After an entire summer of coming up with and working on the most innovative and eclectic ideas, the Ashesi D: Lab's Summer Mobile Project 2021 was coming to a close. From May 2021 to September 2021, the D: Lab had played host and nurturer to a wide array of exciting ideas; from a mental health project which aimed at dealing with the "lack of collaboration between religious leaders and health care providers" in treating people with mental health disorders to the Electric Vehicle project which conceptualised a four-wheeled, four-seater public passenger vehicle bound to re-invent the way Ghana looks at transportation.
This year's edition of the Summer Mobile Project was unique, however. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had rendered millions ill and deceased and had led to a shutdown of economies and institutions, like Ashesi, the D: Lab had to go to the drawing board to figure out how to continue fostering the growth and implementation of ideas even as everyone was bunkered at home. The team was thus able to come up with a new program that enabled the D: Lab to pull off the Summer Mobile Project, ensuring that the 29 students who were selected to work on seven projects were able to convene virtually as demanded by the new reality and physically when it was possible.
Despite the challenges and the reality, the Summer Mobile Project was a success by all standards. Most projects are near the end, and expected results are to show up in a matter of weeks. But the D: Lab is always keen on always improving on its efforts, and thus, in this closing ceremony, not only did they celebrate and reminisce over the achievements that had been notched, they conducted a forensic study of the past months and what problems had popped up.
Percy Brown, a participant in the project, bemoaned the relative haphazardness of meeting times to work on their respective projects. With most participants pursuing internships or summer studies, they had their attention divided, and that scuttled the work that needed to be done. A consensus emerged in the meeting regarding the need for participants of the program in the future to have no other engagements that would distract them from their work. D: Lab leads and D: Lab partners were also asked about their experiences organising and pulling off the program. While acknowledging the difficulties and novelty of doing their jobs in the new reality, they all echoed the sentiment that it had been a learning curve which had made them more adept at what they were doing.
The program, of course, could not end without the entire team being commended for the work they had done to ensure that the Summer Mobile Project was a success. It was no piece of cake after all!
The accolades had been claimed and the lessons gleaned for next year's edition of the Summer Mobile Project. No doubt, next year's was going to be more mind-blowing.
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