Days 33 - 36

7-10-13

            Other than going to the Mall today was a pretty average day of writing and implementing. All week a few of my team members have been going to Monwood Playgroup implementing our financing and marketing deliverables. I’ve primarily been hanging back on campus to work on the Silulo final consulting report since it will be the first one we turn in 5 days from now. I’ve sort of assumed the roll of the formatter of the team meaning I have to compile all of the documents and turn them into a complete report. It sounds pretty easy but its pretty tough when no one on the team formats anything the same way so everything has to be fixed. I feel like I’m pretty good at formatting documents though and the final Silulo report is coming along pretty nicely. There is still plenty of work to be done within the deliverables but we are definitely making some serious progress. Even though Luvuyo has been out of town all week and will be until Sunday we are surprisingly still able to write the deliverables. I guess that's due to the face that most of our deliverables don't involve any sort of implementation other than a simple back and forth process between Luvuyo and us. We write the deliverables and send them to him to check them and he gives us his feedback. We do this until he likes the documents at which point that deliverable is complete. However, it is this reason that I wish we had an underdeveloped client. Although there is plenty of fixes to be made within Silulo, none of the deliverables that manifested during this process involved those issues and if they had it would be too difficult to implement in such a short time.

            Luckily I was able to get away from campus for a bit today after writing all day. A small group of us went to the mall to grab some dinner and print some of the marketing documents for Monwood Playgroup. Its pretty cool creating new marketing tools that will help a business thrive in the future. We printed new brochures, posters, and business cards for Pumeza to hand out to locals to spread the word about her preschool. I really hope these documents provide a bit more insight into what Monwood is all about and create more interest in the community.

7-11-13

            We are officially half way through the deliverables of each of our clients. We have put our blood sweat and tears into these deliverables and it feels good to know we’re actually making progress. For a few days there I didn't know if we were ever going to finish anything but it’s starting to come together and the final reports are starting to take shape. All I know is that when these are over there will be some hefty celebrations following. Not much surprising happened today. We spent most of the day writing up the final reports as we have been all week, or at least as I have been all week. Much of my team has been visiting Pumeza at Monwood implementing deliverables, but since I sort of ended up focusing on Silulo I’m not terribly involved in Monwood. Obviously I understand what’s going on with Monwood and how everything is being implemented but my primary focus as of late is working on the documents for Silulo. I kind of wish I had focused on Monwood knowing how different of a client Silulo would be but there’s no turning back. It’s not that this work isn't rewarding because it definitely is, but it is surely different from what everyone else is doing. One thing is for sure, is that were half way done and I don't want to look back even if I could. The four deliverables ahead of us may be the hardest ones but I don't even care right now.

7-12-13

            These journal entries are shrinking slowly… If I could write one journal entry for this whole week I would simply because it feels like one big blur. I wake up, eat a granola bar, get to work, eat lunch, do more work, eat dinner, work some more, ideally write in this journal, and then go to sleep. As exciting as all of that sounds I must say it’s getting pretty boring. This may be the final stretch and were nearly there but motivating ourselves to do all this work is not an easy task, especially given the exhaustion beginning to set in. On top of that, everyone is getting really sick. There is definitely a virus going around cause few of people to throw up a lot and I really don't want to get it. I’m pretty sure sickness is a mental thing so I tell myself everyday I wont get sick and I’ve been good so far.

            Yesterday we had to move out of our dorms and into a flat. 12 of us live there now and its much more fun than it was before. The reason we had to move is that the second semester here starts next week and students began returning to campus. Today was the first day, that we really noticed an increase in people. Its been very interesting walking around sometimes getting weird looks from the locals. There are two things I’ve noticed to be pretty interesting. The first is that it is very weird to be the race minority somewhere. Although you could argue I’ve always been a minority based on my religion this is different. This is a visible difference where as my religion is not always visible to others. I don't necessarily feel unwelcome anymore here but I do feel slightly out of place now. The second and funny part is that I almost feel like everyone is invading my campus. Maybe I feel this way just because everyone has been gone for the last few weeks and we’ve been the only people consistently around, but I’m not sure. It definitely provides a little comic relief during the day though. All I know is that campus is different now and it's a nice change of pace from the typical grind.

7-13-13

             Grinding is the best word I could use to describe this week. Every day poses a new task to complete and the cycle is endless, or so it feels endless. Today we developed a group of financial materials for Pumeza so that she can improve her bookkeeping skills and learn more about the financial status of her business. We have also nearly completed the franchising model section for Luvuyo, which is very exciting since none of us had a clue about franchising until this program. I guess were learning a lot of random skills that I am sure I will utilize in my own businesses one day. The most satisfying part of EESA is that we spend so much time working on these deliverables and then we get to watch our clients use them in their businesses and they understand how it can help them. I would be very irritated if we had clients that didn't use the deliverables, but luckily we have clients that understand EESA and its benefits. It has taken a few days for Pumeza to fully grasp the financial system but she finally got it and is already using it. This new system will have a direct impact on the success of the company and it won't take a long time for those changes to be visible. They will be noticeable immediately by Pumeza and her customer base. She will have easier access to government grants and other funding opportunities and her business will thrive. Especially with the new marketing materials that focus on the benefits of Monwood Playgroup, Pumeza will grow and could potentially become the benchmark of preschools in that area. To see that happen would be an incredible feeling.