Weekend with deaf, blind, and three kings: work hits full stride

This is a busy work week for us as we finalize the deliverables on our projects.  We have made progress on the strategic plan, will finalize training and development of templates for accounting and project monitoring, and meet with a few key organizations.  Today we visited Pact Nigeria, a local agency aligned with USAID.  The team got great news on Thursday evening as they learned that they were awarded a $13 million naira ($82k) grant for a second phase of programs for orphaned and vulnerable children.  We were very impressed with Pact and the role they are playing in social development in Nigeria. 

We had another eventful weekend.  On Saturday we visited the School for the Deaf and Blind in Ikere-Ekiti where we performed a community service and spent time with the children at the school.  Our services included digging irrigation ditches (my team, and boy was it hot!), putting together computers, washing clothes, weeding, and other assorted tasks.  We also played a soccer match with some of the older deaf children, and danced to African music courtesy of a school group.  The kids would approach us in groups and strike up conversations about everything from where we live to wanting our phone numbers.  It was a nice and fulfilling way to spend our Saturday.

 

On Sunday we made a stop at Ero Dam and then visits to three different Ekiti kings:  the Onikun of Ikun, the Onigogo of Igogo, and the Oore of Mobaland.  These meetings were in communities about an hour outside of Ado Ekiti.  The protocol is that when you are with government officials on a trip, if you pass through their community you should stop by for a visit.  So we did.  One of the visits was a formal presentation (welcome speech, introduction of chiefs, king’s speech), followed by a luncheon in an activity hall.  Note the plate in the photo below.  It is a typical plate of meat, vegetable, and pounded yam.  The meat was a combination of chicken, goat, and probably bushmeat, and was an assortment of actual meat, heart, liver, intestines, and who knows what else.  The vegetable dish was very spicy, as are a lot of their dishes.

Nigeria #ibmcsc

Approaching the halfway point

We are nearing the end of week 2.  This week was about immersing ourselves in our projects while still managing to have some fun. 

 

We have had a very good week with our friends from NISD (The New Initiative for Social Development).  Recall our key objectives:  drive the development of a strategic plan, help improve their monitoring and evaluation of projects, and assist with their accounting needs.   My teammate Sundar trained their staff for three days this week, mostly on Excel, as they will leverage this for their project and accounting needs.  I worked on the strategic plan.  I’ve had quite the education about how NGOs work.  For instance, today I had a phone interview with one of their major donor agencies - Department for International Development - and we made a personal visit to the Permanent Secretary for Ekiti State’s Primary Healthcare Development Agency.  It’s very different from the corporate world that I know.

Outside of work, we’ve had plenty to keep us entertained.  I knew before the trip to expect the unexpected, but never did I think that I would play golf while here!  Yes, there is a golf course here in Ado Ekiti and we got the opportunity to play it twice.  The biggest difference is actually the greens – they are made of dark hard dirt.  The caddie uses a carpet on a pole to smooth the surface between ball and hole.  I’m not sure what happened, but on Sunday I actually had 3 pars in an abbreviated 7 holes.  And the course wasn’t that easy.  See a couple of pictures below. 

  

On Wednesday evening we played golf again but it was followed by an evening dinner and dance party at the club.  We all had a lot of fun dancing and mingling with the locals. 

  

 

On Tuesday evening we had a team meeting followed by a birthday celebration for Cinthia Murillo who is from Costa Rica.  We even managed a birthday cake for her!

A few other random notes and observations:

-          The way Nigerians greet you in the morning is, “How was your night?”  It is a nice and different greeting.

-          The bed in the hotel is the firmest (hardest) mattress I’ve ever slept on.  It has taken some getting used to.

-          Power outages happen all the time.  I had read about them but they are more frequent than I imagined.  Most places have generators and the power usually comes back fairly quickly but they are incredibly common.

-          I have started to sample the Nigerian cuisine.  Probably the most common Nigerian meal I’ve had is a pounded yam, eguisi soup, and chicken.  Most meals are very spicy so I have to have them turn it down.  You eat with your hands.  A pounded yam is a big white round ball that you take a piece off of, roll it into a bowl, and dip it into the soup which is actually more like thick stew.  Eguisi is a seed similar to a pumpkin seed that is ground up and put in the stew with some vegetables, sauce, and the meat which is often chicken.  There is a ton of chicken here in Nigeria!

Nigeria #ibmcsc

Fabric, local music, and a waterfall...

