#IBMCSC

[mimiemims-blog]

Countdown

Just finished my weekly call with the team (every Wednesday) and all of us are so excited and started counting down. 9 more days to go! Cant wait to meet everyone ! 🙃

[mimiemims-blog]

The best ride I’ve ever had in Senegal 🚜🏜 #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpp7oYfFcCk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=10vyx99pq9imt

[cinhanez]

Are Ys always enemies of Xs ?

Recently I had an interesting interchange in Facebook. A friend of mine posted a text by a journalist describing an infamous case in Brazil where a man killed his ex-partner. In the text the author described typical scenarios of intimidation and violence of women, and concluded each paragraph with a sentence "justifying" the wrongdoing with an expression like "He is simply a man."

The reading of the text disturbed me, because I felt that because I am a man, it would imply that I was able to commit the same kind of acts, or condone them. I commented the post that I felt offended of being included in the category of men who hit, stalk, and kill women. I do not see "machismo" as a natural consequence of the Y chromosome. Then a friend of the my friend replied somewhat in the lines of I would never be able to understand the feeling of being threatened by men in the street or other spaces, so I had no reason to be offended. That she wouldn't care that I was offended because I was a man.

Revisiting this exchange in this post, somehow it feels like a typical "absurd" dialogue from an Ionesco play, as often conversations in social media are. But when my volunteer team of the IBM corporate citizenship program was assigned to work with women's rights organisation in San Francisco (as described in the previous post), all come back to my mind.

Why do some women see all men as their natural enemies? What if machism is inherent to manhood? Can men actually take the cause of women's rights and being effective in supporting it without being able to understand what they go through? Those are some of my thoughts as I move very close to start working, hands on, on advising this organisation which teaches female leaders technology to empower them. All I know I have much to learn about women's rights, about men supporting them, and about how I can do it effectively, or ineffectively.

[cinhanez]

When Xs include Ys

How Ys would feel if suddenly they would be the object of inclusion and of active action for their rights, the inverse of what happens today in most situations? Working the last 3 weeks very close to the founders and staff of WAKE, a social organization focused on empowering women’s rights activists with technology, has taught me one thing or two about that.

It is refreshing, and at the same time provocative, to be in situations where someone says “we should also include men”, or remind that in an event “some of the participants were men”. Ys are not used to be in contexts where they feel they should be included but they are not present in majority. Except for situations socially constructed as “feminine”,  the notion that Ys should be included by Xs is often seen as bizarre. That is the unfortunate state we are in.

Of course, the only thing bizarre here is the presumption, or self-entitlement, of Ys that they are the ones should be in control, and therefore the ones who should be doing, if they want, the inclusion. But it is one thing to talk and digress about the idea, and another, much more interesting, to actually experience it like it has happened to me in a couple of occasions in the last weeks.

I have experienced discrimination before in my life, as a foreigner in Japan and USA, and that is a very unpleasant experience. What has happened in the last weeks is quite different, because I am in an environment where people actually care about inclusion, but have to remind themselves constantly to act in that way also for Ys. More than that, I am used to be in situations where I am actively pursuing inclusion of Xs and minorities, where I have to patrol my own language for inclusion. But rarely I am in a context where my gender is the one which people around me want to make sure that feels included. It is good to feel welcomed (as a member of a group), but it is not good to perceive that being part of the group is not a natural thing.

I do not pretend that I can feel or understand the complexity of Xs dealing with such situations, often since they are very young. But it has been a wake-up call for me to see that even when people around you try very hard to be inclusive in their language and their acts, that very behaviour also works as a remind of the need of inclusion and, of course, of the reality of exclusion.

As if inclusion was not natural, as it should be. Simple. Thanks to the Xs in this IBM CSC project to help me understand it.

[cristinafrank]

Appreciating the symbolism of the mosque and cathedral side by side (they also share their space with each other during important holidays) #cscindo9 #ibmcsc #csc #batikday (at Monas Jakarta)

[mxgirlabroad]

Sweets from all over the world!

Saturday was our first face to face meeting with the team, we went through an introduction and warm welcome from the Pyxera Global team (Kelsey and Anim).

