Testimonial: Kathleen Pulfer – Event Management – Class of 2012

I was awarded an opportunity to travel to Dodoma, Tanzania through my Event Management program. I was expected to work with another Event Manager in coordination with a vocational institute called VETA (Vocational Education Training Authority). Our role was to be involved within the school and the community to advise and direct individuals and students interested in Event Management.

We were also required to put on an event while we were there. We visited VETA upon arriving to the city and we sat down with the teachers afterwards to figure out what our role at the school was. This was important since they were missing a key component to our work goal; they had not implemented the Event Management course which we were supposed to help T.A. and help guide the teachers. Our goal changed from focusing on VETA as a whole and into a whole community affair. We met with community members interested in putting on events like local fundraisers or cultural musical festivals. We did presentations to the VETA Hospitality program students to introduce the Event Management program as a potential career choice. We also added an environmental spin to help reduce pollution in the community since there is currently no pollution initiative in the city.

Our biggest achievement that we pulled off while we were there was a fundraiser for a local orphanage called House of Hope. The idea behind it was to have a bar night and anyone who came out could donate monetarily or by any means that they could afford. In my eyes, awareness of the orphanage’s needs was and still is just as important as gaining anything physically.

Before the event we visited the House of Hope and met with some of the children and their guardian; which had a very deep and profound effect on all of us. Most of these children have long term illnesses such as AIDS/HIV and have obviously had already traveled a long road already. We discovered that many of the children continue their education which is paid for by international sponsors; but that not all of the children have this opportunity. We created our event called HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty for Education) in an attempt to raise enough awareness and funds so that more of these deserving children could have the same opportunities. We advertised over the radio and through networking between all of our established connections in the city.

The night of the fundraiser was a total success in our guest numbers, donations and overall support. We raised just over 800,000 Tsh (about $700CDN) along with a box full of clothes, ingredients, detergent and soap. The night was especially successful when a local school director offered 10 free spots from his school to any excelling children from the orphanage; which is priceless considering the hope and happiness that this gesture raised.

This experience taught me a lot about myself, how I work and what I need to accomplish to feel fulfilled in this type of field work. Because of this travel abroad program I am more motivated to find international development work within Event Management.Overall, this was an amazing experience that I will always cherish in the sense of having been a community leader in a foreign country while doing something that I love.

Tanzanian students, Sara Bobak, Kathleen Pulfer and Algonquin professor Rebecca Volk