in loco program

in loco fellows blog series #11: Sojourner’s reflections

As a civil engineering final year student my greatest disconcertment was becoming one of the rising unemployment statistics in Lesotho, inexperienced in a country where you need to have experience to find a job, and need a job to get experience, which is pretty much a catch-22 situation.  I first learned about rise’s in loco fellowship program through Lerotholi Polytechnic 2019 open day expo where there was also a call for fellowship applicants, without any hesitation I submitted my application and I got admitted into the program. Fearful of being an inexperienced graduate faded away, as the program presented recent graduates with opportunity to work on a project from inception to completion.

Some of the in loco fellows 2019 cohort

Being a fellow in the in loco program gave me a chance to build my capacity which is an essential prerequisite to both personal and career growth, being equipped with abilities to perform in a complex environment. I was privileged enough to work with wonderful individuals from different disciplines and crafts, when working in this kind of environment I developed not only the technical skills but also the soft skills of which the importance is often undervalued and far less training is provided for them but are rather useful personal attributes. I have developed strong work ethics and leadership skills, which will play a key role for me as a young and aspiring entrepreneur.

Selebalo Tseko in loco fellow & author of this blog

Five months into the program have been both interesting and intense as we had to work on the design, manage the construction and also be the labour on site; however the burden of responsibilities was not to torture but to shape me into a capable leader. We have had “HaHa” and sad moments on site but we all knew the importance of working collaboratively as a team to achieve the common goal which is to finish the project on time.

The greatest thing for me about rise will forever be the social impact it has on the communities and the entrepreneurship program aimed at shifting job seeking mindset to job creating mindset.

Selebalo (right) with two other fellows Mojalefa (left) and Retsepile (centre)

Five months into the program have been both interesting and intense as we had to work on the design, manage the construction and also be the labour on site; however the burden of responsibilities was not to torture but to shape me into a capable leader. We have had “HaHa” and sad moments on site but we all knew the importance of working collaboratively as a team to achieve the common goal which is to finish the project on time.

The greatest thing for me about rise will forever be the social impact it has on the communities and the entrepreneurship program aimed at shifting job seeking mindset to job creating mindset.

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