Busy Day start from Monday

A busy Monday & Tuesday after wildlife tour in Masai Mara and Amboseli. Although it is tough, we make good progress. We had 8 interviews in these two days. We collected many information. That help us moving to the Synthesis Stage.
Our clients are very nice, they are not only provide lunch for us but also tea break in morning and afternoon. I can't stand any more. If I keep eating it, I believe I will put on more weight. It is opposite to what I am thinking before I arrive Kenya.

This is traditional Kenya tea, 'Have a cup of tea' means let's have a meeting.

Again, the traffic is terrible! I got serious carsick yesterday. Today, feel better so I snapshot  some possible selling on the road.  What would you like to buy?

Clothes?

 Corns?

 Or how about a stick of sugar cane?

I did a big shopping before we back to hotel. Guess what I buy?



A pack of rice growth in Kenya. My family can taste together. Three pack of Mashmellow but made is Portugal. It is ok cause I believe Loewe like it. A bottle of sunflower seed, dry fruit, nuts and many small pack of chips (easy carry to home). And more important .... cup noodles .... . Eating too much western food lately, so have a cup of Indo mie noodle is nice.  Yum!

Wildlife tour in Amboseli National Park

We had a long weekend Fri-Sun. We split into two groups travel two safaris. Ulla, Mary, Patrick, Scott and me travel to Amboseli. Another group travel to Masai Mara.
This van with us for 3 days driving us to search wild animals.

After 6 hours drive, we arrived  Amboseli National Park. We stay in Ol Tukai Lodge.  It is amazing beautiful lodge reside in safari.

In the entrance, there were Massai people selling their art craft and jewerlly. It's beautiful but we did not buy any cause it is not much usage.

We saw over lots of elephants, zebras, wildebeests, thomson's gazelle, buffalos, impala, monkeys and different type of birds. We could only see a few cheetah, lions, spotted hyena and giraffe. Mary, Patrick and Ulla took lots of good pictures. I would recommend you explore our team blog to see all those beautiful pictures. I only use small camera and iphone so it is not so good.

It was an excellent trip. We all enjoy the exploration so much.

Client Interview start

Thursday, we went to KICD office and review SOW with client. We had two interviews with Maths, Physics and Biology curriculum developers. We have better understanding the clients.

We had lunch at KICD. I am tasting Kenya chicken, beans and vegetable.

 

Our client's office is big. We had meeting and interview directly in his office.

Work at hotel

Our sub-team do not need to go client site so we work at hotel. We went quite well in preparing questionnaire for interview. We decided go out for lunch. There is a Mexican restaurant nearby the hotel. Stay in Nairobi for 5 days, finally see the sun come out.  We have ~10 mins Kenyan walk. It means we walk like Kenyan, we walk along the road with muddy, dusty and bumpy road. I made the name.

CountryHouse Inn Karen is the hotel where I stay. This is a beautiful rose in main entrance.  

We went to a Mexico restaurant. Jen and I had 'Couscous chicken'. The dish in the middle. Dino has a big American burger. Olivia has a chicken salad. Yummy lunch.

Client Meeting

Our sub-team is first team to meet with client KICD and present work plan. Each member was well prepared. I have not work on client projects for so long. It is good to re-connect. The KICD have invited more than 20 people to join the meeting.  I say Jambo & Karibu to welcome them. Then I use Chinese 'ni hao 你好' & 'huan ying ni 歡迎您' to ice-break which is quite good.  

Overall, the presentation went pretty well. We have the Sr. Deputy Director of Research and Curriculum as a sponsor. They seat down with us to clarify objectives and provide guidance who to interview. We will meet them again on Thurs mid-day. The clients are very nice, kind and helpful.

 Afternoon, we join the MOYAS team to meet their client. It is good to have chance to learn from other team and meet with their client. I find CSC is a program that helps us gain client experience. This is what we need an environment that really just focuses on client but not selling or solutions.

Again, traffic is a big problem. It took us 1.5 hours back to the hotel. I almost have carsick everyday with long drive. :  (

First Monday

It was our first Monday in Nairobi and first visit IBM office. Traffic becomes an issue. It took 1.5 hours drive from hotel to IBM office.
 

The team arrived and ready to visit IBM East Africa (EA) Innovation Center. The STG BUE came to welcome us and introduce IBM EA office.

 

A nice IBM East Africa (EA) Innovation Center.

 

We then travel to Ministry of Information & Communication Technology to meet the Minister of ICT. The Minister is very kind and friendly. After meeting, we went for lunch near the office. This is our first African lunch. A big dish and I try to control myself. Otherwise, my body become big.

