Value in life

By working in Deloitte I got in contact with the “value creation” philosophy which I like and I decided to explore it further through my thesis called : “The role of management consulting in long term value creation for companies. Case study Deloitte”.
It is related with sustainability and meaning for companies’ stakeholders. A company that explores a temporary need in the market and makes good profits for 2 years is not considered valuable. A company is valuable if it’s core activities can bring profits for shareholders and value for the other stakeholders on the long run.

I read more and one thing came to my mind: the way companies make value is more and more documented while the way people create value in their lives is not, or at least I haven’t heard of such a science. And this is a topic I am really interested in: how people create value in their life, how do they create happiness for themselves. And I started developing my own perspective on the topic … I have identified 3 things which made me so far and I believe will make me happy in the future as well.

One of them is having tight relationships with people; though I enjoy meeting new people and creating bonds, the relationships that make me happy are the ones based on strong ties, respect, trust and complementarity. I realised that the past 16 months I have been unstable, moving from place to place, created bonds but now I am not in the situation to enjoy them.

The second one is to do things I am really passionate about on a daily basis and I realised AIESEC gave a lot of it, I was passionate about the things I was doing and I could chose what I did. Nowadays is different, with most things I do I am not connected through passion, and still searching for it.

The third category of things that make me happy is short experiences like going on a boattrip, skiing, admiring a landscape, seeing something beautiful, having a nice chat, eating something really good, hearing a good joke etc. In this sense this year has been so enriching: my systers wedding, travelling to Dublin, Paris, Munchen, St. Gallen, Gdansk, Bialystok, Gent, living in Rwanda for 18 days and so on.

I believe once people realise what makes them happy they’ll continously want those things in their life more and more and remove the non-value-adding aspects of their life. It’s a matter of realising and then of really wanting, taking decisions and standing up for them.

Nowadays I am again in the position to think of what I’ll do next after this intership, I see again the options and taking my time to take a decision.

Next time I will tell you more about Poland and its people, it’s a very interesting country, as a starting point just consider its history in the last 70 years …

For recent pictures, please check facebook http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

Do widzenia! :P

First days in Poland

My first true corporate experience together with a second considerable cultural experience have started and for sure I am in the “honey moon” phase, I like very much the people I meet around here, I enjoyed trying Polish beer & cuisine, visited the city and at work I feel I am learning a lot.

I am doing some things I never did before and that is exciting for now: I attended a 4 hours meeting without break in Polish, I am travelling each morning for 25-30 minutes to office, I am shaving every 1-2 days, I am wearing suit almost every day, getting into the management consulting mindset and discovering how a highly professional and reputed company is working.

The highlist so far have been meeting so many nice Polish people and getting acommodated with the business world. I attended 2 business meeting, one for 4 hours with a Polish client, it was me and 12 Polish people and a sales meeting with potential client. Besides that I got to work on a Commercial Due Diligence project with 2 colleagues, attended induction and knowledge management trainings.

In the first days I lived in a student dorm and on Monday I moved in an apartment where I’ll live with interns from Germany, Tunisia and Nigeria.

It’s already the 5th time when I start all over from the beginning to build friendships and a social group around me, I am getting used to it and is getting easier and easier.

Back home. Garana & Trei Ape trip

On the 18th of August I left Rwanda after 3 rounds of hugs and "See you!" with my friends from Rwanda :)



I now have 3 perspectives in my head of the world: my native country - Romania, the second is Belgium and now Rwanda (though 18 days is not enough to have an overview).

In terms of development and wealth I was critical about Romania most of the times cause I was usually comparing it to countries like Belgium. But now I realised that even though conditions are hursh in Romania we are doing well, we are daily benefiting of some things which for others (in Rwanda for example) are not available for most of the populations. By GDP per capita from IMF, Belgium has 37200 USD (15th place), Romania has 5600 USD (65th place) while Rwanda 261 USD (170th place).

Rwanda is a fantastic place, I really felt like being on a different planet because of it's culture, history, people, landscape, social, political economical situation and so on. What I am finally trying to say is that living there for just 18 days has been the most intense learning experience for me as human being and realizing that Romania is actually OK is just one of them.

I am not trying to say Rwanda is a bad place, no way!!! On the contrary, it's a good place to go to, I would go there over and over again. I actually recommend everyone to go, I had a great time there and felt totally secure.

Since I came back I got to rediscover Romania, went to Bucharest, Sibiu, Timisoara, Arad, Drobeta Turnu Severin, my grandmothers, visited family, met almost all my good friends back home, stayed longer with my parents, followed news, went shopping, saw some natural beauties (caves ...) and more.

