Continuing the stories on the 2013 Winterims, today’s article describes Dr. Barbarinde’s Winterim that takes you through the emerging markets of South Africa. Here’s a snapshot of Nicole Mueller’s (’14) experience at the Winterim, in her own words.
Meeting with the International Finance Corporation – It was so great to hear about all the projects they are doing to bring Foreign Direct Investment into the country and assist with profitable partnerships, not to mention the fact that it was wonderful to know that our GPE class was useful outside of the classroom.
South Africa Women in Dialogue – The ladies there believe that “poverty is in the mind”, and they are doing what they can to educate women from all walks of life about the importance of education, since many of them are still skeptical about what an education would actually do for them.
CIDA – A higher-education school with a three-year BBA program that works in partnership with Thunderbird and has over 85% career placement after graduation, a number that cannot be matched by ANY other South African institution. The school sponsors students who come from deprived schools in deep rural communities who do not have access to quality education. The school addresses everything from the technical aspects of business to issues such as interview dress code as well as attitude in the workplace. The students are very eager to learn and pick the brains of Thunderbird students. A handful of the T-birds there were CIDA mentors as well. The school is always looking for interview suits to lend out as well as mentors. (This is a program through Thunderbird’s Net Impact Chapter if students want more information).
The Magnificent Safari – You also can’t talk about any country in Africa without thinking of going on a safari! Our safari weekend 
was quite interesting, because I’m sure no one would ever envision 17 Thunderbird students all bundled in their warmest clothes, dripping wet on a safari truck at 4am shining lights out into the wild looking for any movement at all. Awakening the next morning to find that all but one of the park gates closed, we knew we had a long drive home, but the frisky male lion and the pouting elephant made the 17-hour journey worth it.