I will miss...

I have no words to describe how I feel right now, so I have shamelessly copied (word for word) Andrea's team blog entry from the IBM CSC site. The entry started with just myself and Andrea contributing to this... until we can't help but get everyone else to type in their answers!

(this is a team blog, me Christine, Nitish, Sally, Colleen, Hiroya, Rodrigo, and Gloria .. Chris …is gone already … )

I will miss ...

(Christine): Wali and Kuku .. with Pili pili,
(Andrea): ...and me Ugali Kuku, with Casawa ...
(C.): the kids at the Orphanage
(A.): I'll miss very much Eastern Africa again, the smells, the sounds, the sky in the day, the night sky with different stars system
(C.): Going home with the sun still up and continuing to work by the pool at the lodge
(A.): My Tanzanian friends, colleagues, waiter/waitress, Maasai and non … they’re way to great you, to shake hands, to smile, to see life with a continuous powerful hope …
(C.): Talking about how our day went while playing cards
(Colleen): I will miss the friendship more than anything else…
Laughter – I laughed every day with this team – and learned so very much
And finally – I will miss the pole pole attitude and the organized insanity.
(A.) : Winning at cards, loosing at cards, being “neck to neck” with Christine … playing cards off course !!!
(C.): Walking off heavy dinners, sometimes under pouring rain.
(Nitish): Indian music channel in the Outpost Lodge., The Good Laugh of our friends
The discussion about our “Project”
(Sally): Crossing the busy road, street sellers, music, laughter, companionship, and the deep team spirit we had so easily together
(Hiroya): All of the happily and repletion time I spend at here Tanzania.
(Rodrigo): My new friends around the world, my friends in Tanzania…
And… Hakuna Matata, peacefull, teams diversity and Via Via (Great Times !).
Opps, also, losing at cards.
(Gloria): I will miss all of my wonderful new friends, including the children at the orphanage, stimulating conversations everyday, the magnificent natural beauty of Tanzania, learning something new and interesting everyday, and all of the delicious meals that I have not had to prepare or clean up afterwards. An experience that I shall always cherish with fondest memories!
(A.): I’ll miss you … all: “Shall I Kiss youuu” ?

Oh no!

This came via my email today. I've obviously postponed any wedding planning for the whole month that I am here in Tanzania. Now, the panic is starting to creep in again. Oh no, there's still a lot to do!

Run-rate

Chris and I came to IAA each with very broad two-page Scopes of Work --- I guess as did everyone in my team with their respective clients (AWF and TATO). Chris’ was to help improve their ICT infrastructure, and mine was to help improve their marketing and communications strategy. With 1 month to actually “make a difference”, the first thing we zeroed in on the first week was to specify and concretize our SOWs.

We did our rounds and each person we came in contact with wanted us to help or give recommendations on various things. We tried our best to accommodate each request, but they unfortunately left us with a feeling that small “victories” do not equal to actually finishing projects that are valuable and sustainable even as we return to our home countries.

Coupled with cultural differences and the “pole pole” (“slow slow, no hurry”) mentality, it almost became frustrating to a point. In fact, it took more than a couple of weeks for me to understand enough of the current situation in order to re-write my SOW, and revise timelines and deliverables.

IAA is an institute established by the government in 1990 to provide training on accounting laws and principles. It has, over the years, grown into a competitive institute offering long term courses for undergrad and post-grad studies, research and consulting services, as well as short courses and seminars. They have big ambitions and a good strategy: making use of technology as competitive advantage over similar institutions and universities.

However, being a government institution, they do not have the necessary funds to support the kind of growth they are going for. Thus, they look to the short courses to provide them with continuous and sustainable revenue. Currently, the short courses are far from making this happen.

Thus, my project can be summarized this way: leveraging on short course offerings to generate continuous and sustainable annual revenue for IAA by developing an effective business and marketing plan. This of course, includes improving their marketing & course calendar, brochures, info sheets, promotional tactics, web site content, and even their evaluation & feedback collection and analysis.

It amuses me how, when it all boils down to the specifics, how perfectly similar my project is to my real work back home. Run-rate business!

And I only have a week left to get this done. Oh dear.

p.s. sorry for the boring entry. this I posted on the IBM blog, hehe :-)

Say Cheese!!!

Most are orphaned because their parents have died of AIDS. The oldest is 14, but due to malnutrition, she looks like she’s just 10 or 11. She is very smart and speaks English quite well. She devoured all the books Colleen gave as presents. She would play with my "C" necklace every time she gives me a hug.

The youngest is 2 and just stares at you with his big black eyes, all the while munching on his sugary gum and playing with his toy car. He rarely smiles and never makes a sound. He is like a wise, old man watching everyone around him.

I remember another young boy, whom everyone thinks is my perfect match. He looooves the camera and said, “Say, cheese!!!” about a hundred times that afternoon. He will have giggling fits after.

The boys had a delicate operation the day before, so it was quite impressive to see them come out to play with us that afternoon!

There were 3 girls who just love “swings”. They’d stand in front of you and balance themselves as they loop their arms over yours. They’d say, “swing, swing!” as you swing them around. One would get up the platform and launch herself towards you until you catch her and twirl her around. Definitely the workout I’ve been looking for!

Then there’s this girl, with a giggle so contagious, you can’t help but giggle with her every time she breaks into laughter. She’s lovable and we’re happy that she’s found a home with a Canadian couple that will bring her home in a few months. She deserves the bright future waiting for her.

Rehema, the lady who founded the orphanage, is not much older than me. I am so impressed and so touched by what she is doing for these children. She told Gloria that with the stuff that we have given them, they feel like they are having Santa in March. To this, we said, these kids gave us an afternoon so fulfilling that what we have given them do not even come close to the joy their laughter have brought us.

More photos here.