The time to commit again has come and this time is an internship in Poland in a well-known consulting company, Deloitte. I'll be introduced in the field by doing research, making proposals and so on, for 3 months it will be interesting for sure, I am looking forward to start when time will come, October 1st. In the meanwhile I am worried about the formal clothes I need to wear so I already got more shirts, ties and soon more suits will come

Pls check pictures from Romania on facebook :) http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

keep in touch!

Things I’ve never lived before

In 2 days I am living Rwanda … except the things I already mentioned before in the past week I went through amazing moments.

One of them was the second national conference ever done by AIESEC in Rwanda which I chaired. We came up with a Rwandese word to name it “Haguruka!” which means “Stand up!”; as delegates we had Rwandese members but also international delegates from Uganda J ; facilitators were MC & 3 national support team members and some of the delegates from Uganda. For most delegates & facilitators was their first AIESEC conference so it had to boost their spirit and motivation to work in AIESEC. The venue was the Univesity’s classes, on Friday we only had the Opening Plenary, on Saturday we started around 10 and finished at 6 p.m., on Sunday we started at 2 p.m. in order to allow people to go to church in the morning.

I did a lot of back up work and out of 14 hours of agenda I delivered 8 as just 4 other people had knowledge to deliver a session. The atmosphere builded up througout these days and at the end we had a beautiful closing plenary with traditional Rwandese dance, a role-call from Ugandan delegates, sugar-cubes, unveiling the secret friends and finally having a “Haguruka!” dance. The members liked it a lot and are very motivated while I had the most energy-consuming and emotionally demanding experience in my life.

Something I really didn’t expect was to hear & see the people from Uganda very shocked of the big differences between their country & Rwanda … I initially thought they are very similar …

On Tuesday I went for a visit to Gisenyi, probably the 5^th most developed city in the country, a place locally known for its touristic attraction. It is on Kivu Lake and has a nice beach but not a lot of sun J as it is close to a big vulcano which I could see at distance after rain. While walking with my companion along the lake we were attracted by some nice houses and planes landing and taking off we could see ahead. While walking in that direction we were surprised to find a barrier, it turned out to be the border with Congo!!! We had to go back as we didn’t have our passports with us so we asked for a place were we can have a drink on a nice terrase and we were recommended to go to Goma, in Congo, the city we were heading just before. As we couldn’t go there we went to “Tam Tam” a place next to the beach where we were the only customers. I ordered a beer and I got a 72 cl one, another time I ordered an Amstel and the waiter brought 2 as they consider it too small (33 cl) so they bring 2 of them J

On the 15^th of August we were still in Gisenyi and it was a holly day, Saint Mary, so normally people were not supposed to work but go to church. At 5 a.m. we were waken up by the Muslim prayers from the mosque just across the street we were staying. We went up the hill on the path many locals take every day, we found a lot of banana trees, poor houses, small goats and children screaming “muzungu!” when they saw me; for sure there weren’t a lot of white people on that hill before. Just some hours later we were in the most fancy place in town, Serena Hotel, and the difference is huge, for 1 night here you pay the amount a person up the hill would live from for 2 months probably.

The landscape to Gisenyi is impressive: poor villages and cities, a lot of banana, mango and avocado trees, tea, potato, cabbage and coffee plantations, hills everywhere you look, people on the streets, vulcanoes and volcano rocks. All these together with impressive 4x4 cars, commercials for banks, Guinness or mobiles.

For photos, check my 2 albums from Rwanda: http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=503656679

See you sometime, somewhere!

The present of Rwanda

I just read the whole article on Wikipedia about Rwanda and realized what an incredible history this country and region has.

For sure I’d like to know more about the reality of the country and I just realized that living in Kigali only is not representative for this country, almost 90 % of the population lives in rural areas and 60 % of the population under the poverty line. It’s hard to perceive these things when everyday I go around a large city with commercials of mobile companies and fancy drinks. Most of the times I eat I go for a buffet so all the people there can take as much food as they want and they actually do it, their plates are always topped.

Today this country is peaceful and calm, like after a storm I’d say … that quiet! I went to the Kigali Memorial Centre, a modern-equiped museum that tells the story of the Genocide that took the lives of 1 milion people in 1994 … I can’t really perceive how this could happen just 13 years ago in the country I am now travelling in. But 1994 was not the beginning and was not the end; other hundreds of thousands of people were killed before in Rwanda and Burundi (a country that shares a common history over the past century). Moreover, after 1994, around 3 milions were killed in the first and second wars in DR Congo involving Rwanda, Uganda, Angola and Zimbabwe – the backbone being the same for the events in Rwanda.

