I?ve been in Mauritius almost a month now, and I can?t believe how the time has flown by! To recap on my last blog post, Mauritius is an island off the coast of Madagascar, and I?m here doing an internship with a non-profit that offers microloans to local entrepreneurs. The program is organized through AIESEC, and there are about 100 other interns from around the world all living and working together. I?ve been matched with a lady named Marlyne, who wants to expand her fried noodle catering business.
I?ve discovered that everything in Mauritius runs on ?island time?. The people here aren?t particularly worried about being punctual or sticking to an agenda. For example, most of my transportation is on public buses, but if I don?t make it to the bus stop in time, no problem; I just flag down the bus from the side of the road. This attitude also seems to be a part of Volunteer Mauritius, the name of the nonprofit I?m partnering with that coordinates the microfinance operations. They have a good vision and really want to help the local entrepreneurs, but don?t seem in any particular rush to do so. It was three weeks before my team was able to compute an accurate cost calculation for Marlyne?s fried noodles. This calculation could have been done it three days if meetings had been coordinated more efficiently.
There are many times when I?m frustrated by this, because I want to do as much good as I can while I?m here. However, learning to adapt to this new way of doing things has been a huge learning experience in itself. America, and especially the American business environment, is extremely fast-paced and competitive. Even at school, my entire life is scheduled and chock-full of activities. I expect people to be on time and in constant communication. But that?s not the way things work in much of the world. Here, people place more importance on relationships and on having a good time. They don?t want to work all the time, and if something doesn?t pan out, oh well, because it will all turn out ok in the end. I?ve learned to not stress myself out so much while I?m here, and just go with the flow. Hopefully, this will be a lesson I can use in the future when dealing with businesses around the world.
