked into the office to greet my supervisor, I sensed a connected and warm feeling from the organization and its staff members. I went into the job knowing that I needed to be patient, open-minded, and flexible. But what I did not realize was that I would need to be more than that. On top of being a typical proactive and punctual employee, I needed to be personable and receptive. It was just that kind of environment. I started off with a few projects on my plate - the main one being to re-design the website. A few others were to research potential donors, brainstorm new products for the income generation project, and to work on the catalog. As soon as I got my hands onto the income generation project, my supervisor and I both kind of knew that this was where I was needed most. The income generation project is something that helps families impacted by the AIDS epidemic. It provides income to many women who are HIV+, and also provides a sense of accomplishment, hope, and even distraction. When customers and buyers from all over the world order some paper mache bowls or beaded items, our clients (the women) will make them and receive money in return. I had the opportunity to expand this project. I started off with getting a feel for what colors, designs, and trends were popular this season. But then I realized I needed to just design pieces that were timeless, fun, and practical. So I started cutting and pasting all sorts of color swatches. And then I sat down with my supervisor and we chose a group of color combinations that would be made into prototypes. The turnover took awhile - maybe a week or two. But as soon as all the samples came back, I set up a little panel in the boardroom for my co-workers to choose their favorites and their dislikes. After drawing conclusions from the survey, I decided on 12 new designs. Just as a side note, Wola Nani has been carrying the same 10 or so designs for the past 10 years. So I helped them expand their product range to double the size. After deciding on which ones would make it to the catalog, I needed all the women to create every single color in every single shape and size. This was the hardest part because there are many sizes available - all the samples that needed to be made numbered well over 100. But in the meanwhile, I started to retake photos of all the original products. I created a new product catalog layout and started to edit and reformat the pictures. This was a verrrrrrry tedious task. It required a lot of patience and dedication. I actually worked up until the 2nd to last day I left, and even on my weekends. But I finished... well, for the most part. Although all of the products aren't on the catalog, it is easy to insert as soon as the samples are returned. It would've been nice to completely finish the catalog, and even the website design, but with the time I had in South Africa and the other opportunities to travel and spend time exploring a new country, it was honestly difficult to solely dedicate my time to the job. And on the first day, my supervisor advised me to take time off to go out and explore. So it's been a huge mix of work and play. I still committed to keep working on the projects while I am here, so my relationship with them isn't over just yet.
Apart from my job, there was still 50% of my time that was spent with friends, exploring, and experiencing. After work, most of the interns hung out - in same circles, groups, or overlapping cliques. But the point was, someone was always doing something. Whether it was hiking Lion's Head or Table Mountain, grabbing dinner at one of the hot spot eateries, watching a movie at home or at the theatre, going for a run at the boardwalk, playing soccer by the ocean, or just straight chilling. That is probably one of the things I miss most about Cape Town. How easy and accessible my friends were. I was never bored or anxious to do something. If anything, I was burnt out from doing too much. I was once again forced to break out of my comfortable and familiar bubble to expand my group of friends and to learn about different cultures. I met great friends along the way. Friends I can see myself hanging out with regularly once I get back to Boston, and even meeting up with in different cities. I can see that I have changed a lot over the past year with all the traveling and new experiences, but that is exactly what I wanted and needed. Different = good. Change = good. Now it is my job to assimilate my old life into my new life. Taking my old values and goals and placing them into my new lifestyle, with new ambitions and perspectives. All in all, it has been an incredible (geez, I need to find better adjectives..I seem to play them out too much) experience. Definitely unforgettable, eye-opening, and nearly impossible to leave.
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