In the Jo'burg

Hi friends,

Just wanted to drop you a quick note to say hello from Johannesburg!  On Tuesday morning, Monique and I left for Jo'burg with 3 of the students who are on the executive board of the SIFE UWC team.  Jean, Andrea, and Ashley are three PHENOMENAL student leaders who have completed absolutely incredible work for their Greening the Bush Initiative, which includes 5 major projects.  This week, I have the opportunity to join Jean, Andrea, and Ashley as they present their accomplishments at the SIFE South African National Competition.

Of the 27 SIFE chapters in South Africa, 26 of these teams have convened in Jo'burg this week for the competition.  Today was the first round of competitions, and let me just say that I could NOT be more proud of the SIFE UWC team!  Seriously--they were so great!  They knocked their presentation out of the water; their charismatic and genuine personalities are unmatched, and their presentation was a very honest and honorable depiction of their achievements this academic year.

At the end of today, awards were given out to SIFE teams whose presentations most effectively captured SIFE themes; which include (1) effectively demonstrating that the team mastered the triple bottom line criteria (people, planet and profit), (2) demonstrated they had a solid plan for team and project sustainability moving forward, and (3) demonstrating an entrepreneurial approach.  During the first round of presentations, the 26 presenting teams were divided into four "leagues", which presented together.  Therefore, a first, second, and third place award was given to the SIFE teams from each of these four leagues for the above categories.

And...

...out of the 3 categories, SIFE UWC won TWO awards!!!!!!

Yes, TWO!  We were so proud of them!  SIFE UWC won a first place trophy for our league for the award recognizing the team that most effectively demonstrated that their projects mastered the triple bottom line criteria.  SIFE UWC also won a second place trophy for our league for the award recognizing teams that demonstrated a solid plan for team and project sustainability.  Woot woot!

Tomorrow morning the teams that will be advancing to the second round of the competition will be announced.  Two teams from each of the four leagues will advance forward.  From these eight teams, two teams will be chosen for the semi-final competition tomorrow afternoon.  At the end of the day tomorrow, the South African SIFE 2012 champion will be declared.  The six teams that presented in our league today all did a very nice job in their own unique way.  At this point, we are unsure which two teams from our league will advance; Monique and I really felt like all the teams have a chance.  The three members of the SIFE UWC team definitely did a great job today, so no matter what happens tomorrow, I am incredibly proud of their determination and achievement.  They are so passionate about their projects and their positive impact on the environment and the community, and I am very pleased they have had this opportunity to share their projects with others :)

Hooray for SIFE UWC!!! :) :) :)  I have some awesome photos of the SIFE UWC team, which I will try to post when I have better internet access so you can see the students that I am so proud of! :)

Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow! :)

With love,
Kaity