Isaac Kabunda Bwacha

My Host Parents

I was amazed how comfortable I felt just after a few hours staying with my host family. There was a great feeling of acceptance and adaptability that I never experienced before even with relatives back home. I encourage future interns to be open-minded and to give their best for them to get the best out of this experience. Right now, I am confused because I was told that Swiss people are conservative but that is not true. I believe Swiss people will give you what you give them. I just experienced the best time in my life away from home and these memories will stay forever. Both host families were the nicest family any exchange student could ask for. I felt young and experienced the most valued parental love during my stay. The way they took care of me has opened my eyes into what I need to do in life to be a better person in society and to my family. The idea of host parents hosting interns is an excellent step forward to sustainable development. I have gained so much from my host parents including network, material, financial, emotional and ethical support that I greatly treasure. My wish is to stay in touch with them for the rest of my life, so that they could see how much impact they have contributed to my life. Thank you very much for everything you have done for me.

My Mentor and Colleagues

I had an excellent mentor, Mr Zoltan Szelyes, every intern would wish for. He made me feel involved and allowed me to exercise critical thinking. This helped me to develop greater analysis techniques and justification of why such techniques were used for example, employing univariate analysis in forecasting Real Estate fundamentals as opposed to the multiple regression technique. This internship has made me realize that theory is only 20% of practical experience. One needs to take up internship opportunities to appreciate the theory and see what works and does not. The Real Estate Investment department has a great team that is well coordinated and dedicated. I experienced good acceptance from the first day I arrived at the office. This really helped me integrate well and enjoy the work. My successful internship is the result of a good working environment. Thank you to the line Manager Roger Bauman, Beat Schwab, Ulrich Braun, Gul Oczen, Zoltan Szelyes, Michelle Bolliger and every member of the Real Estate Investment Department of Credit Suisse Asset Management (Switzerland) Ltd.

I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as a real estate research and strategy intern at Credit Suisse. I have gained valuable insight into real estate research and investment over the past three months. Because you gave me the opportunity to work on a variety of tasks, I had the chance to observe numerous aspects of real estate investment and strategies; from product development, research, and property acquisitions. You and your staff were extremely welcoming and helpful, and offered me an amazing career platform. This internship has definitely increased my interest in pursuing a career in real estate research. Thank you for the most valued support and for creating such a conducive working environment.

My dream came true: B360 you made it happen.

I must mention that it was very difficult for me to believe I would have such an opportunity in life. When Sabina interviewed me in Zambia and confirmed that I was selected for this opportunity, I didn’t believe until the day I got on a flight to Switzerland. You have made me realize that in life, we need positive energy, nothing is impossible and the sky is a limit.

My heartfelt thank you for this amazing program of a lifetime opportunity; the best way of teaching a child sustainably is to show a child how to catch fish and not give a child fish. B360, you showed me how to catch fish and believe me, my horizon of future goals and perspective about life has been turned 360 degrees. I am very confident that in the way I have changed because of this program, Africa is destined for greatness. I don’t think there can ever be a better gift to Africa’s development than what B360 is doing. Because of this experience, I am going to contribute to society through employment creation in agriculture so that I could also pave the way for those underprivileged in society but have a positive mind set. I am going to develop a farm in Zambia to impact hands-on skills to anyone willing to advance their knowledge in agriculture. This will be the first step in tackling poverty with sustainable, organic farming methods. Thanks to the Gantenbeins who introduced me to the lecturer (organic farming expert) Mr Jakob Rohrer at the Swiss Agricultural Institute. I have benefitted a lot from this internship and I am positive this will happen in Africa.

Thank you Sabina, Sandra and B360 for this lifetime opportunity. I really cannot quantify the value of this program with any words. It is beyond what you can imagine. Thank you!