4-5 milion people died because of some foreigners’ decisions and policies implemented for Rwanda … how sad is that?!

Nowadays Rwanda is growing at a good rate and has just joined a regional union of East-African countries. In the meanwhile African countries are aiming for unity through the African Union which will bring member countries closer and closer. An Indian teacher also told me about Japan’s initiatives in Asia for a closer collaboration among Asian countries.

Rwandese people are said to be shy, respectful, calm and honest. The country is recognized for it’s low corruption and high involvement of women in the country’s affairs – 49 % of the Parliament’s members being women – the highest rate in the world!

There are so many more things to say from my experience here, I’d just like to thank you for reading until here! I am glad to share things about Rwanda with you, it’s a story we should all know and learn from.

I will soon post more … I am chairing their second national conference and next week I’ll be travelling around the country hopefully seeing vulcanos, beautiful lakes and wild animals in a national park.

10 days left …

How different can things be ....

I am now for 4 days in Kigali and it’s more shocking and enriching from cultural perspective than 13 months in Belgium. In just 4 days I found out so many differences that I feel I am living on a different planet. Let me tell you some of them …

On Friday I attended a “Career Day” event – the biggest organized by AIESEC in Rwanda so far – and I noticed some things. One of them is the protocolar environment around the event; for example the university has a group of students who are part of “Protocol” which are doing reception and socializing with the important guests of the event; sometimes they are asked for events outside university like the ones organized by government. Another one is the way students reacted when a company was saying that they want to recruit graduates and they are interested in the students present there; students were cheering and claping J. The morning session lasted for 3 hours without break and almost no student left the room in this period …

Now I really feel like sharing about today which is one of the most shocking days I ever had. First of all at 10 I was supposed to have a meeting but because the person was sleeping we only had the meeting at 1:30, with a small delay of 3h30’ :D. Next to that at 2 I was supposed to have a meeting with the MC but we only started at 3, a small delay of 1 hour :D. As you ca imagine time here has a different meaning J

Furtheron, in the evening I went for dinner with Julius (former MCVP in Uganda now doing an internship in Rwanda). We went to a restaurant and when we arrived we realised there was a wedding happening but we could still take a table and have dinner. So I ordered … banana chips (meaning fried bananas in the same way as potatos) with fish brochette (frigarui) and Maracuja juice (passion fruit juice) while Julius ordered rice with vegetables. The waiter brought 2 brochettes on a plate, the rice on another plate, the banana chips on another plate and 2 empty plates, one for me and one for Julius. We only ordered 1 brochette but he brought 2 in order for my companion to have one as well and the rest of the food was on different plates … here they really encourage you to try the food of the other person you are with J. Another interesting thing is that if you just ask someone “are you hungry, do you wanna go and eat?” means you are inviting that person for dinner and you need to pay for him/her as well.

About how weddings happen here … first of all when a couple decides to marry the parents of the girl will ask the boy some things (objects, animals. etc) as payment for the girl. If the boy manages to bring all those he’ll most likely have the approval, if something is missing he will get a “fine” so he’ll be asked to bring even more to the girl’s family. Once that is settled it comes the financial part of the wedding, the event itself is free for all the guest and you can expect uninvited people to show up. In order to cover part of the costs the couple makes wedding meetings before the wedding itself where they invite friends/relatives/colleagues and they present their plan for the wedding and ask them to contribute in order to cover the budget. Once this is settled the wedding takes place and usually ends around 10 p.m. Once they are married there’s a very low chance they will divorce! Since I was so excited about the wedding I wanted to take some pictures but I was hold back by my friends telling me that it’s not OK to take pictures if I’m not a guest; furthermore it’s not OK to take pictures of the government’s buildings or people I don’t know …

So we left the wedding place and went to a cool terasse and ordered an Ugandan beer. Here is some other cool facts about drinks in Rwanda: they call Fanta any sort of soda drink so in case you want to order a Cola you need to ask for a “Fanta Cola” and the bottle has 30 cl. Beer you can find in bottles of 33, 66, 72 cl while watter in bottles of 56 cl!!!

Now let’s talk about beauty … here has a slightly different meaning. For a man an important characteristic in order to be considered beautiful is the height, the taller the man, the better, women appreciate that. For girls big hips is a good thing, contributes to beauty =))

People also talk different … instead of saying “I’ll give you a missed call” or “I’ll beep you” they often say “I’ll flash you!!!” They pronounce “word” and “world” in the same way, idem for “walk” and “work” so many times I am confused of what they mean J

In order to relax a bit I wanted to play some pool but again I had some surprises: the white ball is smaller than all the others and the holes are smaller than the ones I am used to …

Just imagine myself doing something, anything; it will most likely be different from the way I’ve done it before. Seeing all these differences I am wondering if I’d be in the situation to stay here if I’d adapt to this whole new way of doing and perceiving things. In case all the things are not enough for you to understand how different things are you should know that even white people look at me in a different way, like I am the weird one for them!!!

