Coming to Cape Verde was not an easy decision. And now that you have an idea on the challenges I have faced while living in cape Verde these last few weeks, It’s time for me to tell you about Public Relations in the Island of Santiago.
Looking at the context first, we are talking about an island that is just about 991 km². And Praia, as a city, is not very big. As Carla would put it: driving, we can get to anywhere in five minutes.
And for an archipelago with ten islands the cost of communication is very high. Making it even harder to coordinate organisations, resources and efforts.
Nevertheless, the country is growing slowly and the need for Public relations professionals is clear. I am currently teaching first and second year, totalling three classes. The course is only two years old but the demand this year was high enough to justify having two classes, day and night.
During the first days I even felt nervous and anxieous to get onto class, more than the students I am sure. It was good to see that some first year students showed up to class asking about definitions of Public relations that they had found online.
Enthusiasm seemed high. But later I have had the feeling that that initial motivation is fading a bit. Probably my fault for not being able to give the class the sort of energy that the students need.
Seeing just how fast some of them grasp the concepts is very interesting. the problem is when we go into questions which require the discussion of a full set of new concepts before they can be discussed in class. But overall we have managed to work everything out.
The next few weeks will be around an important group assignement, that should prove equally interesting.
I do feel I am failling in one thing. Getting the students to use the blog and the wiki which serve to support the debate going on in the classroom. These tools are more and more important each day, especially in Public Relations. My hope was that by using such tools regularly I could give them a head start.
Not that I am even considering giving up!
On the last day I will try to look back on what I wrote today and weigh the pros and cons. Untill then, we will see how this goes and I will keep you all updated.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/brunoamaral/3215513018/ “CIMG1472 by Bruno Amaral, on Flickr”
