My time in Mauritius has come to a close, and I?ll truly miss this country and the people I?ve met here. I wrapped up work on my microfinance project and handed the reins to another intern, who will continue to work with Marlyne (the entrepreneur I was matched with) until August. Over the course of the summer, I watched Marlyne operate her noodle catering business and helped her evaluate how to better run her operations and become more profitable. For example, Marlyne wasn?t aware that the chicken she put in her noodles was 40% of total variable costs. After communicating with customers, we developed a plan to make batches of chicken noodles and lower-priced vegetarian noodles to determine which was more profitable.
Living with interns from around the world was also an educational experience. I had never realized how much of a bubble I live in until I came to Mauritius. My previous travel experiences have all been with family members, friends from Texas or Texas A&M students. Having been raised in Texas, these people either share or understand my conservative Christian point of view. In Mauritius, most of my friends had worldviews very different than my own, and I had to learn how to respect that and find the common ground between us. But as we explored Mauritius together, ate together, and embarked upon the adventures the island has to offer, I realized how truly blessed I was to be living with and learning from such an incredible, diverse group of people.