#ibmcsc cscsen5

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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 ! 🙃

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The Half way point

When I first started on this journey, 4 weeks seemed like quite a bit of time. After the first week I still had the impression that we had plenty of time. Despite that feel I was pushing to get through the design thinking exercises so we had the most time to work on the hard deliverables.   Now at the end of the second week I am starting to feel tense as if I will not have enough time to get everything done and in as detailed fashion as I would like to see.  

Our project consists of two goals, one for a technical study for an HIV treatment tracking system and the second to help configure DHIS2 (a system specialized for tracking health campaigns).  The first week was spent trying to understand everything that needed to be done and talking with as many stakeholders as possible for the second and larger objective.   From there we were able to generate a stake holder map, empathy maps, as well as start on the as-is scenario for how they doing things these days.

Then in week two we met all of the stake holders for both objectives and started building out the scenarios and requirements that each stake holder would like to see.  Once all of the information was in place we then got the whole Africare team together to walk them through what we found.  They were quite impressed with our work and I think they all came out of the meeting with a better understanding of what the problem was.   We then followed that up with  the team to go over big ideas and prioritize the ones from most important to less important as well as must have features.

Finally, in the last couple of days it has been nose to the grind stone doing all of the research for the technical study and getting around to reading and configuring DHIS2.  The experience can be epitomized with plenty of time starring at walls and papers completely covered in sticky notes like the following:

As well as plenty of late night meetings to sync up from what we have learned from throughout the day:

If we have too many late nights we might not be smiling and cracking as many jokes!

The road ahead will be full of work but the deliverable will be well worth it and I hope Africare will be able to continue towards the successful eradication of HIV in West Africa.

[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

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Time for a weekend break in Dakar!

I really have to give kudos for the Pyxera global host Tiadiane Gueye as he has been extremely accommodating and is on top of all the weekend planning.   I had to take a moment to mention that the first Saturday in Dakar was great and it is all thanks to Tidiane.  Granted the day started out early, really early, but it was worth it.  Tidiane had us scheduled for a “Community Day”.  I was not quite sure what that day would involve, but we ended up going to ANHMS.  ANHMS in French is “L’Association Nationale Des Han dices Moteurs Du Senegal”, which is an organization that takes in disabled people of all ages and makes them feel welcome and at home and provide for themselves rather than having to beg on the street.

The link to the organization can be found here:

http://anhms.courantsdefemmes.org/

After getting an introduction to the facility we spent the afternoon having fun with all the kids that were there. I spent my time with a young boy making a clay Baobab tree:

It was a truly rewarding experience and it inspired me to spend more time volunteering back home.

Then later on in the day after a quick nap Tidiane took us all to a National Soccer game with amazing seats:

And guess what?!?! Senegal won the match 3-0 against Sudan and then went on to beat Sudan again to go to the Africa National Championship, go Senegal!

[mikeslifeexperience-blog]

Traffic in Dakar

Dakar like many modern cities is no stranger to traffic.  However, if I tell my friends that traffic was bad it means something completely different from traffic in Dakar.   Driving in Dakar is an experience just in of itself.  The city was designed in an ingenious way to have almost NO traffic lights!  That means, so much less to fix and speed bumps and round about galore to control the traffic.   As a result of the design people go when they can but I’m sure as more people could afford cars they started driving and the roads became crowded.   With the level of crowded streets people tend to let others go so you must sneak your nose out in order to go.  That being said none of this is done in an aggressive way, just many cars packed on the roads inches from each other moving a couple feet at a time!

Not to mention plenty of different obstacles like here:

And the occasional grid lock:

Despite making logistics difficult and people frequently late, it has given my team and I time to get to know our hosts, driver, and translator quite well.   Joking, playing music, and just plain of shooting the breeze.  

Here’s the happy bunch here:

I think I’ll miss those relaxing times with everyone in a few short weeks.

[mikeslifeexperience-blog]

Senegalese Fast Food

With running around and interviewing all of the key stakeholders for our project with Africare lunch has come to be squeezed even in the first week of work.  No problem since the Senegalese are no strangers to fast food just like we are back home in America.  

In the first picture is what Caesers fast food looks like in Senegal.  The second picture is what I got, which was called a “Taco”.  The taco was a combination of chicken, beef, French fries, and barbecue sauce wrapped up a carb delivery mechanism.  The final picture is the all famous hamburger, also served with French fries on it.