I’ll keep you updated!

From Nyamirambo, Kigali

Dan – Muzungu

first impressions from Kigali, Rwanda

At the time I am writing is 11:34 p.m. which for Rwanda is very-very late. At 6 it gets dark and people usually go to sleep around 10-11. Kevin just told me that people here don’t party too much and the drink we had yesterday can be called a party.

I am fascinated by the surroundings, the way the things look, the way people are and behave. I am staying at Kigali Hotel which is OK but in order to understand what OK means you should know that for having a warm bath I need to go with a bucket and get water from a heating machine and than poor it with a cup on me, the shower has only cold water. I already knew about this, Vincent told me and he also told me that he got used to it J

Today I changed money, bought a SIM card & an atlas of Rwanda (my first negotiation J ), had my first Rwandese meals. The food is very tasty and I can feel is natural – tomato really tastes like tomato, eggs really taste like eggs, chicken really tastes like chicken (just like I remember from childhood when living in the countryside with my grandparents). Some unusual things poped up in my plate though: raw bananas, avocado, pumpkin and another vegetable I never ate before J

For Wednesday I had a buddy, Ahmed, he is Muslim (4 % of population) and he lives just 500 meters from my hotel. He was very kind and helpful throughout the day and he is a very interesting person, in his last year at university, previous involvement in youth organisations.

I also had my first meeting with Kevin and even though it was short we agreed on some things for the next days. Tomorrow I wake up at 7 and go with him at the university to prepare for Friday – their biggest event in their 1-year short history.

As taxi I used motorcycles today and I liked it very much!!! Some other cool stuff: prices are not fixed for many of the products (you need to bargain), they have cars with wheels on both left & right, internet is very-very slow ...

The best part so far was my reception at the airport, I never felt so welcomed in my entire life. Around 20 members were waiting for me for almost 2 hours as my plane was delayed, I shaked the hands of the girls, touched 3 times my side-forehead with the boys (their traditional way of greeting), listened to them singing in a chorus “The lion sleeps tonight” and “welcome to Rwanda, Daniel!” – I was so-so-so impressed by them, they were so friendly and enthusiastic about singing and meeting me J.

After we took a taxi and went to the School of Finance and Banking where we had a small get to know and drank juice – Coca Cola products made in Rwanda, it tastes differently and also the botles are different. I got to explain them about the MC flieces & dog, that I am not from Belgium but from Romania. Finally we went to the hotel where I spent my first night.

In just 30 hours so many new things happen, I am a bit overwhelmed but looking forward for the days to come J

Here are some pictures from these 2 days http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9856&id=503656679&pwstdfy=95e4f04eaea4b5b3298dafed334df6fe

PS: while walking on the streets some people call me Muzungu and they scream after me - it means white man.

Blogging again

12 months have passed and I am reaching the end of my experience in Belgium ... I am becoming quite nostalgic about leaving.

It is for the first time in my life when I don't know what I will be doing in 2 months from now and where I will be. A whole new begining is in front of me, I am ending my AIESEC career, I am not a student anymore, I am most likely leaving Belgium and even more likely I will not be in Romania for the upcoming year. I am searching for an internship :)

I really had difficulties deciding for which internship I will apply and it took me almost 3 months to decide and finally applied for one.

On one hand is the uncertainty, on the other hand I am feeling something totally new ... total freedom! I am a free man: no formal commitment in 3 weeks from now, no girlfriend, financial independency, no class to follow or to go back to (except that I need to solve an exam and my thesis but I am relaxed about it) ... it is an interesting and shocking feeling as I never been in a similar situation before. I always had some sort of dependency on my school, my parents, girlfriend, summer job, AIESEC term, something ... now I am a free man!!!


Since the last post on my blog I had some unforgetable experiences, I am sure I will never forget them! I will share 5 with you:

BELDS - I was conference manager of the first Belgian Leadership Seminar and I learned by doing it more than I learned in a whole year. The seminar was ment to make delegates reflect on themselves, look deep inside, define how they see themselves as leaders and inspire them to take action in their life. It was a great conference and things went on great! I had great people next to me including chair, facilitators, agenda team, OC, delegates and guests! Trully unforgetable!