We played human bingo and we started discovering fun facts of each other.

We also had some time to share gifts and sweets from all over the world. I must recognize that Mexico was special, the 3 mexican ladies were coordinated before the trip and that surprised the rest of the team. Julia brought tequila shot glasses and Mexican sweets, Melody brought a lot of spicy sweets, peanuts, mexican toys and bags and I gave them a bag with a wrestling mask for the men and with a Mexican doll for the women.

It was a great team-building time!

The guys with their mexican wrestling masks!

Sweets & gifts from all over the world!

[cristinafrank]

Saying goodbye to our friend Sigit was very hard to do!

[cristinafrank]

Last Supper with the Full Team. 

As a thank you for all of the hard work Anim and our Project Assistance have put into our program, we wanted to take them out for a special dinner. Since it is Ramadan, we planned a proper break fast with all of the local Java specialties. According with tradition, we started the meal with something sweet and cold and then enjoyed course after course from fish to beef to soup and salad, with steamed white rice of course. 

Thanks to our wonderful Pyxera team – your dedication to our program has made it a success!

[mxgirlabroad]

...you say goodbye and I say HELLO!

The second day of May, I had everything prepared in 2 suitcases and 1 carry-on... It was time to say good-bye to my country and to all the people that I love. 5 airports in 32 hours to get there (Guadalajara- Mexico City- Amsterdam- Kuala Lumpur- Jakarta).

On our way, we found Guilherme Correia from Brazil, who was in Amsterdam to flight with us.

We arrived on May 4th around 8 p.m. to the Gran Melia Hotel, my home for the following month! As soon as we arrived we took a taxi to get to know the rest of the team that was having dinner. It was great to meet all of them in person, the energy was amazing, we exchanged hugs, kisses and welcomes in many languages!

[cristinafrank]

Buying Up the Batik Bazar! 

During Ramadan a lot of the local food halls replace the carts with merchants selling everything from food to incense to batik of course. These bazars pop up all over as people prepare for the big celebration at the completion of Ramadan (people open their homes to friends and family). 

Batik is a traditional style of clothing and the fabric is also used for other items from bags to ties and even pens. The art of batik making takes two forms, the copper stamp printing (cap) with hand-painting and the hand-drawn with a wax tool and soaked in dyes to form patterns around the wax (canting). The patterns represent different cultures and traditions and are all beautiful in their own way. 

It was just our luck that one of these bazars opened up right at our clients office, so of course Melody and I had to take a look and support the local artists! Shopping with Melody is quite an adventure… somehow you can’t walk away without a full shopping bag yet somehow she seems to be able to get just one perfect item. Melody is a very supportive friend in every aspect and it extends to shopping; almost everything you try on (over clothes in an open bizarre mind you), you hear, “oooh, I like it a LOT” and “you have to get it.” 

Needless to say we stopped by quickly at the end of one of the first days to ensure we found the perfect batik before leaving Indonesia. We were happy to have negotiated a good deal (even Giuseppe would be proud) and were excited to show off our new purchases. 

When we found out the next day was the last day, we had to rush back to our favorite ladies, find some more great things for ourselves and the other Indo9 ladies. We promised that if they stayed open, it would be worth it for them and it definitely was! By the time Andy, Laura and Anita showed up, we had a whole new wardrobe lined up for each of them. 

We’re proud to be a part of this tradition!

[kameronchao]

First 10 observations after full week on the Jakarta Experice

1. They have lots and lots of traffic. If you’ve been to NY, LA, Tokyo, Paris, London or any other cities, you still have NOT seen anything like this.

2. They drive more like water in a river, wherever there is space, they’ll go. They merge on the road the same way. The road signs and lane guides are more or less, optional.

3. They drive on the left side of the road but yet there were settled by the Dutch?!

4. Smoke is rampant here include inside buildings and offices everywhere.

5. Drinking is rare bc the tax is so high on alcohol: 200% tax, maybe the reason why smoking is so rampant.

6. Free healthcare for everyone; one of our colleagues visited with no wait and got medication instantly, all for free

7. Javanese food (island of Java, where Jakarta is located), has more sweet and spicy food compare to neighboring Sumatra island

8. Even though it’s suppose to be more sweet, it’s still incredibly spicy

9. Indonesian people are very friendly, always smiling

10. Mopeds are everywhere and they drive like crazy

[cristinafrank]

Getting to know workers and officers better.

