I had just landed a job at Emtel and was in search of an NGO to indulge in community projects and to extend my social network. Posters of the “Men Against Violence” campaign were everywhere, the slogans were just too good to ignore and one day I decided to google MAV. This led me to JCI Curepipe’s website and to this sweet hyperlink which says “JOIN US NOW”.

I attended the recruitment meeting which took place at the Imperial China in November last year. I barely knew anybody around but by the end of the meeting I had this feeling that JCI Curepipe was the place to be. I joined as an Aspiring member a few days later and my journey with JCI Curepipe had begun.

My first project was the LOM’s Night 2011 but by the time I joined the organizing team, most of the preparations were done and the event was due to take place in 10 days. I then joined the Strategic Planning team and the project director was kind enough to assign me as Project Treasurer. I learnt a lot about JCI procedures and formalities during the project meetings.
Before attending the Strategic Planning session I was thinking to myself that being a new Aspiring Member I’ll just be a sitting in a corner observing what others had to discuss but barely a few minutes into the session, we were all participating in the discussion led by Senator Patrice Ferriere. The team bonding activity which took place that evening was memorable, we had so much fun.

One of the many things I’ll never forget is the JCI Induction course which took place at the JCI Secretariat on a not so bright and sunny day. A few friends from other JCI chapters and I were clustered in a group and we were enacting a typical project meeting showing the various types of motions while at the same time the Meteorological services were announcing a cyclone warning class 3. In the play my role was to second all the motions put forward. The team had decided that since I already had my chance to talk in the previous activity, this time I’ll only be seconding the motions by simply raising my hand. That was hilarious and we had fun throughout the induction course.

I was also part of the organizing team of the project “Let’s bring sunshine to our elders: A day at the seaside” which got postponed due to adverse cyclonic conditions. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the event when it actually took place because I was in Agalega, 1100 kilometers away from Mauritius. I just hope its just a minor hurdle in what will surely be a fantastic experience Creating Positive Change with the help of a Global Network of Young Active Citizens!!

Roopesh Koolwant
Aspiring member