Life is full of unexpected surprises

Me and my big plans to see family at 5pm today on Sunday at home...Guess what, it did not happen after all that waiting...Should have done a little expectation management - not not believe before you see. Our flight to Istanbul from Nairobi left over 30mins late and they did not catch up time in air which meant that we were very late in Istanbul where we originally had about 1 hour to change the plan. Well, otherwise fine but this delay meant that we actually missed the Helsinki flight by 2-3 mins!!! Crazy.

What was so insane about this was that Turkish Airlines actually made the effort to escort us from Nairobi flight to Helsinki flight but did not follow thru the process which meant that were just too late. Guess, who was a bit mad and will provide proper feedback to the airline. This could have been easily avoided by little communication early enough in the process. Sigh, maybe we should stay for another month for little supply chain management consulting... ;-))

So here we are - stuck in Istanbul as there were no available connecting flights and only can fly home tomorrow afternoon with direct flight. Always find a silver lining in a cloud: we are in very nice 4 star hotel with all inclusive and Inna even found a spa department with a pool. That made her day and we both can rest well after a very very short night last night in Nairobi. So we can go home tomorrow feeling fresh and rested.

A Finnish saying "Ei pidä nuolaista ennen kuin tipahtaa" suits well here...(not directly and very roughly translated: do not lick before it is on your lips). Oh well, another day for travel tomorrow.

Almost there! At least "out of Africa" :-))

Kwaheri Kenya....until we meet again!

It is midnight and our flight back to Finland leaves in 6 hrs...short night sleep and then heading home before 4am. The Corporate Service Corps assignment is now over officially. Bitter sweet feelings like I have mentioned before. Feels really weird as we have breathed this experience 24hrs a day since the past 4 weeks and spent our time with relatively small amount of people. But hey, there is time for everything and at least I got to live this unique time. No regrets whatsoever. Every day mattered.

What I am most happy about now, is that I will see my sons in 17 hrs and that is SO great. Have missed them a lot as this was the longest time I have been away from them.

This is a country where I gladly will take my family with me next time I come here. What a versatile country with rich natural resources and friendly people but at the same time poor conditions and people needing our help badly. Let's see how I can follow up Kenya and how I can possibly contribute in the future.

But now to sleep and home. Time for deeper analysis on what this month gave me maybe a bit later when I can get some distance...

Assaignment done

My summer holiday has just begun and I feel "happy as a hippo"! Today was an important and a long day in many ways from the actual assignment point of view. Team presented their final reports to the clients and every single team succeeded and exceeded client's expectation. Not bad considering how intensive this past month has been from work point of view.

Our presentation to KENET was the first one in the morning and we were pretty happy how it went. As we had been working actively with the client there were not major surprises to be expected. Many of the items were discussed with them earlier. The best reward to our work is to see that client feels they got what they expected (or even more) and they can use our recommendations in the future.

It was quite a relief to realize that we are now free to do what we want as the schedules have been very tight all July. Half of the team will stay in Kenya for holiday on the coast and the other half will head home - including me and Inna. Now that it is so close I can hardly wait for it. Counting the hours.

After the client presentation we had an assignment debrief and shared some feedback. All in all people are happy with the experience but of course in a big team and long assignment some hick ups are bound to happen. Luckily nothing major and everyone has been able to enjoy the unique experience given to us.

The day ended in a very nice restaurant where we celebrated our successful assignment and said first good byes to people who are leaving on Saturday. Most people fly out of Nairobi on Sunday so Saturday is really a day off and a chance to do last minute shopping.

It is hard to believe the month is over...it has been such a emotional roller coaster and mind blowing experience which I will try to use as well as I can - both personally and professionally.

Shopping experience with Kenyan taste

I thought I like shopping….but not so much here where it is somewhat laborious with tens of pushing and persistent sellers and where haggling is a form of art. You need to know how to play the game. Well, then again you can find treasures for really good price if you just can play with the rules. It is just so against my Finnish nature not to have my own space and control when shopping (yes, I did come after good cultural experiences so what am I complaining!!!) and even a month was not long enough to make me used to it. I just enjoy my privacy and having my own pace. Well, like they say: live in each country according to its own way; in Finnish “maassa maan tavalla”.

