Maun, Botswana
Hey QPID friends! We have been in Maun, Botswana, for almost 2 months now. We have been working for Travel For Impact, a social enterprise that works to connect the tourism industry in Botswana with civil society organizations and charities. It also works to help local small businesses in the cultural and eco-tourism sector access the tourism value chain in Maun, since it can be challenging for those who aren’t big safari companies to benefit from tourism. We’ve gotten to work both behind the scenes and in the field with TFI.
One project we’ve been working extensively on is the Glass Project, a project started by TFI with funding from the US Embassy and EU Embassies that aims to preserve the beauty of Botswana’s natural environment by recycling and sterilizing glass to create high-quality products that promote economic empowerment and sustainability. TFI hopes to support the women working at the project in transforming it into an autonomous small business that supports their livelihoods and promotes environmental mindfulness in the community. We have worked with them to develop business tools for inventory and sales tracking, developing a mammoth of a business plan (20 pages!), helping them consolidate their brand and marketing materials, and preparing to host tourists at the site. It has been wonderful getting to know these women over the past two months, and we wish we could stay for longer! We can’t wait to see how the Glass Project grows over the next few months and years and the beautiful products they will continue to make.
We’ve had the chance to really observe the inner-workings of an NGO, and how complicated the bureaucracy of development can be. We’ve been tasked with developing guides for complex policy manuals that have proved challenging, but it has allowed us to learn so much about donor funding and grants from large bodies like the EU.
Botswana is an incredible country and Maun is filled with some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet! Everyone greets each other with a smile and is so incredibly supportive. You’ll encounter the sweetest dogs, goats, donkeys, and cows out for a stroll in the streets at all hours of the day. The more people you meet the longer you’re in Maun, the more you’ll realize how everyone is connected. The connectedness of the people in Maun has made integrating into the community here a joy, and we feel so lucky to have made friendships that will last long after our internship. We’ve been able to learn about and experience unique aspects of Setswana culture, and we’ve been picking up more Setswana the longer we’ve been here (though holding a conversation is still nearly impossible).
We are so grateful for this incredible experience and all the wonderful people we’ve met and places we’ve been. We highly encourage you to apply if you’re someone who wants to take that leap out into the world, challenge your beliefs, grow your cross-cultural competencies, and have the experience of a lifetime!