Fun Facts in Nairobi

Before we got busy with presentations and client meetings, our CSC group had the chance to go around Nairobi. Fun Fact: Nairobi's population is about 8 M during the day and 3 M at night. Hence, the road is very congested during the day.

Our first stop was the Giraffe Center where we were able to be up close with Helen, the resident giraffe who was able for feeding when we visited. It was fascinating to learn the 3 different sub-species of giraffes that are existing in Kenya (reticulated, maasai and Rothschild's),  their differences and what areas they can be located. Here's quick note on the sub-species: http://www.girafferesearch.com/#/giraffe-subspecies/4537723666. Helen is a Rothschild's giraffe.
Fun Fact: Warthogs usually live in close proximity to giraffes since giraffes are few of the animals who can kill a lion (with its kick), so giraffes give some sense of security to Pumba and his family.

Meet Helen! Some folks are pulling the leaves as they feed Helen so she can bring out more of her long tongue out.

Local kids on a field trip

One of the warthogs with Helen

Look at those eyelashes! I'm jealous!!

Few of my CSC groupmates: Pinaki (IBM India), Tamara, Felicity (IBM Australia), Paula, Nadia (IBM US) and Vivian (IBM China)

Our next stop was the Karen Blixen house. Does her name ring a bell? Well, it might if you have seen "Out of Africa." Meryl Streep played her in the movie while Robert Redford played her boyfriend, Denys. Karen is a Danish author who used to own a vast land in Nairobi. They planned on having a coffee plantation there. However, the land was too acidic to make it fruitful. Eventually, she went bankrupt and had to go out of Africa. She became a popular author with her books accounting her life in Africa. When the movie came out, they capitalized on the popularity of the movie and named almost anything there - "Karen" to refer to the land she used to own.
Fun Fact: Karen used two lamps to show Denys if she's in the mood for some "company". If it's the green lamp, Denys will have a wonderful night. If it's the red lamp, too bad for Denys!

Karen Blixen house

We were also able to go to Bomas of Kenya. It is a place where they present cultural shows. We were able to see several traditional dances and acrobat show. Also, we got to look at models of traditional Kenya villages. The dances and acrobat show were amazing. They actually ask a couple of audience to dance with them, and both of them came from our CSC group. I'll post the video when I get permission from Tamara and Pinaki to post their dancing =)

Fun Fact: Kenya dances has a lot of hip movement (and bootie shaking). Muriuki told us that North Africans do more chest movements, Central (including East/West) do more hip movements (Kenya is in East Africa) while South Africans do more foot work.

Some pictures of the African dances:

Here's a video of one of the dances. This is supposed to be one of the wedding dances.

Acrobat Show

With Muriuki and Nadia

We were able to look at models of traditional Kenyan villages after the show. What was interesting is that each villages has designated huts for the 1st wife, 2nd wife and even the 3rd wife. The 1st wife has the biggest hut in the family =) There are even huts for the grandmother, married son and unmarried son.
Fun Fact: No hut for unmarried daughter =)

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Kenya Vision 2030 and Team Nyoka

We're leaving for Nyeri tomorrow, and I haven't had the chance to blog the last few days. So, I owe you at least two blogs =) Before I go further with the blogging, I'd like to give you some background on our work, our team and why Kenya?

I have been informed that I was chosen for the IBM CSC program late last year, but no information was given on where and when I will be assigned until early this year. I do not have much information about Kenya before I got assigned. My limited perception about Kenya was either about safari or political unrest. We started our CSC work early May where we learned more about the CSC program, our group, Kenya, some of Kenya's culture, and crash course on consulting (for some of us who are not working as consultants).

Our group: we consist of thirteen IBMers from USA, India, Australia and China. We have diverse expertise and experiences. Some have been with IBM for less than 5 years while some have about 29 years of service in IBM. None of us have worked with each other prior to being informed of our assignment. Since we've been informed, we've been working via conference calls. Finally, we had the chance to meet each other face to face last Friday.