In front of our “countryside” hotel Merica in Nakuru, we had a “Masai” street market every day and I am sure there were 30-40 sellers at least from very early in the morning until the dusk and you could not go by without getting at least 5 sellers after you. Well, there is a trick to this one as well: our local assignment coordinator Alex offered to check the “local” prices at first before taking us there! Of course the prices are different to a local guy than to muzungus (tourists). Well, as he had agreed the prices for us we also got these cheap local prices to the disappointment of the sales guys. Well, a bit dirty trick but so is “cheating” of tourists who are not that used to the local prices. I got quite a bit with 1900 Kenyan shillings (approx. 16 euros). A big black soup stone statue with a 4 member family like mine, some Masai pictures, a bowl and an elephant. I was happy! (yes, shopping can be fun here too…)

Street view from the market

As if I needed anything or that my luggage would allow any extra (let alone the airline limits), this morning I ended up in the market again with Inna and Sugandha. I saw a nice (heavy!) African mask…and my constant comments to the sales guys about not fitting anything more to my suitcase ended up me going to get my running shoes (the ones I had had already a while and which I was going to leave behind anyway) and some other cheap stuff from my room and trading them to the mask I wanted. Funny! And quite a deal! It seems that good Western shoes and clothes have value here where you probably would not be able to get them otherwise. They need shoes more than I do and I need the mask more than they do. Win win…I am sure the sales man was happy and felt that he won but I think so too.

This is just one example of the major differences between my home country and this beautiful Kenya. I could go on and on about the differences but what would that do…Just enjoying cultural exposure!

Kwaheri Nakuru, Karibu Nairobi!

Leaving from Nakuru to Nairobi - with matatu of course

Three weeks stay in the Rift Valley is now past and we have returned to Nairobi by a final very long matatu ride) and Country Lodge hotel where we started the adventure in early July. There is a feeling that we are really on the final stretch ­ less 3 more days left (not that I am counting the days before I see my boys! J)). As much as I have enjoyed every single day – despite how different they have been.- it feels like a right time to start thinking about home and family. Past days this week have been busy working on the final report and now we are all set for the big KENET audience tomorrow morning at University of Nairobi. We are expecting many VIPs like Permanent Secretary Kiamba from the Ministry of Education.

On our last evening at Merica, the staff organized a party for us with great food, cake and some entertainment. Really nice of them!

Farewell cake from the Merica hotel staff

For me personally the topic of our KENET project (i.e. how to increase usage of current Kenyan National Research and Education Network usage among the faculty staff and students) has been intriguing as it has been loosely related to the education topic that I manage in my daily work – not that these two would have otherwise much to do with each other. It is very motivating to see how much client appreciates our work and how committed they are in changing the current ways of working. It is a very much a change management related issue that KENET is facing at the moment and thus the project has been interesting for me.

Today we also visited IBM East Africa in Nairobi to provide a status on our project findings to GM of IBM, Tony Mwai. Visiting their office and speaking to the IBMers there has taught us how fast the growth markets are growing nowadays. They are living interesting times and people with right backgrounds and interested in assignments abroad would really have opportunities for employment here.

Kwaheri until the next post!

Final countdown - 5 days to go before departure

Workwise the last week of the Kenya 3 team's CSC assignment has started and this incredible experience is soon over whether we like or not. In a way I am happy to go back and see my family that I miss a lot but also the departure will be bitter sweet as I have really enjoyed all the parts of this experience. Work has been different from my daily job and client has been more than supportive. Doing pro bono work seems to be different from normal business - in a positive way. We will present back to them and all the possible stakeholders on Friday morning. After that we have only farewell party left and Saturday for some final shopping. What a month! Will take a long time to digest this all.

One wish that I have is that I am able to change my life for better thanks to this eye-opener…What I have realized that I have absolutely nothing to complain back at home and I need to be more appreciative for what I have got. I also hope to find a suitable way to help those less fortunate because life is too short to be selfish.

Making the best of the remaining days...

Magic of Masai Mara – a 3-day weekend trip

Safaris, nature and animals as mentioned earlier are close to my heart and this past weekend I got all that. The team went to safari in one of the most significant National Reserves in Kenya – the famous Masai Mara in the southern boarder of Kenya, on the boarder of the Tanzania who has the similar park –Serengeti- next to Mara.