After having fast food several times here I have to say that I like it more than McDonalds!

[mikeslifeexperience-blog]

Meeting our host Africare

On Monday October 8th, after two days of seeing the sites around the city of Dakar, it was time to officially meet our clients and start getting to work.   Our client is Africare, an NGO that works primarily in Western Africa on a number of initiatives from HIV prevention to childhood nutrition to food vouchers.  The opening ceremony started off with overviews of each teams assignments for the four weeks.

After the presentation and a hefty lunch it was time to get down to business and start to get to know our client and start to figure out our assignment.

Above is all of us sitting together for the first time.  Going from left to right we have Ouleye - Africare Monitoring and Evaluation Chair, Mor Toure - Africare Project Coordinator for Senegal Armed Forces UNAIDS program - Ineke Van de Loo - My teammate and HR profressional - myself - Divya Garg - My teammate and Client facing professional in GBS - and finally our lovely translator Aita. 

Our assignment from Africare is two fold:

1. To help configure their District Health Information System to allow for superior reporting of indicators to their donors.

2. To conduct a technical study for the HIV UNAIDS program they are running with the Senegalese Armed Forces to better scale their HIV tracking and reporting.

I am excited to see what I will learn doing all of this! 

[mikeslifeexperience-blog]

IBM CSC - Education in Review

I just wanted to take a quick minute and mention that finishing the education ended on some high notes that I just had to talk about.  First, covering the logistics and packing lists was really important to getting me mentally ready to go.  I still now feel like I am forgetting something but the packing list is making me feel good about it all. 

Second the modules on Consulting have made me ready to become a trusted advisor and talk through problems with a client.  All the practice of active listening will be really important to getting to the bottom of Senegals most difficult problems. 

Third and finally the Design thinking class gave me the refreshed I needed from all the workshops I had over a year ago.  The class made me ready to tackle my clients most difficult and conceptual problems! 

The education was great and now onto the actual practice of using all of that knowledge! 

[mimiemims-blog]

#tb #cscsen5 orientation day 2 #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Pullman Dakar Teranga) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrKXlCsFjav/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5yfb97lqn90o

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Miss you guys! #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Réserve de Bandia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqfP_eNloej/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1e53yghfcvrfb

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Bucket list - Pink Lake aka Lac Rose ✅ #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Lac Rose, Dakar) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpxUjyVFCwh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1036gcy95t1jh

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Goree Island is home to Senegal's history within the trans-atlantic slave trade and the house of slaves is one of the major attractions on the Island. It is popularly called Maison des Esclaves. This is a monumental African structure and forms part of Africa's slave history. 'Door of No return' which every man, woman and child walked to the slave boat, catching a last glimpse of their homeland and shipped to Europe and other parts of the world. Definitely an eye opening experience to man's inhumanity to his fellow man. Aside from the island’s memorials, you can find unique paintings, carvings and sculptures by many resident artists. Painters and artisans set up their ways in the open air, and you’ll find an assortment of jewellery, masks, baskets, textiles and other treasures on the south side of the island at the marché artisanal. #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Gorée, Dakar, Senegal) https://www.instagram.com/p/BphTNNQhGKv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hlraa3u7frkj

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With Mr Photographer @pdarog 📸 #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpfgDifhMum/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=p8yesn5jngqi

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Allez les lions! We came to support Senegal and they won the match with Sudan 3-0! It was amazing and unforgettable. The atmosphere in the stadium was surreal and that’s the kind of experience you’d want to have when you watch the match live in the stadium 😄 Thanks to Tidiane who managed to get us the tickets with the best seat ! @pyxeraglobal #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal (at Stade Léopold Sédar Senghor) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpfmyw-BeeQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=thegdrer6uj4

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My first pottery class with this humble and wonderful guy. Even though he is deaf, we managed to make a piece together and it turned out pretty well 😬 . It was a good experience and definitely gonna try it again! We were also treated to a traditional dish called ‘Chebu Jen’ which was made from fish, rice and tomato sauce. And lastly, our picture with the whole group from IBM CSC and APHO ❤ #csc #ibmcsc #ibm #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal https://www.instagram.com/p/BpQSgytBaf6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1p552brrvzecz

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Helping out my friend to decorate pot with glass mosaic 🏺❤️ #ibm #ibmcsc #cscsen5 #cscsenegal5 #mimsinsenegal https://www.instagram.com/p/BpQPT0HhEj0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=fpzm2z9onwxk