Our qualitative research interviews were a success and we all learned a lot together. It was rewarding to demonstrate the value of a human-centric approach (which will enable us to provide recommendations based on true insights from workers and officers). The findings and initial considerations were well received and helped to form the foundation for our formal recommendation, in conjunction with our technical discovery. 

Bringing together different clients across departments and roles helped to bridge communications and we were excited to hear that the clients were learning new things that will shape how they work and ultimately enable them to better serve their community. We hope the Kemnaker team will continue to speak with their audiences at every chance they get, leveraging the tools and skills we developed together. 

In order to ensure that the findings and considerations we extrapolated will resonate with a broader audience (including more rural villages we weren’t able to reach for interviews), we developed quantitative surveys for active workers (throughout all phases of the job placement process), former workers (who tend to be more transparent with the ministry) and officers of all roles (from Village Chiefs to Attachés overseas). 

I’m so fortunate that I have the support from my USA team no matter where in the world I am (even over 10,000 miles from home)! Our amazing research/strategy experts (Laurie, Andy and Kristen) took the time to review the surveys and provide some helpful feedback to ensure we were obtaining the best results possible. I cannot say thank you enough for the reassurance and support!

We received almost 900 responses across all three surveys and are seeing meaningful results: 

• The primary driver for migrant work was reinforced – money for family and schooling 

• The strength of the worker/agency relationship is undeniable and the WOM impact is untouchable, mainly from family and friends (even supporting illegal agencies and trafficking efforts) 

• Government services aren’t considered as they’re not recommended, although workers had a good experience with the government services once exposed 

• While we knew that workers have limited awareness of the details of their contracts, we were astonished to learn that none of them are clear on the responsibilities of their future employer and the majority are unaware of the terms or payment owed to the agency and only 14% of former workers reported having a copy of their contract 

• Abuse is reported infrequently and those who don’t report think that they can handle it or nothing will be done if reported 

• There’s a surprisingly high desire to find jobs in Indonesia (1/3 of active workers are seeking local jobs) 

• Officers want to do more to help the workers and are looking for enhanced tools to better serve and monitor workers Lots of great input for our recommendations!

Lots of great input for our recommendations!

[cristinafrank]

The Art of Batik. 

Yogyakarta is known for batik which is the traditional fabric of Indonesia, used for everything from traditional shirts and dresses to necklaces and handbags. Each region is known for slightly different styles and even colors. The really special ones are hand painted, one-of-a-kind masterpieces. Unfortunately, we were not in Yogya long enough to have custom clothing made (and I don’t think the local NYC tailor would know where to start).

[cristinafrank]

Blending of Cultures. 

From the world’s largest Buddhist Temple, Borobudur (dating back from the 8th and 9th centuries) to the largest Hindu temple complex in Indonesia, Prambanan (built in the 8th century), we learned about the harmony between the many religions on Indonesia. 

In between we took a horse drawn carriage ride around the village including seeing the rice fields, learning the art of handmade batik, getting the history of the luwak coffee (affectionately names the crappuccino by our team) and tasting the local cuisine.

Another great day in Yogyakarta!

[mxgirlabroad]

The day we met <3

[kameronchao]

From door to door, it took 60+ hours of travel and connection time to get from Tampa to Jakarta, but it was filled with moments! 1) I got to fly over my house and wave from the plane 2) I caught up on latest movies during the first leg of 14 hours flight to Seoul 3) I took advantage of the incredible free Korean transit tour while having a 23-hours layover 4) I got to see the old Gyeongbokgung Palace and the changing of guard in Seoul 5) I got to taste authentic Korean lunch on Insadong Street including fantastic bulgogi 6) I got to experience Capsule style hotel where I got some solid 5 hours of Z’s 7) I met up with Bryan, another member of of CSCIndo9 elite team and flew from Seoul to Jakarta All of it, awesome moments! Ready for Jakarta.