My sister's wedding - she is 26 now and become Mrs. Alina Paven. Memories from our childhood together came back and I realized that for the past 7 years we have been away from each other. During the wedding I invited her for a dance and got to speak a bit about life and how time flies. She looked great in the white dress and happy with her husband :). I can't forget when we were alone in a room in our parents' house waiting for the groom to come and steal her and take her to church and City Hall to sign the marriage papers ... she was so nervous looking out of the window to see what is happening. I will always remember these 2 moments being together with my sis on the day of her marriage.


Trip to Ireland - finally getting out of the continent and really feeling something very different than everything I can find on the continent. First of all, for me, Ireland is a beautiful country and I got to see a bit of it's landscape - it is exactly as I was picturing it: green hills, endless shore, chili weather. The people there are very different, always in a good way :)

"Emerging markets" conference in Switzerland - 3 things immediatly came in my mind: "No business", discussions about Romania and Appenzell.
“We don’t play well, we just play loud!” is the humble comment of one of the members of the "No business" band - it's members are well known teachers at probably the best German speaking Business School in the world, top researchers in their field. These guys were unbelievable!!!! It was like a dream hearing them play Marylin Manson, Guns'n'Roses, Oasis, RHCP and other famous rock bands. Can you imagine some of your best university teachers giving a rock concert in the lobby of your university in front of you while you and your colleagues are drinking beer, smoking and cheering them up?!?!? What an unforgetable feeling!
During those days I attended a lot of sessions about Eastern Europe and a lot about Romania. I got to know a totally new perspective about my country and strengthen my conviction that is the place where I want to have impact. We are going through hard and exciting times, all normal and all in all going in a positive direction, of that I am sure :)
Appenzell - a piece of heaven, surrounded by nature, cows, big-tall mountains, reflecting, enjoy ing the landscape, the wind, the sun and writing postcards to my friends :)


RockWerchter - the best thing I did in Belgium, unleashing energy and something hidden within since teenagehood when I was a long-haired rock listener. There is nothing like live music from great bands: Faithless, Metallica, Muse, Keane, Chemical Brothers and others.

You can take a look at some of my recent pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?id=503656679

Until next time I wish you to live happy moments!

From December on

Well ... 3 months to write down in some words: I can manage!

Some of the things happening

Sports: in this 3 months I practiced squash (more than 5 times), volleyball (once), tennis (once), skiing (2 days in Romania). Now I think I am already in a better shape, some pants that didn't fit 3-4 months ago are fitting again

Romania: I went there for 2 weeks in January: I loved meeting the people there, my good friends, warm and kind. I miss you guys!
I also had reintegration shocks: I got really angry when I was about to plan something with someone and than he/she was saying "We will talk later/tomorrow", but I got over it, this is the way people are, no stress, we have time and space :)

Muntele Mic (Small Mountain) - I went there with Mada for 2 days, it was a blessing, I got so relaxed and full of energy. Definitely skiing is the sport that is most beneficial for my mind and soul :P

My collection - I have a cool new passion: collecting small figurines and objects. So far I have: Maneken Pis, Marsupilami, 2 smurfs, The Atomium, a hedgehog, a pig, Nemo, fowl + male, DHL van, man on top of cab, Daffy duck with gun, a compass, 2 castagnete, a shell with candle, bracelets from India and Palestine, a "Fish" card and a Greek thing which I don't remember how it is called :)
I already have some next targets - pieces that should definitely be part of the collection: Eiffel Tower, wooden shoes (i only have huge ones) and the mascots of the 2008 Olympic Games in China. Next days I might receive an Egyptian pharaoh :P


ME: I was busy figuring out how I am, which environments I like and so on. I got to very interesting conclusions.
First is that for me it is a lot about people: I make new friends very hard but the ones I have I cherish them and want to be close to them.
Second: I have changed since I am in Belgium from very oriented on results and achievements to people and human relations.
Third, fourth, fifth ... many small and big things. I even retook a test I did 1 year ago to see how I have changed and the changes are obvious ...

Many other things happen: Christmas dinner with Belgian family, MC vote of confidence, EB elections in my LC, NatCo, NYE party, visit in Durbuy, PAI elections, meeting my family and living with Mada for more than 3 weeks :)

I am keeping this post general and neutral since I don't like sharing very personal things with a keyboard and a screen ;)

Some pictures:


New Year's Eve Party, dressed in clothes from Senegal and sombrero, Mada with a blouse from Congo and Andries with Arabic clothes.

--> in my room

at NatCo in a chat about entrepreneurship ... in medicine, in politics, in educational system, in cooking :P