So I have officially been in Cape Town, South Africa for three weeks and I feel that now I have both the perspective and the time to finally contribute to this blog. As many of you know, this is the official EwB, or Education Without Borders, blog. What few, if any, of you know is that I am the new Project Manager here on the ground at Fezeka schools. While I will write about my actual experiences, the program itself, the learners (students), etc. I wanted to take this opportunity to just introduce myself to let you know a little bit about myself.
My name is Courtney Lemm, and while I moved around a lot due to being a navy brat, I was born in San Diego, California but tell people I am from the great state of Virginia. I did both my bachelor’s and masters degrees (sandwiched around a year spent abroad in England) at Old Dominion University. It was here that I became acquainted with Dr. Jennifer Fish, and as a result Ruth and Cecil Hershler. They hired me for this amazing opportunity to work with both there organization and with the kids that their program works with/for, along with the countless others that this type of work touches. While I have been here for only three weeks, I have instantly felt at home in both the organization and as Cape Town as a whole. It has everything to do with the people and this place. It is absolutely accommodating and intoxicating. It is unlike any other place I have ever been.
So one of the many projects that I hope to turn into a success is furthering and enhancing the social media of EwB, starting with this blog. I will be continuing and expanding my role on this blog with my own posts, but also will be bringing in more voices into the fold. I hope to turn this into once EwB voice that encompasses all of those involved within the organization. I hope that this blog includes not only myself and those that are already contributing, but also volunteers, tutors, learners and the other project managers that I work alongside daily. All of these voices will give a well rounded and strong voice to the importance and successful nature of EwB as a whole. I hope to have my first two guest bloggers up and posting within the next week.
In the future I will be updating about the daily events that are happening on the ground here at Fezeka schools. From the end of term anxiety that the learners go through, to our various excursions we take on holiday programs, our end of the year programs, the ins and outs of our learners, volunteers, tutors and project managers lives, to the successes and failures that we as a group, program and organization face here in Cape Town. It is an exciting opportunity and i’m so very happy to be a part of it.
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