Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Hi Team,

I just wanted to say a big thank-you to my Aussie colleagues who collected a bunch of IBM merchandise for our CSC program. Thank-you so much to Jayne De Wit (IBM Sales & Distribution, Human Resources, Great Place TO Work Coordinator) and Miranda Scarff (BM Sales & Distribution, Marketing Corporate Citizenship SP) - Job well done girls!!! Good thing I can take 2 large bags on my flight. :-)




Hello! Jambo!

My bags are packed... I'm ready to go! I will be leaving my hometown tomorrow around noon.

Wish you all have a safe trip!  

May we be bring lots of hope in our eyes for this journey. May we be able to live this experience with gratitude, be able to understand what a great opportunity we will live and will take for a lifetime.

Thank you! Marahaba!
See you soon! Tutaonana!

Looking forward to getting to Tanzania and getting started ! - Ashish

#ibmcsc tanzania

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

WOW, how fast the last few months have disappeared.
I can't believe our teams will be deploying from their home countries to the wild vast lands of Tanzania. Only two days to go!
Tomorrow I will be taking the first of my Malaria tablets. These will compliment the series of vaccinations already floating around in my system. I feel like I'm going to glow in the dark, although it's re-assuring to be prepared for the conditions ahead.
Cheers,
Shaun.

Monday, February 27, 2012

I loved this image that Petra found. We added it to our presentation

I set up my own BLOG at http://rosscsc.blogspot.com/  .  You should check out my post.  I am new to this so we should decide what goes on the team blog versus and individual blog.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Last Minute Jitters…but can’t wait to go to Africa…#ibmcsc tanzania


Last Minute Jitters…but can’t wait to go to Africa

Every since I’ve heard the news that I was to be deployed to Tanzania on an CSC assignment I have been doing Cartwheels J Never been to that continent and I always thought Africa was the most exotic place on earth. We have already been warmly welcomed (Karibu) to the land of Serengeti and Zanzibar !!!

I am very excited and it’s really an honor to get selected in a very competitive program and to get to work with the best talent in IBM across the world.

We are 15 of us from all parts of IBM corporation: China, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, Australia and Spain. Amazing diversity…I must say. We will be based in the Morogoro town but will travel frequently to Dar-es-salaam the commercial capital of Tanzania to meet up with our host organizations.

At present just a week away from deployment, we are headlong preparing draft work plans, finishing up our pre-work, packing and arranging last minute logistics…

Since the announcement of CSC Tanzania team 8 and our official kick-off in October we as a larger team have been meeting every week on Tuesdays to go over various things.

While we thought the pre-work was a little overwhelming in addition to our normal jobs, I personally think the whole pre-work schedule has been well thought of keeping in mind our deployment to Tanzania.

We went over various topics like cultural adaptability, Role of International development in emerging markets, Health and safety, Teaming activities, Understanding Corporate Social responsibility and our role and key logistics…everything seemed so important…

We also learnt new things about Tanzania and Morogoro where we will be based, it’s culture and started learning Swahili. I personally downloaded the iphone app to learn the language and I must say it has lot of references to Hindi and Sanskrit. While the basics are easy…I’m still trying to get a handle on the pronunciations J

Starting January 2012, once our Visa were done and tickets booked, we started focusing on our serious topics like Consulting Methodologies especially Issue based Consulting. We got 3 projects to work on from the department of Science and technology coordinated by our NGO partner DOT.

Based on our skills and expertise we were assigned to each of the 3 projects and I really got the project I wanted all along so I was happy…the past few weeks have been hectic…we got over 600+ pages of material based on the project that we had to digest and incorporate into our draft working plan.

Just yesterday (Feb 21), we have the draft working plan presentation and I thought every team did a superb job and committed to the cause.

Now, it’s time to think about packing, finishing the pending 2 pre-work assignments, ensure I have the last leg of vaccine boosters well before my flight on March 1. And not to forget the Malaria pills…better safe than sorry!

So long then..till my next update Kwaheri  (Goodbye) !

Pearl George #ibmcsc tanzania

Test post

Test post to IBM CSC Tanzania 8 blog
#ibmcsc tanzania

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Our team identity


 
Kabila la Mtandao


“15 IBMers, 3 Host Organizations, 1 Goal ...
A bright future for Tanzania”


Our Slogan




“15 IBMers, 3 Host Organizations, 1 Goal ...
A bright future for Tanzania”


Team Logo

Team Name Decision - Kabila la Mtandao

Kabila la Mtandao - which means - Tribe of the Network!

The word Mtandao means not only a network but connotes inter-connectivity and ICT.  It is often used in place of "e" as in e-Government (Serikali-Mtandao), e-Health (Afya-Mtandao), e-Education (Elimu-Mtandao), and so forth.  So IBM being the "Tribe of the Network" would resonate very well among many in country.