"King of the jungle" with a lady, Water buffalo couple
Cheetah having an afternoon rest, Zebra family

What can I say about Masai Mara other than it is really amazing and breath taking. When in the park and looking around, it seems like time had suddenly stopped. If you ignore the other cars (which there are too many occasionally unfortunately) and all you can see are the grass plains, hills and many grazing animals you can not figure out what year it is. And I find it very calming in its timelessness and pure beauty of the nature. That surrounding is very much needed in today’s hectic lifestyle. When motor is not running and you can only hear wind in your ears and see the peacefully moving packs of wild African animal, it is like being in the middle of National Geography documentary.

Downside of this paradise is that many other in addition to us think it is a “must see” resulting too many people coming to the park and tour cars lining up to see some of the more rare animals. Not very natural I think. And also animals do not seem to be bothered with the cars. Real untouched places are more and more hard to find. Also currently it is pretty dry so it was rather yellow and was wondering if animals find enough to eat. Although for example wildebeest are migrating from Serengeti to Mara around these times to find more food. Hmm…I hope they do after all that running across the plains.

Combining both Lake Nakuru National Park and Masai Mara we have seen the big five ie. lion, elephant, water buffalo, rhino, and leopard. Just thinking what was the most memorable thing we saw during the weekend…handsome male lion with his pack. So beautiful! Or massive hippos lying on the beach like big rocks. All in all the entity and scenery made a big impression.

In addition we got a refreshing cultural exposure to a tribal culture of Masai people. We camped just out of Mara, next to the Masai village. They worked in the camp as guardians and also took us for a long walk to the nearby hill. It was incredible to hear about their life style. Even if I knew kind of what to expect after our Eastern African tour almost 11 years ago it still caught me by surprise. They live in manyatta which is a group of very low Masai houses made of cow dung and some wood. We got a great tour in the village and were able to go into a Masai home. As there is now electricity in the whole village the houses are very dark even in the day time as they windows (or rather holes in the wall) are not done as the mosquitoes might come in otherwise (no, there are not window glass). Most shocking was the size of the house which I saw: 2 adults and 4 kids live there and some animals as well. Tiny, a few rooms little hut...Wow…how different can it be compared to what the Europeans and citizen of more developed countries are used to. I do not have enough words to describe it…We enjoyed their hospitality when the village people kindly performed some tribal dances and showed how to lit the fire without matches. When in the village I kept on thinking how different our lifestyles are and still both can be equally happy. Masais do not have running water, electricity, many of the aids of modern society and men and women are not even close to equal, they eat milk and blood twice a day (even the kids) and meat only a few times a month...many of the things that would make it difficult for me to adjust to that culture. Having seen that world really opened my mind that there are so many different life styles that we do not even understand that in our daily life.

Me and the Masai warriors in the camp, Masai women dancing and singing

Masai men and a house, A boy with a snack

What was really funny on Sunday was that I was asked to stay in the Masai village by this lovely young Masai warrior. He was so cute! When he heard I am married he was not too happy and said no to my question whether he would be ok for me to have two husbands similarly as Masai people can have more than one wife. ;-) When that was not enough on marriage market…on our way back on stop a sales person offered 50 cows for me!! (obviously joking but I found it funny topic to discuss!) Had a good laugh! My son commented the incident by saying they want more than 50 cows for me. Heh, I do not think I would leave my boys even for 5000 cows. So that’s it!

All in all, what a wonderful weekend. One of the best here.

Mid term review of the KENET project on Wednesday July 20th

After all the emotional community days it felt nice and calming to go back to real work and get our project one step further. Yesterday we presented the mid term report to our client – KENET – in Nairobi. They seemed to be happy with what we had accomplished so far and it felt good of course. I have to say I could not be happier about the client we have. They keep on treating us well and are extremely committed to the project. What a difference does it make to all of us! The event was attended by all KENET staff and most of the KENET board members.

We got even some publicity on their website ;-)) http://www.kenet.or.ke/

Kenet leaders and board members together with IBM CSC Flamingo team at the University of Nairobi

In the afternoon of the same day we had the honour to interview the Permanent Secretary for Higher Education, Science and Technology, professor Kiamba at the Ministry of Education.

IBM Team with Permanent Secretary professor Kiamba (3rd from the left) at the Ministry of Education

Travel days to Nairobi can be tiring but the work itself is so inspiring that a few hours each way in the car are actually just fine. This is so different to my daily work back at home that I try to take a most of it and learn what I can.

