39 fellows, 13 countries, 3 continents and at least 5 different time zones – these were the complex yet fascinating dynamics of the very first week of AFRIKA KOMMT! 9th intake.
Even in these challenging times where we cannot congregate in person, the young professionals who are part of the 2020 – 2022 cohort, successfully took the first steps of their one-year fellowship journey. The programme started as scheduled on 1st February 2021 with sessions hosted virtually on MS Teams, bringing together all the brilliant young professionals that will be travelling to Germany later in the year to start their practical training in German companies.
The first week of the programme entailed several introduction sessions that were focused on getting to know each other, deep diving into important topics such as communication and culture as well as having some fun together. There were plenty of claps, laughs, cheers and even tears as different fellows creatively introduced themselves and their countries giving each other a glimpse of who they are, where they come from and what makes them ‘tick’. The fellows also began their German lessons in earnest and eagerly put to practice their speaking skills during ‘German only’ conversation sessions with local language tandems. In addition, they also researched and explored different interesting topics about Germany – the country that will very soon host them for a period of 10 months.
This intake of AFRIKA KOMMT! is indeed uniquely formatted due to the current challenging circumstances. However, these past two weeks have truly shown us that not even a global pandemic can stop people with a common vision from its passionate pursuit! We wish the fellows the very best and are certain of the transformational impact this one year will have on their lives.