A Work Weekend Away

I am comfortably back “home” in Cape Town after a long weekend in Johannesburg…or at least its suburbs. I was there primarily for the National South African SIFE competition with 22 UWC students, the faculty advisor, Tonia, and the team director, PJ. We had a busy yet enjoyable three days together.

The competition was quite impressive with many corporate executives serving as judges, many delegations of students presenting very involved projects, traditional Zulu songs and dances that by week’s end brought together all the teams for an impressive display of community—I had chills on more than one occasion.

The UWC team worked hard for several weeks leading up to the competition which made me wonder when they went to class and did homework. Their dedication paid off as they won Second Place for Financial Literacy and Business Ethics. While they did not advance for the overall competition, the unique quality of this organization is that everyone wins. The students, their communities and the companies they partner with benefit from this organization that operates in 40 countries with over 42,000 student members. The energy from the weekend has given me many insights to consider.

On Saturday, I had the privilege of meeting a Marquette alumni, Peter Kwele and his family. While the logistics to meet him were a bit of an adventure, I was able to take the Gautrain built as part of the World Cup in Jo-burg. It rides quite nicely and although most Americans would not think it was a big deal, the South Africans are both proud and excited about the new mode of transportation.

I had a very nice visit with Peter getting to see his pictures and stories about his college days in Milwaukee and attending Church with his family. I had a bit of a girl’s night with his wife, Lindiwe, and their friends and it was very nice to be with locals and experience a new and genuine dimension of life in South Africa.

It never fails to amaze me how small the world has become and how friendly strangers can be in unfamiliar places. I ended up back at the OR Tambo airport exactly four weeks to the day from when I first arrived and sat there thinking how much has taken place over the past four weeks…and there is only more to come!