From start to finish: IBM Corporate Service Corps is truly a life-changing experience

Most of the CSC videos convey (among other aspects) the 'life-changing' experiences of the participants. I knew it'll be a fantastic experience but wasn't too sure whether it'll tantamount to changing my life. 

Well, it surely did! 
I think it was the combination of influences (internal & external), multiple factors (visits, interactions, outings, the bonding, etc.), the work itself (its context, importance, clear cognizance of its final beneficiaries, rigors of the daily regime, etc.) and the myriad other aspects that make the CSC a top-notch leadership program. It wasn't like I was working hard to create my demos at my regular job behind a desk. This was closer to life. Here my work needed to be realistic and shaped by the context and constraints of the place and needed to be completed within a stipulated time-frame.
The biggest difference was that I could clearly see how and who my work will finally benefit. 

It truly changed the way I look at life and work and most importantly the way I will see myself in the grand scheme of things. Now if that's not life changing - what is?

Here is a brief account of my Corporate Service Corps journey. 
 
Inspiration:

I wanted to use my domain knowledge and willingness to make a difference along with IBM’s reach to solve a real world problem.

Background: 

• 14 IBMers from 8 countries and across skillsets comprised the CSC Kenya-9 team 
• 4 sub-teams in all and mine was sub-team 3 
• Ours was a 3 member team comprising myself, Hiromi Kawatsu (from Japan) and Mark Bolter (from USA) assigned to Amref Health Africa's Clinical & Diagnostics program 
• Ours was a unique assignment as we collaborated with a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) PULSE volunteer (who is on a 6-months assignment at Clinical & Diagnostics) to leverage synergies. This model is a great success as she will be driving our recommendations and tangibles towards execution.

Outcomes:

With our interventions and with our focus on ‘realistic’ recommendations and ‘sustainable’ solutions, we look forward to Amref Health Africa managing its programs better, engaging strongly with its institutional donors, digitizing their data capture, using analytics to communicate impact and implementing e-learning techniques to improve capacity building. These will help Amref Health Africa to stay competitive in its line of work, continue attracting institutional donors to support its execution budget.

My personal experience: 

• I'm amazed by how eventful this one month was - we worked hard, accomplished what we came here for and also had so much fun. It was unbelievable how the 14 of us bonded almost instantly. 
• Our stay was very comfortable thanks to IBM and DOT (IBM's CSC implementation partner). We experienced the lovely Kenyan culture (their food, music and the awesome people).
• We visited Masai Maara and Lake Nakuru and Naivasha and also trekked the Hell's Gate apart from other outings. Although trekking the Hell's Gate wasn't technical at all, I still had my moments :-)
• I learnt immensely from the country, our work and the members of my team - esp. Mark 
• I realized what a bunch of motivated individuals could accomplish in just one month when they form a group and although creatively diverse in approaches yet are driven by the same vision
• Many a first during this trip and an overall great experience

My personal takeaways:

• Listening skills - I have a new found respect for ‘listening skills’. To listen not to respond but to understand. Going forward, I’ll not only listen more intently (to the problem at hand/project requirements/etc.) but will also try to understand the ‘context’ and ‘constraints’ within which my recommendations will be operationalized. 
• People focus - this experience has helped me to see that behind all these technologies, processes and recommendations, there are PEOPLE, and if we have a focus on the PEOPLE right from the outset, then these technologies, processes and recommendations become even more relevant and effective.

Well, thanks to IBM Corporate Service Corps, I returned home with a new perspective on life!


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Wrapping it up

This month-long experience will be incomplete without sharing few other noteworthy visits and mentioning a few names. 

Strathmore University:
As part of a social initiative, we took out some time to to interact with the final year technology and management students of the Strathmore University. We were also accompanied by the IBM East African recruitment officer and what ensued was very interesting conversation and then we broke into groups for a more personal guidance. 

IBM presentation:
It was great to pay a visit to the IBM East Africa Regional Headquarters office once at the beginning of our assignment to deliver our Statement of Works (for the four separate projects by the four sub-teams) and then at the end to share our recommendations and tangibles. The General Manager and the other attendees were very interested to learn about our experience and very serious to understand how our recommendations were to be materialized. 

