At the end of September, I had the opportunity to visit posts in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, on the island of Hispaniola. It was the first time I’d ever visited the Caribbean and whilst I was disappointed to discover that the embassies were not located on the beach, it was a brilliant learning experience – with some much-appreciated sunshine, too!
The main purpose of the visit to Santo Domingo was to support post at the GREAT Universities Fair. I’ve worked at Chevening for over three years now, but I still get animated when I’m introducing Chevening to prospective candidates. I literally always say ‘I wish I could do this scholarship!’ as part of my introduction. If I can’t apply for the scholarship, everyone else in the room should!
Saka fet? (‘How’s it going?’ in Haitian Creole)
From Spanish in Santo Domingo, to French and Haitian Creole in Port-au-Prince, I found myself exposed to a variety of languages on this trip. I love seeing marketing materials translated into different languages; it’s a great reminder of the diversity of the Chevening programme. Though candidates need to have a high level of English to be awarded a scholarship, I think marketing Chevening in other languages helps to spread the word more effectively, particularly in countries where English is not widely spoken.
It was particularly encouraging in Haiti to have meetings with university contacts to introduce Chevening and have them say ‘We already know about Chevening, we saw your ad in the newspaper!’ Marketing really does work!
A huge thank you to all of our Chevening officers for your marketing efforts. We may only see a glimpse of it, but we know you’re working tirelessly to ensure the best candidates apply for Chevening.
The Americas Directorate has recently been very busy hosting a series of roundtable discussions for various Latin American scholar groups. I have been lucky enough to attend a few of these, including one for Argentinian scholars, another for Central American and Cuban scholars, and another for a large group of Brazilian scholars. The discussions largely focused on […]
Two Chevening officer regional conferences have recently taken place around the globe: the first in South-East Asia and the second in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are the third and fourth regional conferences that have taken place since the initiative was first launched in 2015. Both conferences were organised and attended by members of the International team […]
Meet Programme Officer – International, Natalie. Before joining Chevening, Natalie lived in Hue, Vietnam, where she taught English as a foreign language after falling in love with South-East Asia during a five-month long trip. Name: Natalie Keen Countries: ASEAN (ODA) and East Africa From: Surrey, England Joined the team: June 2016 Previous Chevening experience: I joined […]