The Virtual South Africa Program Experience

By: Xuan Xiao 

The COVID-19 pandemic limited opportunities to travel,  but it did not limit my determination to explore the world. As a previous Summer Abroad program participant, I was so excited when virtual Summer Abroad opportunities were offered in 2021 and quickly started to research the programs on the Summer Abroad website and prepare my applications.

Reason for Applying to the South Africa Program

The previous Summer Abroad program that I participated in was Hong Kong in 2019 which enhanced my presentation abilities, teamwork, and research skills through class discussions and group projects. It allowed me to observe different cultural environments, which deepened my cross-cultural understanding. To build on these skills, I decided to take the virtual South Africa program in 2020. As a management student, I knew that participating in the program would help me observe a new business environment and learn broadly about commerce, engineering, and social science. Most importantly, the program focused on honing our consulting skills, which will be helpful for pursuing a career in business in the future.

Day to Day Experience in the Course

The virtual program includes a book analysis, community meetings, guest speaking lectures, general lectures, and the final consulting engagement project. 

Book Analysis 

Before the program started, we read the book Born a Crime by Trevor Noah and wrote an analysis on it. Trevor Noah is a comedian from South Africa, and in his book he shares his stories starting from his childhood and addressed issues such as racial inequality and discrimination. This book taught me a more personal perspective about South Africa's history and development, which prepared me well to participate in the program. 

Guest Speakers  

For the guest lectures, we had many knowledgeable and experienced guest speakers who shared their diverse business knowledge experiences. One of the guest speakers spoke about innovative finance and inclusive business. They taught us about the real-world applications of innovative financing in business cases and the importance of balancing financial and social performance when operating a business. Another guest speaker was a businessperson in Cape Town. He mentioned the challenges for foreign business people operating  in South Africa, such as a lack of proper market research and systematic strategy. We also had a guest speaker who was a reporter from Bloomberg who presented to us comprehensively about South Africa's development. I learned a lot from their knowledge and experiences, which helped me in the final consulting project with my group’s township entrepreneur.

Community Meetings  

Our local navigators moderated two online community-based meetings. I was able to observe the local business operators and real problems the township micro-enterprises are facing. During the first community meeting, our team met with a childcare center president. Instead of to make  a profit, the reason for she runs the center is for the education of the kids in the community and to take care of kids whose parents have to leave for work. In another community meeting, we met an entrepreneur who was incredibly passionate about their non-profit organization which helps unemployed people to find a job, provides computer training and access to educational opportunities. Both entrepreneurs mentioned that they’ve faced many struggles in terms of funding, paying employees' salaries, and hiring new employees. The determination and enthusiasm of these two township entrepreneurs was inspirational and motivated me to actively work to achieve my own goals in the future. 

The Final Consulting Project 

The consulting project ran throughout the program. Our group chose to consult with a township entrepreneur who runs a furniture business, including chairs, benches, kitchen cupboards, and bookshelves, which are made using mostly recycled wood. We had around five consulting sessions with the township entrepreneur which were facilitated by our team's navigator. We made a group chat on Whatsapp to ensure we could ask questions and share our ideas with navigators effectively after class. In the first consulting session, we met and were introduced to the township entrepreneur and the navigator. The navigator provided us with information about Cape Town and also helped us connect with the local community. After the third consulting session, our group started dividing up tasks and doing research based on our discussions during the consulting sessions. Finally, our group identified and recommended accessible business strategies and methods for the entrepreneur to reach sustainable revenue and future growth. In our final presentation, we focused on the financials and marketing of these two areas and provided recommendations. We also provided the short-term, long-term goal and the measurement of success for the entrepreneur.  

I really enjoyed and benefited from the final team presentation, which aimed to assist the township entrepreneur in achieving his objectives and community good. Also, my team members were incredible! We came from different UofT programs, which made our ideas and business plans more diverse and comprehensive. Another benefit, was that the class was small which provided everyone opportunities to speak and share ideas and questions during class. 

Benefits of Participating

I didn’t have much experience with business consulting before participating in the South Africa Program. Through this program, I learned important elements and processes of consulting and building business plans. In addition, I observed the way the township entrepreneurs operated their business and saw their enthusiasm which inspired me a lot. Also, the professor (Ann Armstrong), program coaches, and the local navigator provided many suggestions and words of encouragement when we were doing the consulting project, which I greatly appreciated. This short-term program contains diverse topics and each class was well-organized and easy to follow, even though I was nervous and anxious at the beginning as it was my first time participating in a virtual program. 

Developing virtual presentation and communication skills is necessary for all students, especially during the pandemic. For me, when in-person lectures switched to Zoom lectures, I was uncomfortable adapting at the beginning. But, after participating in the South Africa program with a small group of students, and the well-designed activities, I stepped out of my virtual course comfort zone to actively participate in class discussions and contribute my ideas, which has given me more confidence to participate and engage in my fall semester virtual classes.

Overall, the program fostered my consulting skills, enhanced my collaboration and business communication skills. The Summer Abroad virtual program in South Africa is an excellent chance to gain knowledge and broaden horizons. This experience has been one of the most meaningful and unforgettable memories of my undergraduate experience.