On our way back from Nairobi to Nakuru we saw beautiful light over the Rift Valley - this was just before a heavy rain and thunderstorm started. As always there was a need for a photo stop ;-))

Early on Friday morning the IBM CSC team will head to Masai Mara for a 3 day safari so no updates until Monday most probably. Excited to visit one of the most famous National Parks of Kenya. Hoping to see all "big five".

Good Night = Lala Salama!

Making a difference – Community days

Part 1 - Children of Kenya (Thursday July 14)

One of my highlights of this CSC assignment so far must be the visit to a local nursery and school for orphans and less fortunate children, the New Life Africa International School. It was not an easy day but the one I will remember for a long time. Before going there I was not sure what to expect. Was a bit worried how meeting these children would affect me as mother and if the reality would hit too hard. Well, it did hit hard as it was obvious that these small children had gone thru rough times and were totally depended on this charity organisation that provides them school uniforms, lunch, education and all that they need. But at the same time we witnessed the genuine joy and happiness of these adorable children. They seemed to be happy with what that had but from our perspective the thought was along the lines “ how can we best help the home and school”. Some of the kids live at the school as they are orphans but some live at the home and come to school to study. Over 500 kids go to this school. In addition to the school and nursery the place also has a crisis center for women who have got pregnant very young or are having other issues. It was a good place for many different groups and I was inspired by the good work the staff if doing.

The school was founded by a Danish couple who have been here for 17 years. They had got a calling for this and are totally dedicated to run the place. Here is their web site if you got interested in learning more: http://www.newlife-africa.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1

When there is a will, there is means seemed to be the guideline that they were following. I can imagine leading this kind of school may not be that easy in these circumstances, knowing how many needy children there are only in this area alone.

All in all we met kids that were between 3-15 years. The little ones were really hungry for touching and holding hands. I can imagine they do not get all the attention they would need. It was so calming just to hold them and smile when we did not have a common language. In the nursery we visited at first (it was close to city dumb and the parents of these kids were earning their living by searching for something valuable on the dumb – how sad), we sang songs, took a lot of pictures (it was the best entertainment to them to see themselves in the digital camera screen!!) and I blew soup bubbles with them. How fun! Just to had to keep the mind off from the fact that kids were really needy and had clothes that had seen better days. There is so much we who are doing well in life could do for these cute little ones. They seemed to be so happy with what they got. You should have seen the smiles when we gave them some candy and raisins…

"Hug therapy" at the New Life school

Community days: Part 2 - University of Egerton (Friday July 15)

Very different but as valuable community day was spent at Egerton University which is pretty close to Nakuru. The computer science students had requested some presentations from IBM team (topics like how to make an idea into a reality in the world of entrepreneurship, cloud computing, business process outsourcing etc). We gave them presentations and on top of that conducted little workshops on “soft skills” like expectation management, communication skills, project management. This was very inspirational to them as many had not realized how much these skills actually mean in the work life. Even some of the professors took part in these events and were really glad they did. It felt good as these are the things we often take for granted and now we were easily able to share the importance of them and even give the students some useful tips and hints how to learn and apply these skills. The event had almost 100 students and considering that they were already out of the semester, it was really nice to see their interest in IBM and the skills we were able to share with them.

What I just heard earlier today was that the students were truly touched by the fact that we came to them and they felt that work we have done is valuable to Kenya. So they are following in our footsteps and are going to support the same schools and homes we visited by providing their time and IT skills for the benefit of New Life and the home for handicapped kids we visited on Monday this week. Talking about making a difference in the world!

Team presentations at the Egerton University

Community days: Part 3 – Small home for mentally handicapped children (Monday July 18)

The first 2 community days had met my expectations and I felt they were really amazing experiences but I have to say the third one we visited was a really deeply touching visit. I am still – after 3 days - trying to process what we were able to see. The place was called St Anthony’s small home for the mentally handicapped children. There were 11 children from 9-16 year old with different handicaps. The place was located in a village to where the road was anything but good and even. These kids really do not get to go out from there at all. In Kenya a disability and handicap is seen as a curse and many parents hide or even worse, abuse their children with handicaps. So in that sense this very modest home is a rescue place to these children who were so obviously happy to have us visit them.

