Sara Bobak – Event Management – Class of 2012
Posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2012
The opportunity to travel to Tanzania on a work placement came while attending Algonquin College’s postgraduate Event Management program. With funding assistance provided by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), a classmate and I were chosen from the Event Management program to help complete a section of the Education for Employment (EFE) program run by the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC). Our placement was with a postsecondary school called Vocational Education and Training Authority, or VETA, in Dodoma, Tanzania, the legislative capital of the country. This came as a last minute, not-to-be-missed opportunity where I had the chance to experience a completely different culture, learn a new language and network internationally.
The main objective of our placement was to help develop key skills in Event Management to the students enrolled in the program at VETA. However when we arrived the program had not yet been implemented, which led to multiple brainstorming sessions and lots of improvisation. We decided it would be beneficial to introduce Event Management in a series of presentations to the students enrolled in the hospitality sector, in order to gage their interest in the material. Provided that this was a completely new topic for the students, they seemed very engaged and genuinely interested and motivated to learn more.
In addition to working with the students, we also provided assistance to various entrepreneurs and professionals working in the community, such as the YWCA, a cultural music festival and a hotel and conference centre. We assisted mainly in the area of sponsorship, which is a relatively new concept in Dodoma, and budget planning.
Our biggest undertaking, and my favourite experience of the placement, was creating a fundraiser for a local orphanage called House of Hope (Nyumba ya Matumaini in Swahili). Fundraising, just like sponsorship, is a new concept in Dodoma, which made planning the event a bit more challenging. That category seemed to be expanding, since on top of this new event concept we also had to contend with not being fluent in Swahili therefore having difficulty communicating efficiently, and the difference in pace which is much slower than what we were used to at home. However with lots of support from the community, our co-workers and a local radio station that provided free airtime to advertise the event, we managed to successfully stage Dodoma’s first fundraising event entitled H.O.P.E. (Helping Overcome Poverty with Education). The fundraiser was a success having raised over $800 in cash donations as well as several in-kind donations such as flour, sugar, cooking oil, schoolbooks and clothing. Everyone involved in the event was pleased with its success and we were overwhelmed by how responsive and supportive the community was, with not only their donations but by their willingness to adopt a new event concept.
The overall Tanzanian experience was very rewarding and definitely tested my patience in overcoming language barriers, my ability to adapt to cultural differences, and my drive to travel and help others while doing so. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity and I hope that I can return to Tanzania to see an Event Management program implemented at VETA and to see our H.O.P.E. fundraiser become a yearly event.
Tanzanian students, Sara Bobak and Kathleen Pulfer
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