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very early on to meet the other placement
students at a party in Pretoria. We all became
friends quickly and we spent almost every
weekend exploring the Gauteng region around
Johannesburg and beyond. Since we had
enjoyed travelling around at the weekends so
much, myself and another IAESTE student
(from Ireland) decided to postpone our return
flights and spend 2 weeks exploring Cape Town
and the famous Garden Route up towards
Durban. This was an amazing fortnight, and
looking back, it is hard to see how we managed
to fit everything in during 14 days, including a
range of new experiences, not least of which
were scuba diving and bungee-jumping!
My time in South Africa not only provided a
perfect opportunity to apply some of my
technical knowledge but also really encouraged
me to seek a possible career in consultancy. I
also enjoyed the amazing chance to explore a
country and culture that in some ways is so
similar to ours, yet is also remarkably different.
Finding this aspect so rewarding, I now feel
confident travelling or working abroad for any
length of time and have demonstrated that
initial set-backs can be overcome. It is the
combination of all the above that explains why
I consider myself so fortunate to have been part
of IAESTE and taken advantage of the unique
opportunities it affords to all its participants.
19th Seminar on IAESTE Development : April 22-25, 2004
Tunis, Tunisia - SID Report
IAESTE International convened its 19th
Seminar on IAESTE Development on April 22-
25, 2004 in Tunis, Tunisia. This marked the
first SID conference to be held in Africa and in
an Arab country.
SID serves as a means to bring together IAESTE
members and co-operating institutions to
discuss issues of best practices, administration,
organisational advancement and development.
Unlike the Annual Conference, which focuses
on the exchange of internships, SID allows
delegates to come together and focus on the
development and improvement of IAESTE as an
international organisation. Work groups work
on specific tasks requested by the previous
General Conference. The resulting work from
the work groups is refined over the year into
recommendations that go back to the General
Conference for official voting and
implementation.
The conference was held at the El Mouradi
Hotel Africa, Tunis and at the opening
reception participants were welcomed by Mehdi
Lamloum, the Organizing Committee President
of IAESTE Tunisia. Further remarks were made
by Mr. Jalel Ezzine, Vice President for the
National School of Engineering and by the
National Secretary of IAESTE Tunisia Mr Tahar
Friaa. Mr. Ezzine expressed his sincere welcome
and appreciation for the hard work of the
organising committee. Pauline Ferguson,
General Secretary of IAESTE joined SID Coordinator,
Jeff Lange, IAESTE United States in
welcoming participants from around the world.
This year, 58 delegates were in attendance from
25 countries including 11 National Secretaries.
The work at SID is broken down into four
working groups led by work group co-ordinators.
The pace of the SID is extremely fast. The
meeting takes place over four days and is results
oriented. The conference convenes an opening
plenary to discuss work done since the last SID
and the work to be tackled by this year’s SID.
Work groups present their results at a group fair
held on Saturday. The group fair is a poster
session that allows work groups to post their
results and gather feedback from those
participants outside the work group. Groups
then present their findings and results to the
closing plenary. The venue for the next SID and
the SID Co-ordinator are then nominated.
However, SID is not only work. Conference
attendees spend time learning about the culture
of their host country and get to see some sights
too. On Friday evening, delegates were invited
to a Tunisian cultural evening held at a
restaurant in the ancient Medina in Tunis. On
Saturday, participants were treated to a tour of
historical Carthage and the seaside suburb of
Sidi Bou Said just north of Tunis. SID also gives
everyone the chance to share their own culture
at the National Evening when delegates share
food and drink from their own country along
with cultural dress and dances.
The 19th SID was an overwhelming success. A
special thank you to IAESTE Tunisia for their
hard work in putting together this year’s SID.
Mr Jeff Lange SID Co-ordinator
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