Up: Sarah (who never smiles!) and the puppet (a present from my boys to African children ;-))

Bottom: me and the boy working on wooden puzzle

We played football, skipped rope, threw balls, sang songs and just spend quality time with them. Personally I remember a girl named Sarah who does not speak at all and apparently had not smiled for a long time….I gave this young lady a bunny puppet and she just loved it. It was fascinating to see how she was interacting with the bunny and actually smiled that day. Teachers were touched by the impact we made that day. And I was thinking how little that was from us and how big impact we made. Shouldn’t we all who are better of just try to do a bit more to the benefit of those who have not been as lucky in life? I challenge you all reading my blog to think about how YOU can make this world a bit better place. There are so many ways we all can help others. On upcoming Monday the IBM team will buy some mattresses and blankets to this St Anthony’s home as they are not getting enough government support and are obviously very needy. It is a little from us but makes a huge difference to them. Out of the three community days this last one made the biggest impact on me.

Left: Krishna and the much needed attention
Right: Interaction with a new toy

Community days are such an integral part of the Corporate Service Corps program and I am glad they are as I feel we were really able to make a difference. The work part of the program is also very interesting and important but community days are touching the lives of individual Kenyans. Feeling very inspired…

(Thanks for the patience and for reading this far: I seem to take time in between posts but then I have a lot to write about...:-)) )

Looking at the past week retrospectively – better late than never

Upper left: Trafic in Nairobi
Upper right: Nairobi City horizon
Lower left: Team Flamingo (Andrea, me, Luigi and Brooks)
Lower right: City view from the poor area of the city

Apologies to those of you who have been actively viewing my blog and have not got any updates for a long time. Time seems to be flying by sooner than I realise and days are like a blink of an eye....

During the past week life in Nakuru has been following the same rhythm as always: a lot of really interesting activities back to back. All has been extremely good but what I have missed is time to reflect all what we have seen and experienced. Luckily this past weekend we had time off with no activities what so ever and more time to look back and appreciate the time we have spent here.

All in all I am starting to see why all the former CSC participants have said that this is a life changing experience. Things we have seen and heard have been exciting, touching, thought provoking, eye-opening, amazing…every day is different but each one has had its own highlights.

After exploring the nature a weekend (a week ago) the new week started with project related interviews at Egerton University and Moi University + some report writing. What I find always amazing is the warm welcome we get from the client (KENET + all universities and research institutions). Kenyans are known to be hospitable and they always provide us a lunch and tea. This way they appreciate the visitors and at least I have learnt a lot about it. Kenyans are very friendly in general and it makes them very approachable.

We have learnt that Kenyan universities have a lot to develop in terms of collaboration and networking but at the same time have the drive and optimism towards the future. Students and faculty staff are looking ahead despite the fact that often the facilities and equipment is not close to the level of those in more developed countries. The same goes to many things in this country. Happiness and hopefulness remain visible regardless of the environmental issues and circumstances the people need to tolerate. In general terms our project work is proceeding according to the plan.

Doing interviews further away from Nakuru (like Moi University close to Eldoret) is very time consuming as the roads are not very good. The one to Eldoret was especially bad and I promise not to complain about occasional tiny bumps on Finnish roads any more. The road we took on Wednesday was full of big “waves” and heavy truck traffic had consumed the badly founded road even more. Apparently there is major truck traffic from Mombasa across Kenya to Uganda and other African countries. Well, like Kenyans seem to say: Hakuna matata (=no worries). We have all the time in the world and schedules are managed by leaving early enough – even though it means that one small interview may take a full day if you need to travel. Conference calls have not been as well adapted here like they are elsewhere. Meeting face to face makes a huge difference in business situations.

Next I hope to share very interesting experiences from our 3 community days which are integral part of our CSC experience. Very enlightening to see and feel something that is not work related and still very new to us from more developed countries...Stay tuned.

Discovering the treasures of Kenya

Sunrise in the national park

What a weekend! Have had time to explore the different side of Kenya - National park (Lake Nakuru National Park) and some lakes (Lake Baringo and Bogoria). Kenya has rich nature and animals that can not be seen in Europe. The team did 2 full day trips to close by parks - with 6:30 start in the morning... After thousands of clicks with our cameras, after dozens of "hey, stop I saw something interesting" shouts to our tour guide and after driving the dusty roads we concluded the days with happy smiles and many great memories. After all when anyone thinks of Africa, the animals and national parks are the first ones to come to mind....Right?

