Event 1

A big hello to everyone.

We were always told that events are really stressful, but it does not really matters to us at the time we were sitting in the class, listening to our lecturer as we haven’t participated in any.
I have been involved in a big event: Telethon event, organised to raise funds to finance the various projects that PILS has as well as for its daily functioning.

Time management came handy here and I had to prioritise what is the most important thing to do because there were loads. Between my involvements in the red ribbon preparation, do guest relations for volunteers, and to show them how to do it and to compile who will be coming to the event among the volunteers who have formation and those who haven’t in the same day as well as writing of invitation to the media. It was a very busy day. I also had discussions with my supervisor and other workers about the procedures that have to be made for the event’s stand and what problem could be solved beforehand.

I was given the opportunity to discuss about what should be offered as gifts and helped in organising gifts for persons who contributed more than Rs 100. My opinions were taken into consideration in the meeting, which I was grateful. I realise that working in unison with the team and effective communication is HIGHLY IMPORTANT to get everything done smoothly and correctly. I was pleased to see that on this point, there was no problem enough though everyone was stressed out.

For the Telethon event, I was assigned the task of organising the stand, verify if there is enough pamphlets, condoms, etc, and explain to people what we are doing as well about the organisation together with demonstration of how to use condoms. Here, timidity is out of question as we must be proactive and be conversant and to put people at ease as it is quite sensitive to talk about sex and condoms in Mauritius. Time flew by very quickly that day. I also had to distribute pamphlets and encourage people to make a donation. Also, to set the record straight with other volunteers, little meetings were done about people’s reactions whether they are accepting our leaflets and making donations or not.

Answering to university students who came for an interview for their assignment and replying some questions of journalists and relate them to other people who are capable of answering their questions were also made.

I have also grabbed the chance to take journalist’s contacts for the contact list database I was doing as well had a small conversation with them to create ties.

Though, this was a really tiring day, I have enjoyed it as I have learned a lot and have created ties with the other volunteers.

Well, share your experience with us.

Regards,
Joyce