We then had a meeting with Muriuki to further understand the project. The meeting went well and we had much better understanding. We finalized work plan and ready for client meeting next day.

Working Sunday

Scott finally arrived and join us on Sunday. In the morning, Muriuki, DOT CSC consultant briefed us Kenya information e.g. landscape, tribes, population, telecommunication distribution and province etc. We now have some understanding of Kenya.

On plan, we suppose have a culture tour in the afternoon. However, consider our project schedule. The team decided back to hotel to work on our assignment. But let's have lunch first!

Dino, Jennifer, Olivia and I (from right to left) are sub-team and working on a KICD project. Our team is going to develop a framework for global partnership, capacity planning and benchmarking for Vision 2030. Another two teams are working on Youth Training and Health projects.  All teams are working hard to understand client needs and prepare for client meeting on Tues.

Wildlife Tour

Our first team activity is wildlife tour. We first travel to David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a home for orphan elephants and rhino. They rescue babies elephants from safari because the baby elephants loss the parents for some reason. So David Sheldrick cares them until 3 years old and send them back to safari.
 

 

Our next visit is Giraffe Centre, African Fund forEndangered Wildlife. It is my first time to feed giraffes. They have a long tongue in black. Some of my teammates kiss the giraffe by mouth.  

 

After lunch, we go to NairobiSafari Walk. In the safari walk, we saw lots of monkey. Their body size is bigger than Hong Kong. Interesting that a monkey grabbed a lady’s bag at the entrance. The scene was same as Hong Kong monkey. Lucky that the lady get it back. Properly the monkey find the bag has nothing to eat. So it return to the lady. There are a few animals that I have never seen it before.

 

 

Heading to Nairobi

On the plane, I opened Loewe's gift. :  ) She is so caring. She gave me a bear travel with me. Now I have a buddy in this journey. I then open up the letter. My tear came. I felt so touching. She reminded me different things and be enjoy the trip. She really growth up.

The flight landed in Dubai at 4:30am, then I wait for over 6 hours transition time. Lucky, I met Patrick and then met Dino. Three of us take the same flight to Nairobi. We arrived Nairobi at around 4:30pm. Kevin Kathua, DOT CSC Kenya Program Manager, has been waiting for us. He stayed in the airport all day long to pick each member.

We took another 2 hours 20 mins drive to the CountryHouse Inn hotel. In fact, the distance is not long but traffic jam becomes a problem. While we were down the road, we saw many Kenyan walk aside the road. We found out that people prefer walking so to avoid traffic. So some people might 2-3 hours walk to go home. No wonder Kenyan is really good at Marathon.

We also saw many people selling things on road such as newspaper, banana, orange, ball, and event pillow, leather bag and leather jacket. It was amazing!

We finally arrived hotel in the evening. Each of us has a single room in simple and clean. Every one of us was so tired and we went to our room after dinner.

We flied from all over the word include Australia, Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, South Africa and US. It was nice to meet each other in this special city.

CSC Journey about to start

I will be soon travel to Kenya for CSC assignment. A bit of mixed feeling, getting excited about this experience. Meeting my Kenya 7 team members. We worked together in last three months and now about meet in person. In this month, we will become a family living in CountryInn Karen. We will work together, eat together and have fun together. 

On the other side, I will miss my family especially my daughter Loewe. This is the first time I will be away from home for one month since her born.  In the last few days, she started missing me. Yesterday, she gave me two gifts. She asked me not to open it until I get on the plane. She said this is the longest letter she has ever written to me. It is so touching! I love you Loewe.

I packed a big luggage and hope it won't over weight!  I will transit in Dubai and then fly to Nairobi. By the time I arrive will be 9pm Hong Kong time. 

#ibmcsc kenya 7

Countdown! 8 days to go ....

Before the trip, I prepare .....

Vaccination
Took Yellow Fever, Hepatitis A and Diphtheria & Tenanus vaccination. My first time take 3 doses in one time, two dose at the left and one dose at the right. Doctor also advice to take Doxycycline to prevent Malaria.

Wireless Hub
Purchased a traveller wireless router which can be use in the hotel

Accomodation
Kenya 7 will stay in Countryhouse Inn Karen. It will be our home while we stay in Kenya.

Health and Safty
Besides International SOS covering, I purchased travel insurance to ensure my other days are covered.

Gifts
Purchased some souvenirs in 'Chinese culture' for my team. Hope they like it.

more and more things to prepare .....  make sure I have what I have to go.