My Trip to Switzerland

On Monday 15^th August 2011, I started my journey to Lausanne, Switzerland where I represented Suriname at the 2011 World Triathlon Championships. I was part of a mixed relay team which consisted of two boys and two girls. The four of us along with our coach left Suriname Monday night and arrived in the Netherlands, the next day around midday. We stayed in the Netherlands for two days and left for Switzerland Thursday afternoon. 

Our team arrived in the Geneva late in the evening and took the train to Lausanne. When we arrived at the hotel we met with some of the teams that were also staying there. They had never heard of Suriname and were fascinated to meet us. The next day we went to the venue of the competition which was along  Lake  Geneva in downtown Lausanne.

             The world championship race  was on Saturday and featured elite athletes. We went to watch the race and were amazed by the  extremely high level of performance.  On the next day ,Sunday 21^st August 2011, we competed in the ITU Team Triathlon World Championships race against thirty-two other teams from around the world.We were the only team from South America. Great Britain won the race. Ou The Suriname team ,however, did not finish race because we were disqualified.

Although I was upset after the race I did not let that spoil the rest of my trip. I had an amazing time on the trip and learned that if I wanted to reach the top, I would have to work really hard to get there. The trip to Switzerland gave me the opportunity to meet and compete against top professional athletes from around the world. These elite athletes were paid for racing by their sponsors.  Most of them were between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-nine and had given up their education to become professionals. They had been training for many years while our team had only trained for the last four months. We spoke to them about their training  schedule and also become friends with some of them. We realized that first we would have to be outstanding in Caribbean competition before we could go back to compete at the world level of competition. The trip was an experience that opened my eyes and helped me understand the level of performance I would have to attain.

The Suriname team left Lausanne  on Sunday evening and went to Geneva where we slept for the night. The next morning we were on the flight to the Netherlands. We arrived in the Netherlands but were delayed there for the whole day. We left the Netherlands12.30 a.m. to make our way to Suriname and arrived home around 3’o clock in the morning.

Written by: Gabriel Grauwde GAC 2012

Six AlphaMax Students Represent Suriname at GLYC Conference in China

Five AlphaMax senior students and one past graduate are in China this summer representing Suriname. This is the largest group of students attending a GYLC Conference since AlphaMax started sending representatives in 2007. This is also the first time that our students have chosen to attend the conference in China. Previously our students attended the conferences in the USA and Europe.

The students attending this year’s conference are: Azim King (Class of 2011), Khabir King (Class of 2010), Vinantia Nandlal (Class of 2012), Claire Patandin (Class of 2012), Ruth Saman (Class of 2011) and Kristina Taylor (Class of 2012).

The conference is for ten days from June 28^th to July 7^th and the students will be in three cities: Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

The group reported feeling overwhelmed by the size of Beijing Airport, the city and their hotel. A member of the group said, “We thought that our research on China and our previous trips to the US and Europe would have prepared us for this, but  as they say, it is one thing to be told about something and another to experience it.”

Photographs of our group appeared on the GYLC site today. Our students will not be doing the add-on sessions in the schedule, but have received a generous gift of a fully paid trip to the city Dalian.  This is a gift from the Dalian company which has been building roads in Suriname for the past 10 years.  Before the students left Paramaribo on Sunday, June 26th, the Dalian company hosted a dinner for the students, senior administrators, and their parents.


Visit http://www.cylc.org/educ_video/flash_slideshows/1116/GLC1116_S1_CHINA.asp to view slideshows from the Global Young Leaders Conference AlphaMax Students attended.