IBM CSC Kenya 6 during our outing to the Giraffe Park

Why Kenya? Kenya is a fast growing country in the African region. Its vision is to be a globally competitive country by 2030. Any company operating in Kenya is very familiar with this vision. To learn more about this vision, go to: www.vision2030.go.ke. It is a very exciting time in Kenya right now, and the election is coming up this March. The constitution has been changed to ensure that there are representatives from the women's group and the youth (anyone from 16 to 30 years old are considered part of the youth group). These representatives will be voted in the upcoming elections as well. More importantly, there has been changes in the constitution to establish some parameters to avoid what has happened on the last election (2007) which caused civil strife in Kenya (particularly in Nairobi).

In addition to what's currently going on with Kenya Vision 2030, IBM has announced (about three weeks ago) that it will be opening an IBM Research Lab in Nairobi. This will be the 12th in the world and the 1st in Africa.  IBM Research Lab in Nairobi

Our CSC group is divided into 3 subteams to work with different clients and their goal/mission towards the Vision 2030.  My team is composed of 4 people - Jit (from India), Paula, Angela and me (from US).  We named our team - Team Nyoka (Snake)  - don't worry our bite is not venomous! =)
We are working with a government sponsored university to recommend on how they can set a framework to engage more of the private sector to invest in the school and to strategically position them as unique contributor for the Vision 2030. We have been working with the client the last five weeks. We presented our work plan yesterday to the university, and it was well received. They are very eager on what we can deliver for them. Today was spent gathering a lot of data through interviews with the Principal, several Deans and staff members. We are coming back tomorrow morning to tour the different labs, radio and TV stations (which are student managed) and do further interviews before we drive to Nyeri. We'll be back to Nairobi this coming Friday to attend the university's first graduation for its degree program. 

Although our clients are in Nairobi, our CSC group will be based in Nyeri which is about 2 hours north of Nairobi. The reason for this is that Nairobi is very different from the rest of Kenya. I agree. We have yet to eat an authentic Kenyan dish here. Most dishes we had are Western or Westernized to some degree. I was actually surprised to see that Nairobi's grocery stores are very similar to ours. I packed a lot of trail mix and protein bars since I thought I'll have a hard time finding food I am used to in Kenya. CSC program believes that if we spend more of our time in the rural areas that we will have a feel on the real Kenya.

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Karibu Kenya!

Karibu Kenya!!

I arrived last night in Kenya. It was a long 28 hour journey starting with my 6:20 AM flight from Tucson. I was worried that I was going to miss my connecting flight in Amsterdam since my flight
from Atlanta was delayed by 2 hours. We had to change plane as the hydraulic control of the earlier plane wasn't working. Whew! Glad they found out about it before we flew out! Cheryl, our ever-supportive facilitator, was there (via e-mail and text) to ensure I don't panic if in case I miss my connecting flight. I had about 45 minutes to spare to get to my connecting when I arrived in Amsterdam.

After the 28 hour journey, I was so eager to get out of the plane. The rest of the visa process was fairly easy despite the long queue. I was so happy to see my name on the white sign when I got out of the airport. Kevin,  our contact from the NGO we are working with (which is DOT - Digital Opportunity Trust) and the one who will be guiding us in Kenya, and Rafael, our driver, came to pick me up. The very first thing that I noticed is how friendly they are. I am hoping that most of the people that we will encounter in this trip/assignment would be as friendly as Kevin and Rafael. They were impressed that I learned some Swahili words. English and Swahili are the main languages in Kenya. You can get by with English, but it's always good and useful to learn some new words.

Asante - Thank you!
Hujambo - Hello!
Mzuri - Fine/Good
Pole - Sorry!
Samahani - Excuse me
Tafadhali - Please
Lala Salama - Good night
Choo - Toilet =)  

I was the first to arrive among our group, so I had the time to go sight seeing before others arrived.
Kevin, Rafael and Steve (another DOT contact) came with me. Steve stayed with me the whole day as Kevin and Rafael had to pick up the others who were arriving in the airport. The weather is nice. It was a little warm and humid in the mid-morning, and it went cooler the rest of the day. The goal in the day was to go to as many places as much as I can. However, Nairobi traffic wasn't as welcoming as my friendly Kenyan friends. Traffic was terrible. It was worse than usual since it was graduation day for University of Nairobi, and most people from different provinces in Kenya go to Nairobi to watch their beloved sons and daughters graduate from the University.

