Rebound

rebound: a movement back from an impact

Now that we distanced ourselves a bit from last weeks exams it has become a little clearer what happened after the exams. Whether it was a reaction from the stress of the past 5 months or just the intensity of the last few weeks peaking with the exams, the energy level in the class had dropped to zero Monday morning. It was as if we all had made a deep exhale together and could not really start breathing again.

I walked around like a zombie most of Monday and Tuesday, like a spectator to my own life. I was going through the motions and I heard the words that were said, but nothing registered. The ship was sailing, but there was nobody at the rudder. I felt like I had not slept for a hundred years and I could not concentrate on anything for more than a minute at the time. If there is anyone out there that can describe what happened, please do let us know.

In retrospect it is probably good that we have been in the dungeons most of the week. Teaching us in the auditorium would have been a pure waste. The energy curve has been steadily rising over the past few days, but it is nowhere close to pre-exam levels.

Thursday we presented the first draft of our ICP industry analysis to each other. We taped our presentations on the walls in both the foyer and the auditorium and then walked around and gave each other feedback. My group harvested a lot of good comments and suggestions which we brought back down into the dungeons. The first big test on this project will be on Thursday where we will be showing our work to the executives visiting campus for the big OWP program that runs next week.

We ended the week this afternoon with an interview for our industry analysis. Jemilah Mahmoud and Manu Gupta have each built their own human aid organizations in Malaysia and India respectively. They were in Geneva for a conference and were kind enough to spend almost two full hours with us explaining the ins and outs of their 'industry'. The meeting was very conviniently held at Starbucks.


ICP Team Koinonia getting first-hand input from Jemilah Mahmoud and Manu Gupta on how NGOs work. (NGO = Non-Government Organization)

Stefano Giussani [Italy] teaching Corinne Avelines [France] the NGO value chain.

The auditorium was buzzing with presentations and candid feedback.

Simon Brunner [Switzerland] presenting the first draft of their industry analysis.

Myriam Vacher [France] explaining industry trends and drivers.


Shibu James [India] gives his feedback to one of the industries.