The "intern-seasoned" table

At the "Intern-Seasoned" table, I met the following people:
Disclaimer: The following are my perceptions, so don't sue me!

Remi Meunier
He is a MBA student at HEC, one of the top business schools in Paris. I loved the structure of their program. Its 4 years, with global internships every 6 months, so that by the time they graduate, they have already built a network of contacts who have worked with them personally and they have traveled around the world learning new cultures and gathering invaluable experience that makes them an instant asset to any company. Their new global contact lists also enables them to join other entrepreneurs, young or experienced in innovations anywhere in the world. It also arms them to adapt to cultural differences since they have already lived through a few while in school.

Remi is a quiet, easy-going, gentle lad of 21 years of age, who has grandparents in Delhi, parents in France and siblings working in South Africa and Afghanistan. He is well traveled and has a knack for languages that would be the envy of any linguist. He is extremely passionate about classical music, can connect with people of any culture with a smile, can do financial analysis in his sleep and whenever I asked him to try something new, he always replied, "why not?"

He is presently in South Korea as an exchange student and studying Tae Kwando. He is completely immersed in the Korean culture, has become fluent in the language and is traveling in South Korea whenever he can. He is also exploring possibilities for ventures there.

You can check out his personal blog at: http://remiaupaysdumatincalme.blogspot.com

Philippine Janssens

Philippine Janssens
She is a dear friend of Remi's and attends the only other top business school in Paris called ESSEC. Now this young lady has a dad who owns a cafe that used to be Vincent Van Gogh's last house. Her mom has had her fabric/caftan business for the past 20 yrs catering to prestigious cliental in Europe, Africa and Asia. Philippine is 21 years old and she navigated Bangladesh like she had lived there for years. She would tell me of the shops and places that I had never heard of, striking the best deals with vendors, exploring the most best kept secrets of the city and trying any fruit that she could get her hands on. She connected with the children at the villages by taking pictures of them, showing THEM how to take pictures, and by distributing magic stashes of candy wherever she went.

These two interns drew large fan crowds wherever they traveled and were greeted with smiles and amazing hospitality from all the locals.

She is presently interning with a marketing company in Paris that creates marketing strategies for clients in the hospitality industry like hotels and resorts.

Kivanc Camber

Born and raised in Turkey, son of an member of the Turkish Parliament, Kivanc is amazingly well grounded for any 24 year old I have ever met. He is extremely passionate about Micro credit and is working with a Bangladeshi gentleman right now in Turkey, helping him run the micro finance organization there. He arranged his older sister's wedding long before he himself could even think of tying the knot.

He just finished his masters in Economics from a school in Birmingham, U.K. He read books on finance and the history of micro-credit throughout our trips in Bangladesh together.

He did his best to master both English and Bengali while traveling with us. I was not the best person to learn English from however, since I soon found out that I spoken Texan. He was warm and gentle, shy and a great listener. Never saw him in a bad mood and was very well groomed in ettiquettes and courtesy. He also melted in the heat in Bangladesh but thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Amee Patel

Amee Patel
She came to Grameen as a seasoned back-packer (India and South East Asia), worked as a volunteer at Katrina aftermath cleanup and had already set her path to be an associate at McKinsey.

She is a fresh graduate from Davidson college, majored in Political Science and Economics and ss the co-editor of "The Davidsonian,” she has found a way to encourage other writers to compose articles addressing diverse religious faiths in addition to reporting other campus news. In the words of one supporter, “she has a genuine interest in the lives of others and is always taking the lead in encouraging respect among people who differ.” In the midst of this and all she does, she always has an ever-ready smile for all she meets.

She was my roomate for the one month she spent in Bangladesh. We philosophised deep into the night about theology and eastern philosophy, explored much of Bangladesh together, shared a room at many Grameen field trips and talked about our dreams and aspirations.

Hamidur Rashid

This warm spirited young man (age 28) was born in Bangladesh and was raised in the Middle East. He has been on a fast track to "making a difference" with every opportunity he has gotten. He's a double majored graduate from Purdue University under two of the toughest degree plans in the school of Engineering in a smoking gun speed of 3 years. Hamid gave back to the student community there by engaging as the vice president of the Bangladeshi Student Association. He was already playing the real estate market by the age of 23 in Texas and made a resonating imppression at Schumberger as one of their top consultants after graduation.

Now at the Duke Business School, he is leaving an ever lasting mark by rejuvenating the International Business Club, consulting in South Africa and Zambia over beginning of the summer 2006, before he returned home to be an intern at Grameen. He just created and stirred the primodial soup to form Duke's first Micro-finance/ micro-credit society. He is already sitting on panels at different organizations and representing Duke at Global conferences. With this kind of a track record, Hamid comes with a promise to make the world a better place through economic development in developing countries esp. Bangladesh. His other passions include Robotics, dance and R&B music.

Sarah Siddiqi

She is a dreamer in every sense of the word. Her visions are clear as daylight, "Put Bangladesh on the MAP" and her chosen path of doing this is through sustainable tourism. This positive spirit was born in her grandmother's home in the same port town of Chittagong as Dr.Yunus of Grameen Bank. Even though she was raised in the same neighborhood as Hamid in the Middle East, her life has been on a vastly different track. She married very young, graduated fron UT in Environmental Biology and Fine Arts, and became a serial entrepreneur since.

She sold her art throughout college, started three companies, and did everything from being a graphic designer to market strategist. She combined her passions for art, networking, culitvating diversity & tolerance, by working with non-profit leadership/social impact programs, being the arts director for Cultural Societies in the Austin community and serving as the liasons in inter-racial group programs.

After ten years, this mother of three went back to school to get her MBA in entrepreneurship from one of the top rated Entrepreneurship schools in the country called Acton this year. During her summer at Grameen, she discussed her vision of sustainable tourism in Bangladesh through Grameen. She arranged tours for the Grameen interns, after which she fell in love with Bangladesh like never before. She has already started the groundwork for pursuing her dreams of establishing tourism there. Other other passions include culinary arts, yoga and Aikido.

M.K. Aaref

Traveling with this gentleman, was like walking around with an encyclopedia. Altough he was not a Grameen intern, he took the time to show us the country and extended his hospitality throughout our two month stay in Bangladesh.

What was his forte? Everything from archeological facts & history to photography and international culinary arts, with a wide stroke of world affairs in between. His passion for architecture led him to graduate in the field from the University of Houston. He went back to Bangladesh to establish his architectural firm after working on gigantic projects in the Middle East for a few years and doing his MBA from Ashton, U.K.

Aaref was born and raised in Bangladesh. His father was the Governor of one of the most prestigious banks in Bangladesh. He is a surreal link to both my husband and I because he was both our playmates at childhood.

His work can be spotted from a mile around town, because of his cutting edge trademarked style of soft curved lines and unusual choice of colored accented lighting. His contemporary glass house has the most breathtaking views of a lake and draws the most happening fashion shoot and music video recordings!

He functions like an Ambassador in Bangladesh of Bangladesh, connecting with top corporate execs and diplomats that visit the country giving them an arsty upscale cosmopolitan flavor of the city. He is one of the upcoming real estate developers quietly building his empire of modern structures and resorts.