By the time you read this, I will have been in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in Africa for three days and have facilitated the second of five straight days of management training. Day One was Bridging the Communication Gap and today, Day Two, was Now Hear This! Effective Listening Techniques.
Day Three will be Non-Defensive and Assertive Communication Techniques. Days Four and Five will focus on Presentation Skills.
I came loaded down with two suitcases full of participant binders, clothing, and training materials, a carryon with a video camera (for the Presentation Skills sessions) and my C-pap equipment, and a backpack full of my laptop, lesson plans, medicine, Kindle, phone, tissues, and travel documents, etc.
I left at 6:15 AM CST on Saturday February 24th from Madison, Wisconsin, and arrived in Malabo on Sunday the 25th at 1:20 PM Africa/Malabo time (which is 7 hours ahead of CST).
With stops in Chicago, Addis Ababa, and Malabo, the total flight time was just over 18 hours. I’ve never been able to sleep on the plane, and I couldn’t this time, either.
I’d been up 24 hours by the time I was able to get to sleep.
Although I’ve conducted training in Africa before (Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia), it has always been in former British colonies, where English was spoken. Equatorial Guinea is a former Spanish colony, so the official language is Spanish. This is the only African nation where Spanish is predominant. Luckily, all the participants in the training speak English.
This is the dry period in Malabo, with excessive heat and high humidity. I’ve conducted training in Africa when there was no air conditioning, and it was brutal. I packed clothing in anticipation of that eventuality.
However, I’m staying in the hotel where the training will occur- and that has good air conditioning! I packed for that as well…
My plan is to take you with me on this trip, so Tip #1016 and those Tips that follow will be about my experience.
Wish me luck!!
May your learning be sweet,
Deborah
#managementdevelopment #traininginequatorialguinea #traveltoafrica #hrmanagers #trainingdirectors #laurelandassociates #Malaboexperience
