A session on Project Management at Constitution Hill

When I first came to South Africa, two months later I started my courses at Wits in February 2004. As I could not secure a place in one of the Wits student residences, I lived in Hillbrow and I used to catch the Wits bus at Essellen to come to the main campus.

One of the things that attracted my attention was the huge construction within Constitution Hill (http://www./constitutionhill.org.za). Despite my curiosity, I never tried to know what was being built, I simply noticed that it was taking time. I then assumed that it was one of those next highest buildings in the Southern hemisphere or maybe a skyscraper of the African version of the memorial twins in Manhattan.

A year later, I was one of the frequent attendees of some conferences within the Constitution Hill, especially those ran by the Edge Institute (http://www.the-edge.org.za/) and the Sociology of Work Unit (SWOP).

Despite such closeness, I never enquired what was being built nor did I ask why these respectful people from SWOP and the Edge always brought us to those old and dirty buildings, almost threatening our safety. Money constrains I thought. Then, why do we leave Wits were they have offices and halls at their disposal? Anyway, that was not so important to me since those conferences were an opportunity to increase my knowledge on the South African society as well as its crucial social issues.

Thanks to the WOW training as I finally came to discover Constitution Hill as a place of great significance to the history of South Africa.

On the guidance of the gentle tourist guide, Lebo, I realized what this country went through. For several times, I paid visits to Vilakazi Street with the famous Mandela’s and Tutu’s houses and the Victor Piettersen museum in Soweto, but it never had such an impact on me. Anyway, the past belongs to history.

Late after the visit, we had a wonderful presentation on Project Management by Brian Orlin form the JDA (Johannesburg Development Agency (http://www./jda.org.za). In such a short period of time, Brian browsed what he learnt and practiced for years. Though I attended two courses on Project Management; Brian simply impressed me with such an integrative session, covering key areas of the topic. And lastly, I finally discovered what was being built on the site: a commercial centre which both generates income and keeps alive a South African legacy. It made my weekend great. Any single day in the WOW had added value to me.

Cyrille