We made progress with our work assignment this week but the more interesting stuff to blog about at the moment is how we spent our personal time the last three days…

Thursday late afternoon we went to the outdoor market in Ado.  It’s the first time we actually got to be with the local folk, walking and mixing with the people and the street vendors.  (As mentioned before, the security has been very tight.)  It was quite the scene with 15 IBM’ers stopping at the stands and checking out the selections of fabric.  Attached are a few pictures from our outing.   

Friday we headed out to a bar in town (although it looked more like a concrete construction project) to hear a local live band play named for the lead singer Queen Roseline Yabode.  I don’t know a whole lot about African music but this was very good.  Many of us bought their CD for the equivalent of 70 cents.  The event was outside and while thoughts of malaria-carrying mosquitoes popped into my head occasionally we had our DEET spray on and there were no bugs around.  Here are a couple of photos of the evening including one of the entire group compliments of a teammate Christina Hu (www.christinahu.com) who is a great photographer!

Today we visited what are and will likely be the most popular tourist sites in Ekiti state.  The first was a springs called Ikogosi Warm Spring (similar to Saratoga!) where they are building a resort.  It is unique in that separate warm and cold waters spring from different sources, eventually joining in a pool but each retaining its thermal identity.  It is not open yet but we were given a tour of the site, walked up to the source of the springs, and then along a wooden plank path through the forested area.  We then drove to the base of Erinta Waterfall where we hiked up a fairly steep mountain to reach the waterfall itself.  We all enjoyed being out in nature for the first time. 

One other picture to share - recall on Monday we had a greeting from the King of Ado.  Here is a shot from the gathering we attended (again thanks to Christina).

Nigeria #ibmcsc

Our client and the assignment

We have now begun our work.  

My teammate is Sundar Rao, a Project Manager from India currently working for the Office of the CIO.  At Monday’s press conference Sundar and I met our main client, Mr. Abiodun Oyeleye, who is the Executive Director of The New Initiative for Social Development.  

The New Initiative for Social Development (NISD) is a non-governmental organization that strives to make a positive impact by providing solutions for sustainable development and justice in Nigeria.  Their specific areas of interest and focus include child welfare, women’s rights, community development, and overall human rights.  As an example, NISD is currently running a program to assist orphaned children whose parents have died from HIV/AIDS.  Currently there are over 500 children in three cities who are extremely vulnerable and receiving assistance in the forms of psychological support, nutrition, healthcare, and education.  A second example involves their efforts to strengthen the criminal justice system to resolve problems such as overcrowded jails (350 inmates in a prison built to house 200) and extended waiting periods for trials (as much as 10 years in some cases).  NISD works closely with donor agencies across the world to receive funding for these initiatives.

Our goals for our assignment are to create a strategic plan that NISD can leverage, provide guidance to help them improve project execution in the areas of project monitoring and evaluation, and assess alternative solutions to improve their accounting system.   

I am very impressed by Abiodun, his team, and the organization’s mission to have a positive impact in Nigeria.  We look forward to contributing to this.

      Nigeria #ibmcsc

First official work day - what a day!

Today was not a typical work day – at least not one that I ever experienced. 

The morning started with a press conference at the hotel.  Several journalists came to hear about the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program, what we will do in Ekiti State, and to ask questions.  There were at least six news organizations there to film the event along with several others who were there for the briefing.  In addition to a set of speakers, each IBM’er introduced themselves and provided their background including why they chose to come to Nigeria.    

Next was a trip over to the king’s palace.  Yes, we were invited to meet the King of Ado.  The picture below shows the entrance to the palace.  We gathered in a large hall with many dignitaries, observed a ceremony after which the king entered, there were a series of introductory talks, and then the king spoke about the importance of our mission.  One of the more noticeable activities was the loudest bugler I’d ever heard. 

We followed up the visit with the king with one with the Governor of Ekiti State, J. Kayode Fayemi.  The man is incredibly impressive in terms of his accomplishments and his mission for the state.  It was his decision to accept the CSC into his state, and we will revisit him at the end of our assignments to present our projects to him.  Everyone on the team really wants to make a difference, to make the governor look good, and help the organizations we will support.

Tomorrow we go into the office of our client, The New Initiative for Social Development.  Mr. Abiodun Oyeleye, the Executive Director of our client, was present for the day.  We were able to meet with him and he joined us for today’s activities.   In the next blog I’ll cover more about the specific work we will do.

Check out a photo of "downtown" Ado Ekiti.

In yesterday's blog I mentioned a security detail escorting us to Ado Ekiti.  Here's a picture of some of the team who brought us there.  Everywhere we travel we have been escorted by a security detail. 

Nigeria #ibmcsc