Author Archives: ruth

On Friday the enke team piled out of the office and into the car and headed out to Eldorado Park in Soweto. It was an early start; all team members were on the road by 6.30 a.m. Bleary eyed and under-caffeinated, we weaved through morning traffic, arriving on location at PUSH community centre. PUSH, which stands for Perseverance Until Something Happens, hosted our event with Emzingo. The PUSH mission is a really great one: a community centre that provides HIV/AIDS support, testing, and education, the impact can be seen on the faces of the children who head over to PUSH after school (www.push.org.za). The organisation offered us their facilities, and so it was that we pulled up in front of the brightly coloured building. Emzingo arrived shortly thereafter. The group is comprised of 13 multinational members, all enrolled in the MBA programme at Instituto de Empresa Business School. Emzingo is a global leadership programme that emphasises sustainable development and global networking. Find out more and check out their website www.emzingo.com!

Any lingering tiredness evaporated (and we hadn’t even had our coffee yet) as the IE students arrived. They were from all corners of the globe. We began with a topsy-turvy discussion: what would happen if men, not women, had babies? That’s a question that’s got to be right up there with “was Coca Cola really green?” and “is that a banana in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”

We then broke for tea and coffee (cue mad dash for the kitchen) and sipped away under the warm late morning sun. Our next activity was “appreciative inquiry” – don’t worry, I didn’t know what that was either, but it is cool. 4 people host conversations on related topics. The rest of the group joins whichever conversation interests them and leaves when they feel they’ve had enough. The idea is that knowledge is germinated by being spread between groups. I stayed put with my conversation group for the duration of the activity; the ideas being thrown around centred on the advent of technology and the implications of our tech-craziness on development. Have you ever stopped to think about that? We’re creating technology so fast that we’re educating people in our universities for jobs that don’t even exist yet. It blows my mind. If you can get access to any information on your phone, then there is a whole world of opportunity out there. We’re talking doctors doing surgeries thousands of kilometres away via webcams and particle realignment to facilitate faster travel. Ok, so that’s a bit scary. If some guy is cutting me open, I want him in the room at the very least. The best part is the implications for global politics and networking. The situation in the Middle East at the moment is a perfect example. Simply by using the internet and handheld devices (like phones or laptops) people all over the world can get together and take control of their futures. There’s no need for a rallying point anymore, anyone can do it at anytime! The potential is endless and it’s an amazing time to be around!!

Anyways……we were then joined by the guys from Condom Case. These two guys have this innovative idea that we can work to stop the spread of HIV simply by storing condoms correctly. They’ve come up with and are manufacturing a case, called the Mojo Box, to store contraceptives in and take around with you. After a brief presentation, Condom Case opened the floor to suggestions from the IE students about how to diversify their funding streams. The guys returned to their office with a plethora of new ideas from the finely tuned business minds of Emzingo/IE.

Lunch was next. We grabbed our plates and headed back outside into the afternoon. The PUSH kids were arriving in the playground from school and quickly started up a catchy sing-a-long game in which various enke delegates and IE students took enthusiastic part. Photos were snapped and hips were swung (there are some pretty sweet dance moves out there), before we returned in doors to continue the event.

The remainder of the afternoon was focused on the enke delegate projects. The projects are amazing and quite literally astounded everyone. It was a unique situation where people from all over the world, of different ages and backgrounds, religions, and races spoke to each other and really enjoyed each others’ company.

Back on the road again, we all revelled in the success and happiness of the day. Truly a wonderful experience for all of us.