CSC Team in Lake Nakuru National Park: Brooks, Lynn, Andrea,
HwaYoung, Dave, Michelle, Sugandha, Luigi, Junko, Krishna, Virve and Inna

We saw all major animals (and almost all Big 5) but not an elephant that does not live in these parks we visited. But we did see the following: leopard (very rare, so we very lucky), lion (sleeping in a high grass...), water buffalo, white rhino, hundreds of zebras, many giraffes and antelopes, hippos, crocodiles, baboon, monkey, numerous birds (eg. flamingos and pelicans in the famous flamingo lake)....Could tell you so much more but will let you look at a few pictures and return to the topic later.

Lizard, Skull of the water buffalo
Leopard, Zebras
Antilopes

Another work week ahead and first interview already at 9am so I better get some rest now. I have often said I want to have some excitement and action in life but now it seems that there is occasionally a bit too much of it. We are constantly doing something - work or fun (not that they could not be in the same package!!?)

Our CSC team heading to the nature of Kenya

As mentioned in earlier post our IBM CSC team is made of 12 nice, funny, team oriented and occasionally a bit wild people from around the world, from 11 different countries (Finland being the only one having two). What a great and interesting team to work and spend time with. I think we will learn a lot from each other in addition to all this actual assignment and client work that has been given to us. I would love to introduce my new CSC friends to you in detail but considering that early tomorrow morning (at 6:30am!!!) we will leave to Lake Nakuru National Park I settle with a high level introduction with this picture. All in all we are from 3 continents, from many different IBM business units and with very different experiences and backgrounds.

IBM CSC Kenya 3 team

I am looking forward to our nature oriented weekend after very busy week with all the client work and moving around. Now we have time to explore the Kenya from different perspective. On Saturday we will visit the Lake Nakuru National Park and hope to see flamingos which Nakuru is famous for (and which we have selected as our sub team name!!) and on Sunday we will visit Lake Baringo and Bogoria as well as a famous crater nearby. Interesting, isn't it?? This is definitely a part that I have been really waiting for. Great memories from my first visit to Kenya (in October 2000) come flashing back)...In Kenya you always have to haggle the prices and I have to say getting this trip agreed on with a travel agent was quite a show. Luigi from Italy and Sugandha from India did an awesome job for the team and a got a great price for us ;-)

Will tell you all about the trip hopefully soon.

PS: Today was very good day workwise (had 2 interviews) and culturally very eyeopening....(a bit too eyeopening I would maybe say...) I need to tell about all I saw today but in order to give that a focus it deserves I will need more time - so will visit that topic later...

Jambo Bwana - our team song

In our long matatu rides (local mini vans that we use for our transportation) the team often sings this happy African song. Learning the lyrics is still under progress but I am sure we will excel this by the end of the month! There is a great relaxed Kenyan feeling to this song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUrVeRGo5IM

Have a look and smile!

Change in the scenery

(This post was supposed to go up yesterday but as always the network decided to cut the co-operation contract with me..)
On Wednesday the CSC Team has moved the camp around 150km North-East of Nairobi to the town of Nakuru. Just trying to settle down a little by little to a new environment...Quite a few activities are getting to us every now and then but then again, we are not here for holiday nor have time to waste so better keep on moving ;-))

Warning!!! Fully loaded matatu!

Inna, me and view over Rift Valley

Tuesday was a full working day with clients. Our team worked with KENET and visited Strathmore University to do an interview about their NREN usage. Interesting indeed - without going into details in this public journal of mine....I find this study very fascinating. It has purpose and it important to our client. Long day and Kenyan cuisine were slightly having an impact on me but hey, a little rest, a shot of strong Salmiakki drink and I was back on track. I do not want to waste a moment of this fast flying month. A little Finnish sisu takes me far... :-D

What I am truly amazed and feeling privileged about is that we keep on meeting very high level authorities of Kenyan government. For example today we met the Permanent Secretary N'Demo from Ministry of Information and Communication when one of the CSC teams presented to him the ideas about e-voting that Kenya is developing currently. The PS had really wise ideas and the team was very pleased with the meeting. The discussion showed us clearly what our clients are going after. These are meetings that many of us would not be able to have in our home countries. ;-)

On this Thursday we actually do not need to travel anywhere or do any extra activities but actually get some real work done...when you are flying around there is not enough time to sit down and sort out your thoughts even. Today is a day for that. Great!!!

