NLDS 2009 (AIESEC Conference in CI) - In the interesting city of Taboo

*Picture: At the barrage (dam) by Taboo... this dam is a network of several other dams that provide electricity for all of Cote d'Ivoire! L-R: Me, German intern, Paquom (Outgoing LCP of Cocody), Canadian Intern

I was able to spend the last 4 days at an event close to my heart - An AIESEC conference. It was quite a gong show. The conditions of this conference would of not been tolerated at all at a conference in Canada. And through all the mixed emotions, it was quite an experience being at a national conference in Cote d'Ivoire (there are only 3 locals here and 1 MC... you can see the difference in Canada which has 27 locals and 1 MC). With that being said, there are way to many things that need to be said so the following are the most important highlights of the conference:

AIESEC Time + Ivorienne time:
What does this mean? How about going to campus at 10 am but leaving at 5 pm... Yes that is Ivorienne time. The cause of the delay? A very bad mis communication and of course because of the wonderful rain. Apparently when it rains, everything stops until the sun comes back up... oh you have to love Cote d'Ivoire. I have concluded that if you are a high maintenance person, you cannot survive in this country, things are just very laid back and "laissez-faire" as they call it and you can't really do anything but laugh, smile and go with the flow (which is the type of attitude I have been adopting). But to add on to the waiting, we had to cramp into a bus with 50 people (3 people per seat) for a long 2 hour ride to Taboo (at least it was suppose to be 2 hours but we ended up not getting there until midnight). Although the ride was cramped it was actually quite amazing with the endless songs and energy from the AIESECERS. To add onto their strong passion, once we arrived in Taboo at midnight they STILL HAD SESSIONS until 3 in the morning.

3 am sessions:
Yes, admidst the long bus ride and all of the waiting their were still AIESEC sessions to be done at midnight until the early hours of the morning. I am just so impressed that these passionate young individuals could stay awake and with smiles... while all of the stagaires (interns) ended up going to bed.

AIESEC Canada Cheer:
Two of the AIESEC values are "Living diversity" and "Enjoying participation" so of course I had to show them how it is done in Canada and teach them the AIESEC Canada hot to go cheer. It was very adorable because by the end of the conference they had recited it... not exactly the same (the song was a bit butchered and very slow) but nonetheless it was very sweet. "AIESEC Cote d'Ivoire is HOT-TO-GO H-O-T-T-O-GO HOT-TO-GO". This is where the language barrier of French and English kicks in...

Sessions:
The sessions in this conference were quite similar to those back home during NLDC, of course focused more on the realities of Cote d'Ivoire. But also focused on leadership, best case study sharing and a lot of development. At times I wish that things would have been more organized but then at the same time sessions were done and the drive was there so really no complaints. I did find that being an international delegate at sessions really did not make too much sense especially when you do not speak too much french and they are talking about the realities of Cote d'Ivoire. Therefore, those sessions for me were left for sleeping :/. However I did have a favorite session: Hosted by JCI. They had done a session on how to manage an organization (the key elements, etc.) which was actually very well done.

Integration - World Wide AIESEC:
I have realized through this conference that I am adapting quite well into the culture and can proudly say that I am an official Ivorienne-Canadian-"Chinois"-Filipino. What has kept me sane and extremely patient is just laughing at all the crazy things that happen (or the slowness of reality). The culture is so much different then in Canada and the best thing that we can do is smile and laugh it off. One thing that I did find was world wide in all AIESEC conferences was AIESEC Dances. Cote d'Ivoire loves them and their energy during the dances rubs off on everyone :). I hope to show some Ivorienne dances when I get back home.

In a nut shell this conference was quite the experience, our rooms were cramped and the water/electricity didn't work sometimes but people still managed to get up everyday (from the late nights and sessions) and learn and develop themselves through the new sessions. All I can say is that it was a different but interesting conference :)... one that I am happy to of experienced.

Stay tuned for my next blog on work (yes I actually do work on this internship... (kind of :)), I wouldn't call it work but more of a learning experience) and the amazing NGO: Le Soutien.