Last weekend the European team of PROJECT-E came together for the second strategy weekend of 2016. Check out our latest post for more information about the different workshops, the plans that were made and the importance of this weekend for internal team building.

The Team Europe of PROJECT-E met for its bi-annual Strategy Weekend in Hamburg at the first weekend of July. This traditional work weekend brings all members of PROJECT-E together, strategies are developed and actions prepared. It started off with a delicious Injera dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant on Friday night before actual working early on Saturday morning with presentations about the current situation of PROJECT-E in Addis Ababa. Livia, our Country Representative, and Aida, our Project Manager, flew in from Ethiopia for this weekend to personally talk about the latest developments on the ground.

Afterwards, the different departments gave an overview about the events and outcomes of the last six month. The Management Board gave an introduction to the three most important topics which were discussed in different workshops after that. The first workshop discussed how the new government ruling that limits the allowed duration of stay for foreigners with a visa to 30 days impacts the situation of our volunteers. The second workshop dealt with new strategies to promote the sponsorship programme for our students. Eventually the different departments developed specific goals and set up concrete action plans for the upcoming six month. Due to the fact that the participants of the respective workshops constantly rotated, a highly productive exchange of ideas took place between the members of different departments.

The work part of the strategy weekend was concluded with the election of the department heads. Moreover, we proudly welcome two new members of the Junior Management Board: Nadja and Moritz were elected to take the future lead of our organisation together with Julia.

The members of PROJECT-E in Europe are normally scattered all over the continent so most of the communication takes place via skype or emails. This is why the strategy weekends are so important for teambuilding and spirit. After work was done on Saturday we went out for dinner and watched the German soccer match and before everyone head for home we tried our best in Stand up Paddling on the Alster lake.

Many tasks lie ahead of us until we meet again for the next strategy weekend in January 2017 and with a great motivation boost we are more than ready to approach them.