The long drive was useful for me as I learned more Swahili words and some of Kenyan culture. I learned about the Matatus which are the public transportation in Nairobi. They are mini-buses, and some are as small as family vans in the US. Their drivers were very aggressive in the road. Flying by and inching on small spaces in the road to get ahead in the traffic jam. They are also a place for socializing for the young and hip while using the public transportation.  Some of them are blasting loud music as they go by.

I also learned about some of the tribes in Kenya - Kamba, Kikuyu, Luo. Kenyans associate themselves first with their tribes before anything else. I learned specifically about these tribes since my friends from DOT are from these tribes. Kevin and Rafael both belong to the Kamba tribe who are from the East part of Kenya. Kambas are extremely loyal and, according to Kevin, sometimes very loyal to a fault. Steve who belong to Luo are from the West part of Kenya near Lake Victoria.
Luo are perceived to very smart and strategic. They are also very into what's in and new, and they can be perceived to be very showy as well. President Obama's family belong to the Luo tribe. Muriuki, our DOT lead, belong to the Kikuyu tribe, so Kevin and Steve gave me some key phrases to tell Muriuki next time we meet (How are you? and What's up?). Kikuyu are from the Central part of Kenya (Nairobi is part of it). They are very business minded, and most of them are entrepreneurs.

Despite the traffic, I was able to visit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Nairobi National Park (where I did a quick safari walk)  and Nairobi National Museum/Snake Park. The highlight of the day was the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust.

This establishment was created in the 1950s to help orphaned elephants and rhinos survive.
They show the feeding of the baby elephants for an hour (between 11 AM - noon) everyday. There were two groups during the feeding. The feeding start with the group of smaller elephants. The handlers feed the elephants human formula, and they even put sunblock in the elephant's ears to prevent them from sun burn. The littlest elephant is only 2 weeks old. It is as small as a dog, and it was like a dog since it was following its handler everywhere he goes. It was so little, shy and vulnerable. The other elephants were very playful with each other - wrestling in the mud and pulling olive branches from each other. There's only a rope separating you from the elephants. When they play in the mud and they spray themselves with mud, they are so close that you can get some mud as well. Some of the little elephants come in very close and you can pet them.
The second set was with the bigger baby elephants - some are almost 2 years old and weigh so much. The same playfulness that were perceived cute from the smaller group can be scary with the bigger group. As one was getting out of the mud, it playfully come charging to the crowd. It was exciting but scary to watch this big strong mammal come running towards you.

Some of the elephants were abandoned by their families for some reason. One was abandoned because it fell in a water hole and its family cannot get it out of hole after several tries. A local farmer got it out and waited for the family to come back, but they didn't =( . One fell in the water hole, got attacked by a hyena and loss its tail. However, most of the elephants become orphaned because their mother died due to poaching. Unfortunately, humans are the biggest reason why we have orphaned elephants and need establishments like David Sheldrick's. These elephants are released into the wild as a group, so they end up forming their own family when they are ready to be released in the wild together. They are released when they are ready (which in most cases when they hit 2 years old). The family is matriarchal - the oldest female take charge of the family. For more info you can check out www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org - you can get more info on how to donate and adopt an elephant.

I'm posting some pictures from my outing today. We'll have some more time tomorrow morning before we meet with the IBM Security team in the afternoon, so hopefully, we can go to the Giraffe park. Then, we'll be busy with client meetings and presentation starting on Sunday. I am hoping to see more of Nairobi before we move to Nyeri (which will be our base city) next week.

Baby elephants need to be fed every 3 hours with this formula

Little elephants needing some shade from the scorching sun

This littlest elephant was so attached to its handler. It was following him around. His ears were covered with sunblock.

Petting the littlest elephant

Mud wrestling Elephant style!!

The set of bigger baby elephants

Baby Rhino in their enclosure. This is Maxwell, and he is six years old.

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Jambo!

I am about to embark on an adventure to Kenya very soon! 

I will be part of the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC). This program provides IBMers with high quality leadership development while delivering high quality problem solutions for communities and organizations in emerging markets. 

To know more about the CSC, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/corporateservicecorps/

For IBMers, who are interested in enrolling, please check it as soon as possible:
http://cscserv1.chicago.ibm.com/CorporateServiceCorpsRegistration/Controller?action=site-home 

I am very thankful for to be part of the IBM CSC program. As part of this assignment, I have set up this blog to get the message out there about IBM CSC and to keep you posted about my assignment. 

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