in loco program

IN LOCO FELLOWS BLOG SERIES #7: The fellowship has transformed the way I see myself

August 30, 2018By 1 Comment

Before I joined the fellowship, I had a secret fear that I’m not fit enough to be a professional architect and building contractor. For that reason, I had a tendency to be reluctant about sharing my designs on social media and not to take construction projects that came my way. Even when other people praised my work and capabilities, I convinced myself that they were just being nice. The in loco fellowship, however, transformed the way I see myself.

I’m Ramokoatsi Kobo, born on 17/03/1994 at Pitseng in Leribe District, Lesotho. I completed my high school in 2011 at Molapo High before I enrolled with Limkokwing University of Creative Technology pursuing Architecture technology from 2013-2017 ; I’m an Associate degree holder.

I joined JJN Design Studio based in South Africa in 2016, and got myself a chance to collaborate in Lesotho Tourism and Handicrafts architecture competition. The year after I joined Progressive Design Studio immediately after my graduation and that is where I found out about rise’s in loco fellowship program and applied.

The first two months of the fellowship I was introduced to how to make an elevator pitch and network, I equipped myself with tools needed on how to sell myself and ideas in 30 seconds. The skills learnt are all important but the one that stuck most in my head is BE PREPARED AND DO YOUR HOME WORK.

I broadened my understanding and the new way of gathering design briefs from clients through the concept called Participatory Design. It is an approach to design attempting to involve all the stakeholders in the design to ensure that results meet their needs and are usable. We used this approach to design a new habitat for the children of God’s Love Centre orphanage.

 

BUSINESS TRAININGS

One of the biggest contributions of this fellowship to my career was the business training sessions. After a couple of weeks we pitched business ideas in front of each other to find an interested person to partner with. I found my alter-ego who studied construction management. We formed a joint venture in construction and we have been mentored by our business coaches from day one with research and business planning. The idea of the business training sessions in a fellowship is to broaden our understanding in the business world, to become sustainable entrepreneurs and launch our businesses at the end of fellowship.

OTHER TRAININGS

There is a difference between paint and quality paint, “yes there is”. I got a chance to be a trainee at Thetsane Paint Centre which is the distributer of PROMINENT PAINT – the brand that adheres to international best practices and actively promotes the drive towards environmental sustainability. Through this training I’m now able to select paint based on the influences made by micro/macro climate; I know the fundamentals of surface preparation and calculations of DTF. I recommend the use of Prominent Paint Products!

I’m bold enough to say that if an accident happens in the workplace or anywhere, I can be a helpful first aider by preserving and promoting recovery to the casualty. The fellowship provided an opportunity for me to attend a First Aid Course offered by Oshem C at Montech Institute. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

PEER TO PEER OUTCOME

What I most appreciated about my experience in the fellowship is being engaged with a group of international students who were passionate about the in loco project and truly shared generously their ideas, knowledge and time.

As the site architect, this helps me to hone my critical thinking skills to better understand how problems rooted from the design can be solved on a construction site. This role also helped me build my skills in public speaking and advocacy.

I’m not the same person thanks to this fellowship.

 

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in loco program

Guest Blog: by Lujia Zhu – in loco International Workshop participant

August 25, 2018By 0 comment

Preparing for a possible bad 10-day experience….

I had to make a presentation on Lesotho and rise International for my protective parents in order to get the permission to join the workshop. I pulled images from Google and screenshot traveling tips from various embassy websites.

Surprisingly, it was easier to convince my parents than myself. Africa, very much generalized in my mind originally—regardless how many countries there actually are, is both romanticized by literature and tarnished by media. The culture, the weather and the living circumstances are something that I was the least familiar with. Up until I boarded the plane from Johannesburg to Maseru, I was mentally preparing myself for a possible bad 10-day experience.

I fell asleep as soon as I sat in my seat, and woke up shortly before descending. Outside the window, beige rocky hills, cliffs and canyons stretched out beyond the horizon. Riverbeds flowed across like serpents and were occasionally interrupted by square shadows of tiny houses. For me, it felt like viewing a kingdom of the Grand Canyon from a bird’s-eye view and immediately, I knew I had made the right choice to come here.

First impressions of Lesotho

Right away, I was welcomed by the staff from rise, other international students and local people on site. Everyone had a great sense of humor and very unique characteristics and personalities. The defensive barrier I always wear while traveling quickly vanished and I felt I had found a new family.

With little previous experience on a construction site, I was encouraged and greatly assisted to start hands-on tasks on day one. One of the biggest lessons I learned was how to adapt to a resources-limited working environment. I was very much spoiled by the shop technicians at school where everything was organized so well that all parts and pieces had their own spot and all the bits and blades were sharp. On site, however, when all twenty people were fighting for three tape measures and two hand drills, I found myself easily getting stuck and not knowing what to do without the tools. And quickly I learned to think outside the box and approach things differently.

Freedom of religion and free thinking

Among one of my many favorite facts about this program is that rise International was not founded on top of any religious beliefs. I have long since been looking for volunteer programs in low-income countries and often got fed up by people trying to convert me to believe in their faith. I don’t mean to offend anyone or be disrespectful, but I appreciate that rise simplified the entire mission to a design project. They see a problem, and they are trying to solve it through design and architecture knowledge, whether it is to build a dorm for an orphanage or something else. And that is all I asked for—to put my energy as a recent design graduate into projects that I am passionate about.

Memories for life….

In just ten days, I met architects, filmmakers, artists, engineers and recent graduates who had brilliant ideas of what to do in the future. I went to workshops, lectures, brainstorm panels, and listened to people who have travelled half of the world and work between continents sharing their thoughts and stories. Even two weeks after the trip ended, I still think back on this amazing experience. Everything I heard and saw will certainly influence my decision-making in the future, and will always be treasured in my memory.

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