Joseph - a fine cabby:
CSC Kenya team-9 had the services of Jim cabs (approved of by IBM security) and available to us. Our sub-team needed to commute to the Amref Health Africa Clinical & Diagnostics office on all working days and Joseph made quite an impression. Defying all stereotypes, he was always 5mins early to pick us up and the same while dropping us off. While the Kenyan time is hilariously purported to be 30mins late than promised - Joseph really stood out as a man of word. He not only took pride in doing his job but also struck great conversations with us ranging many a subject. He truly made a connection with us three :-) 

Ruth - the cook with a smile:
Ruth took care of us and cooked for us in our common dining area. She laid the breakfast table for our sub-team by 6:30am since we used to leave early (to beat the Kenyan traffic). She also used to cook our dinners unless we planned to go out or cook ourselves. Thanks to Ruth for taking care of us :-) 

Farewell dinner:
On 26Sep/Friday, we had dinner at the Emerald Garden (a classy Thai restaurant). This was to be our farewell get together. Although we had heavy hearts, we did have a great time. 
Few moments from the dinner - 

All good things must come to an end:
We could not believe that our month long stint at Kenya was drawing to a close; that we will leave for our native countries and regular jobs the very next day. Joseph from China was the first among us to start for his home town - Dalian. During our farewell dinner, he made an emotional speech and we exchanged big hugs - just a testimony to how close we 14 had become as friends. Joseph a.k.a. JoJo, apart from being 'the handsome' and 'single' was also a creative genius with his camera. He took some of the best shots for us to cherish forever - 

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Marathon in Kenya and Birthday celebrations

Needless to say, we not only worked hard but also had a lot of fun. Some snapshots below -

Marathon: 
6 members of our team participated in a Kenyan marathon race. Yes a marathon race in Kenya :-) 
Brian stood 4th while Chris 11th respectively in the 12kms category while others performed exceedingly well and everyone completed the race!
Kudos to them all to have done what they did in Kenya :-) 

Mareike's B'day: 

April's B'day: 

 

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Visiting the Masai Maara - a dream come true!

I watched enough documentaries on Nat Geo and Discovery about the pristine splendor of the Masai Maara. About the multitude of animals, the big-5 in specific, their own natural hierarchy, their behaviors and that the migration. 
But nothing can substitute the exhilarating feeling of being there in person. This was a dream come true. 
We booked our logistics through the Lion Trails which means they picked us up from our residence at Nairobi and also took us out for all the game drives in their modified Toyota vans. The 13 of us occupied two such vans. Mr. Francis was our driver and a fantastic guide who helped make our experience at the Maara memorable. 

Let the pictures speak for themselves :-)

On the way:

Ashnil Mara Camp: 
Location - Ashnil is located about a 1 hour drive inside the Maara gates. The journey to get to the camp was a game drive in itself. The Ashnil Maara Camp is just by the Maara river and we could see the hippos wallowing in the murky water along with elephants, giraffes and other herbivores :-)
The Camp and its staff - The Camp had comfortable twin and three bed accommodations, great food and very lively and friendly staff. Our stay was a pleasure!

 

Game drives - some breathtaking scenes:

The splendid game-drives: 

Video: Our first Hyena and Cheetah spotting -

 

Video: Lions1

Video: Lions2

Video: Rendezvous with the Masai (including a peek inside their hut)

Assorted pictures - 

The Masai Village: 
Although the Masai village we visited was closer to the Maara gates, yet most of the Masai folks still live in the abandon of the wilderness. They still hold their traditions close. During our visit, we interacted with them, danced with them, showed us some of their primitive techniques, we went inside one of their huts, understood their ways of living and had many an interesting conversation.
One of those that jumped out was how they marked the stages of a man's growth - e.g. 'killing a lion' is the first step towards adulthood :-) 

We also got access to one of their super sharp knives - lo and behold engraved on it was 'Made in China'.

#ibmcsc Kenya