Jamila’s Weblog

About my school… February 20, 2008

Just briefly, there are approximately 30 students in the exchange program at the UCT Graduate School of Business. Some schools represented are Univ of Chicago, Univ of Chapel Hill, Duke, London Business School, Grenoble University and NYU.  Many of the students are leaving in mid march because they are on the quarter system.  We are all take three classes especially designed for exchanged students:

 1) Emerging Enterprise Consulting

2) Business Government and Society

3) Dept Consulting and Facilitation. 

 Because I am staying until the end of April, I am taking a course with the full time students called Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Valentine’s Day… February 20, 2008

Uh, we had a “little” party….I will spare you the crazy pictures, but do know that I was responsible for getting the charades game going!!

 our hosts…

my valentine treat! ( we all wrote secret messages…mine consistently say; roses are red, violets are blue, SA is hot, and so are you….)! 

Consulting Project: The Meet and Greet… February 20, 2008

One of the four classes I’m taking at UCT is called Emerging Enterprises Consulting.  Through partnership with a business development organization called The Business Place, we will work in small teams with a group of Black South African business owners.  

There are several constraints South Africa in the area of business innovation and entrepreneurship. Because South Africa is still new a democracy, the marketplace is dominated by big players which have lead to an abundance of anti competitive trading practices. Just recently, the major bread producers in the country were charged by the national trade monitoring group with price setting and collusion….ON BREAD, CAN YOU IMAGINE? Other constraints range from low penetration of technology to a very low risk tolerance from financing institutions. As a representative from the business place said in reference to these difficulties, “South Africa is a land rich in opportunity but they are hard to reach”.  I’ll speak in more depth on these points as I gain a better understanding on the economic development in the post apartheid era. 

 A meet and greet” of our various clients was arranged in Khayalitsha. Khayalitsha is one of many “townships”. During apartheid black South Africans were forced to live in these tight quartered areas or shanty towns.  The housing structure literally resembles shacks. There are tin roofs and very thin walls.  This particular township is about 20-30 drive from Cape Town downtown. Most of our clients reside here. As a matter of fact, a majority of black south African live quite far from the downtown/city area of cape town although they work there.  Many rely on car pools and minibuses/vans to take them across town.   

Our meet and greet was a lunch hosted at a bed and breakfast within the township. The business owner Thope Lekau, a Business Place client, started her B&B because she wanted tourist visiting her township to get a better feel for the community. In the pictures below you see Thope. She and some other local residents cooked some traditional South African dishes….dessert was fabulous.  Thope also talked to us about her story of education, career transition, and business development. She went from working in the area of civil rights advocacy to creating a business opportunity in the area of tourism. I plan to stay as a guest in her B&B for a weekend.  (Business name: Kopanong B&B).

 I’m so excited about my client who has a unique business in the area of outdoor advertising!  

Township..

The meet and greet….

Road Trip….! February 20, 2008

The first weekend of my arrival, many of the exchange students already planned a route trip down the picturesque Garden Route to Knysna. This is about a 5 hour drive from Cape Town.  It is a long drive; however, the scenery along the way is absolutely breath taking. (IMAGINE: California Highway 101 up coast drive). You drive up, through, and around several mountains so some very curvy roads. The views of the exposed limestone rocks, forests, and beaches keep you alert and curious of the landscape changes that are around the next corner.   After our lunch in Mossel Bay, we soon arrived at our cabin home for the weekend.  Our rustic cabins were nestled in the middle of the woods. Each cabin was quite cozy yet spacious enough to house 6 to 9 people comfortably.  We got in a little late first day, so we decided the best way to may the most of the day was to have a good old fashion BBQ…Yum! …And of course, no BBQ would be complete without games. All I’ll say to that point is that B School games do not vary across school… 

Knysna and the surrounding areas (George, Plettenberg Bay) are great places for the adventurer; forests trails to hike, hidden watering holes to swim, ostriches to ride (yes, you can ride an ostrich), and bunges to jump. This area is also a great place to relax, site see and hang out in the small towns. I opted for the latter. As a matter of fact, other then my trip to the Heads, I spent the entire day on the beach.  Unfortunately, I forget to charge my camera battery and don’t have much to show of it! (The heads is an area where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. The mix of waters produces a turbulent current that makes it difficult for ships to navigate.)  

our cabin…

…bbq          

The heads…

Departure, arrival, and the first days… February 10, 2008

Departure, arrival, and the first days….To prepare for my 20+ hour flight, I aptly chose the remedies of sleep derivation and drowsiness from heavy foods; specifically a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and a platter of ribs! This combination did the trick, before long I made my way to Johannesburg without incident…yet.  The international airport was a very disorienting experience.  CLEARING customs was easy enough… despite being pulled aside and searched by a security guard whose dog sniffed out my strawberry and peanut butter sandwich in my carryon bag.  FINDING customs was a little more difficult.  Each official looking airport person told me to stand in a different and incorrect and LONG line.  Of course, there are several lines for South African passports compared to perhaps two lines for foreign passports. Ugh…A late departure out of Atlanta (Delta airlines) caused me to miss my connecting South African Airways flight from Jo’burg to Capetown (A very popular and short route (THINK: routes from New York to Atlanta or San Francisco to Los Angeles).  Fortunately, there were several people in a similar predicament like my new adopted family, The Stubbs. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to Delta, the remaining night flights to Capetown were all overbooked….

  Typically, the procedure is to be rebooked to the next available flight.  Well, not so typical for me. After being rebooked at the international terminal, I proceeded to domestic flights with bags in tow….big bags…! I had a trolley, of course, but there isn’t a nice air train that takes you to each terminal. Not a bad thing, unless you only have a few minutes to check in to your next flight. Somehow I successfully made the mad dash through the crowded, un-air conditioned, and steeply inclined airport. There was one point at which the Stubbs and I squeezed ourselves into a compact elevator by hoping on top of our trolleys. (Visualize: feet in air and against the walls in order to get elevator doors to shut). Our valiant effort was only met with the realization that we would need to stay overnight in Jo’burg. I can say a lot more, especially about the strange business hours of the delta international counter of 3pm to 7pm, but I will spare my banter.  However, my key observations are:

1) don’t be in a hurry– it breeds impatience and a host of negative feelings

2) expect the unexpected– always carry a change of clothes, your bags may be lost) 

3) smile — when your dazed and confused a smile can go a long way. And finally

4) the world is filled with wonderfully kind people —

THANK YOU MARK AND JAN!! You both made my first hours in South Africa a fond experience!!  

Beauty all around….Cape town first days:The weather here is marvelous! It’s great to escape the east coast winter to arrive to summer time in the cape! The weather has been in the upper 70s to mid 80s. It is not humid. The sun is very strong. And it gets WINDY!!!! I’m staying in Seapoint with my NYU classmate.  I have a great apartment, with the exception of the STEEP hill I have to climb to reach it. 

The University of Capetown campus is not a far walk from my apartment. I prefer, however, to take the minivans (THINK: Queens NY dollar vans) that rides up and down Main Street. This bus is only 4.50ZAR. You just jump on and off anywhere along the street. There is a guy that hangs out the window and calls out to anybody walking along the street to solicit a ride. All sorts of people take these crowded little vans.

The campus is right next to the Waterfront. You see beautiful Table Mountain in the background.   

Last American Supper…

Atlanta Layover…

Jo’burg woes!!

Waterfront & Table Mountain….

Nobel Plaza on the Waterfront….

UCT Campus…..

more of my apartment…

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