Erica Amery 9/11/20 Erica Amery 9/11/20

The importance of Listening-Reflections from Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Port Elizabeth is a city of about a million people in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. After a 28 hour flight and a stop in Frankfurt, I made it to Port Elizabeth, or PE as the locals call it. I stayed in a place called Summerstrand which was 10 minutes from the beach and about 10 minutes from Nelson Mandela University where I would work for the next 4 months.

What surprised me when I arrived in South Africa was the diverse mix of people and the friendliness of people. During my time in PE, I had the opportunity to interact with people who were considered “colored”, white Afrikaans, Black Afrikaans and white English speaking South Africans and Xhosa. As well, I befriended a couple of girls from Zimbabwe. It truly is a diverse country.

Despite the dangerous reputation that South Africa has and the high level of violence, I did not encounter any problems when I was there or potentially dangerous situations. I had been in PE for a couple of weeks when I arrived to see students gathered around and some holding signs. I asked a student what was going on and he told me the students were protesting because they did not have money to register and there was not enough accommodation for students.

The students had barricaded the roads with twigs and benches and staff and teachers were not able to get into the university. I learned that these protests were not uncommon and had happened before. As I listened to the student who told me why they were protesting, I realized the importance of listening to both sides of the story and giving people the chance to voice their concerns, their opinions and their victories.

While it was quick to assume that these students were complaining and causing problems, I realized if we take the time to talk to someone and listen to them, we put aside our assumptions and truly look at the situation from their perspective.

Erica Amery 5/28/19 Erica Amery 5/28/19

Blog Post Title One

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.