Our guests also admired the health system and praised Germany's infrastructure

[suchona.kani.z]

We would like to tell you a story that made us smile. The nine South African team members were staying in a hotel near the Dortmund office and had arranged to meet us at 9 a.m. for which Jens Spitczok from Brisinski had prepared a presentation about adesso. All adessi were there on time, only our South African guests were missing. By now we were worried and asked at 9:30 a.m.

During the phone call, it turned out that they couldn't leave the hotel because of the rain. At 11:30 a.m. they calmly arrived at the meeting point. However, Jens had to move on to his next appointment and we had to adjust our schedule.

During the lunch break we had a long discussion about leaving the house when it's raining. We learned that South Africa is notoriously cold in winter and that there is little rain. South Africans tend to stay indoors during short rain showers. We were able to deal with the situation later with a smile and got enough umbrellas to suit our schedules for the coming days.

An interesting side fact is that the English word "now" is interpreted uruguay consumer email list​ differently in South Africa than it is here. There it means "soon" or "sometime". "Now, now" means "in a timely manner" or "quickly" and "immediately" would be what we mean by "immediately". This was an exciting challenge for our meetings together.

interest
Our guests showed great interest in the things that were presented to them, both in terms of healthcare and leisure activities, and we were curious to hear what differences they had discovered.

One difference is that in South Africa there are very few ambulances overall and they are only used for the most urgent cases. We were all surprised that a woman in labour cannot call for emergency services. In this case there are two options: to give birth at home or to drive to the hospital herself.



Another difference is the way of working and the way we approach things. Stress is not appropriate in South Africa. The motto is to take time for everything and postpone until tomorrow tasks that cannot be done today. But we know this saying a little differently. This was clearly evident in our meetings together.

We are usually able to work for six to eight hours without a break. In South Africa, people prefer to work for two hours, then take an hour's break, then continue working and then take another half-hour break. Finding the ideal combination was a challenge for the team, but after a short period of getting used to it, we were able to overcome it together.

Personal impression
Overall, everyone was happy about the visit and getting to know each other. Their favorite dish was kebab with chips. One negative aspect from a South African perspective is the many steps that Dortmund and the surrounding area have to offer. Furthermore, we work very rule- and deadline-oriented and always arrive on time.

In comparison: Our calendars are very full and organized. In South Africa, appointments and changes to these usually arise spontaneously. Very often even shortly before the appointment.

Conclusion
All in all, the first exchange was a complete success. We were able to give the team an insight into the German healthcare system and the tasks and working methods of adesso. The groups also got to know each other personally. We also learned a lot about the healthcare system and the culture in the Tumahole township. We have also started developing the “CarAH” app and will continue this work in the coming weeks.

You can find more exciting topics from the adesso world in our previously published blog posts .