My new toy (Canon EOS 60D camera) that I bought to myself in the spring has been in very good and active use. Most of the team is shooting constantly. But where is the time to clean up the pile of pics and actually choose the best ones here to show you... :-) On our way to Nakuru today team saw the first zebras, donkeys, cows, goats as well as pretty scenery. Guess how many cameras were "singing" constantly. Learning photographing is also a fun addition to this Kenyan experience. Let's wait until we get to Masai Mara or other National Park!!

PS: Just a word of warning...my network issues seem to be continuing so no guarantees of the as regular posts as I would like to.

Work has started with full speed

Today was an exciting day for the team. We met the clients for the first time face to face and presented them our work plans. Our sub team - "Flamingo" - did well and our client - Kenyan Education and Research Network (KENET) was very satisfied. We had a big audience: many people from KENET, representatives from different universities and most impressive of all, the Prof. Crispus Kiamba, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology! We definitely are welcome here and there are high expectations to our work. Everyone is working slightly out of our comfort zone, in a new areas but I have to say everyone is really into this. What an opportunity to be a part of this country level development initiative. Sometimes I need to pinch myself to check I am really awake or just dreaming. IBM indeed seems to provide unique and eye opening experiences....

IBM CSC team with KENET

Hakuna matata in Kenya

Getting to know local school kids at Mamba village

Jambo! Habari? Mzuri sana.(How is it going? Very well.) All’s well in Nairobi.

Sorry for the "radio silence"; modern technology is failing me in the form of wireless network issues (or is that just me...). More posts to come in later but here is a short summary on the first two days.

There is no wasting time with this group of people! Met most of team in person for the first time face to face at 8am for breakfast after 3,5 hrs of poor sleep but got really energized when meeting everyone. Although we have only been talking over the phone and hundreds of mails there was a feeling of belonging and knowing them all. Really nice and interesting team we have here: 12 people from 11 different countries...

During the first day in the country we saw already a lot: an elephant rescue center for baby elephants, giraffe breeding center including feeding these long tailed graceful animals (oh boy, they have a long, blue and slimy tongue…). It was wonderful to see these typical African animals already. Had a good laugh when watching the baby elephants playing. They were like human babies pushing each other and stealing the leaves from a friend. Their caretakers told that their have different characteristics one is playful, one is naughty, one is calm and nice etc. This center releases the animals back to nature when they are ready to survive on their own. Lovely place to visit!

Maasai people dancing

Baby elephant having a good time with a tree branch

Feeding giraffe

In the Saturday evening we had really fun and relaxed group dinner in very nice environment. We met the local NGO called DOT (Digital Opportunity Trust) reps Muriuki and Alex, who are doing incredible job in taking care of us and organizing this experience for the team. We have felt welcome and certainly feel we are here for a purpose.

Sunday was another eventful and fun filled day with the team and DOT. Got a valuable overview on Kenyan politics, background, history and their strategy for the next decades. Our sub team projects are all closely related to the vision of Kenya going forward and information we received will help us executing the work. I feel very privileged to be working in this team and for this purpose. It really feels we are doing this for a good cause and will hopefully contribute our tiny bit for the bigger picture and development of this country. Momentum is here!!

Visit to the Bomas of Kenya - a cultural center of Kenya - was excellent. Dances of different tribes (there are 42 different tribes / communities in Kenya!!) with colorful clothing and wonderful rhythms as well as exploring the different tribal villages (like Luo and Kuria tribes) gave a great introduction to the culture of this beautiful country.

Well, not too much fun...the real work has already started this Sunday evening and we are now ready to present our work plans to the clients tomorrow morning. Pretty exciting as the audience will also include representatives from ministries of Kenya. No pressure, eh... ;-)

Photos to follow as soon as possible (Yes, we are taking dozens of them all the time! You should see some of the lenses that people have!! So taking photographing very seriously here :-DD)

That's it for now. Have noticed already that we will be very busy here but will keep you posted how things go. In general I am just so happy to be here. What an opportunity that does not come across that often...will get memories for a lifetime!

One, two, three - GO!

Less than an hour to departure and I am all set! Finally. Not great night behind and about a million butterflies in my stomach but that's all part of the start of great adventure. What I am happy about is that now this project will get my full attention without too many other balls in the air....


I am delighted that I am sharing this experience with a close friend and colleague Inna who is part of the same CSC group. Shared joy = double the joy!


Kenya, here we come!

PS: Have heard that comments functionality of my blog has not been working well yesterday. I have now tried to fix the settings and hope it is better now. Send me an email if you still experience issues with this. Trying to learn the world of blogging :-)