Mapje´s blog

Sunday, November 22, 2009

20091119 - Looking back...

Before I left, many of you asked me what I as an Financial Services Sector consultant in IT could do for a housing project in the slums of Ahmedabad. What would be my added value? To be honest, at that moment I was not sure myself either. I just knew that:

it was part of a large programme for which participants were selected very carefully,

others had encountered a similar challenging situation before with good results.

Basically I just relied on my ability to learn and adapt very quickly.

Now I know that I have a lot of qualities and skills with added value in a project like this which at first sight seems so different from my daily job. We often don´t realise how much we know/can do and how valuable our knowledge/skillset is, until we have to use that knowledge/skillset in a different setting. The different setting makes you more aware of what knowledge/skills you apply.

The main point here is that the knowledge about slums and incremental housing in slums is plenty available with the people on site. That is not what the client needed nor what he expected from us. The added value we (as IBM team) could bring was:

to approach the situation from (a) different, fresh angle(s)

a good sales pitch to get profit organisations (material suppliers) interested to enter this market
research (perform survey data analysis and conduct interviews) to support the statements in the sales pitch and to validate the usability of the Hybrid Value Chain model.

Our interactions were reciprocal: while we learned from Indian people, they learned from us.

Other things I learned/noticed in India...

... how to interpret the continuous head-nodding of Indian people (finally!). As they say, it can mean many things: yes, no, I don´t know, I know, I feel good, I feel bad, I agree, I disagree, I like this, I don´t like this or anything in between the dimensions mentioned before. Or it can even just mean nothing. The trick is to carefully monitor the eyes and facial expression and while doing so not to be distracted by the head-nodding. That seems to give a good indication of the meaning of the nodding.
... Indian people are just as curious about us as we are about them (e.g. while we were taking pictures of them with our cameras, they were taking pictures of us with their mobile phones)
... poverty does not need to lead to crime. In India many people are poor but it is a very safe country with low crime rate.
... although the atmosphere seems very quiet in India, it can suddenly explode without any notice (luckily I did not experience such an explosion). That is why there are so many security checks (for instance before entering a mall).
... cow dung is not unclean
... Indian people are very friendly and helpfull, no matter how poor
... the enormous amounts of people in India, continuously connected through mobile phones
... the crowded streets full of objects that are uncommon in the western world (camels, elephants, handcarts, rickshaws, cows, etc.)
... the resourcefullness and dedication of certain people and organisations to make life better for the poor
... also NGOs make poor people pay a small fee for services in order to ensure people take the services seriously (e.g. actually attend classes)
... arranged marriages (within caste) are still the standard in India. Love marriages are an exception and often requires a strong fight of the couple involved.
... there is a lot of domestic violence in India, both in slums as well as in the rest of India
... the ´landtitle´-issue is a big issue in India that really should be addressed in order to improve the situation for slum people. However, this can only be solved by the government and politicians have nothing to gain by solving this issue...
... in India religion is deeply integrated in daily life and although Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu are the main gods ther are many gods (108 I think?) and all of them can come in various forms so it all sounds pretty complicated
... the continuous honking of vehicles in the streets (´Horn OK Please´)
... drink the ´buttermilk with kardemom-seeds´. This is definitely an acquired taste, of which I decided on day one (after my first sip) that I should learn to appreciate. It took me quite some days and glasses before I finally managed to appreciate it ;-)

20091117 - Enormous media coverage

The Media Event in Ahmedabad and the IBM Event in Bangalore have resulted in quite a lot of exposure in the media.

Highlights from the Press Coverage...

Deploying a company’s workforce to solve social challenges when the world economy reels under its worst recession may seem disastrous charity model. But IBM thinks that is the best way of getting under real issues that needs solution.

When it was registered as a trade union to help women from the lower economic strata in the early 1970s, no one accounted for the rush of popularity among women to join the Ahmedabad-based Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) decade after decade. With a task of managing member details of over a million women from across Gujarat, the association has now got help in the form of IBM, the international IT major.

"Working for society through the IBM Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program has given a new meaning to my life," says Martin Hadinata, an IBMer from Zurich, Switzerland.

IT Giant IBM is working in partnership with Ashoka, an NGO, on a project to provide low-cost housing to the urban poor in Gujarat. The company will also provide its expertise in the Rs 10-crore project to develop theme-based eco rural reason in Junagadh, which will benefit the Sidis (a tribe of African origin settled in Gujarat) and other locals.

As part of its Corporate Service Corps (CSC) programme, IBM has joined hands with Tribal Development Department of Gujarat for a development project aimed at upliftment of tribals in Sasan area of Gir forest.

Various of the articles are also published on the internet. As I already provided a few links of articles after the Ahmedabad Media event, I will here only provide a few links published after the Bangalore event. As the list is endless, I aselect picked 5 links for this blog.

Deccan Herald – SERVING SOCIETY IS KEY STRATEGY: IBM
Date – November 14, 2009

ITNewsonline.com – IBM COMPLETES 1ST TWO PHASES OF ITS CORPORATE SERVICE CORPS IN INDIA
Date- November 15, 2009

ITVarnews.com – IBM PARTNERS WITH NGOS FOR CSC PROGRAM
Date- November 13, 2009

CIOL.com – IBM PARTNERS NGOS FOR A SOCIETAL CAUSE
Date- November 13, 2009

ITVoir.com – IBM PARTNERS WITH NGOS AND NOT-FOR-PROFIT GOVT ORGANIZATIONS FOR ITS CORPORATE SERVICE CORPS PROGRAM
Date- November 14, 2009

20091115 - I arrived home... and so did my baggage

On Saturday we (Stefan, Dominik and Anita-from-the-Mumbai-group) went sightseeing in Bangalore as long as possible. Although I didn´t feel very well, I was not about to miss out on my last day in India... We hired a car and driver and went to the Bangalore Palace (more a castle), Cubbon Parc, the ministery with opposite the street the High Court, the Bull Temple and the Botanical Garden.

After a quick shower, Stefan and I took the taxi to the airport. At the check-in desk, the ground stewardess kept repeating to me that I had to collect my baggage at London and then check it in myself to send it on to Amsterdam. I told her that is not the way it normally works in Europe, but she was very convinced. All in all my check in went very quickly. Stefan however took a lot longer. He had to pay airport tax (at a different counter), although CDC had said that this was already included in the ticket. As they would not check him in if he did not pay the tax first, he paid the tax and off we went to the departures area.

There was a ´domestic flights´ and an ´international flights´ area and as we both first had to go to Mumbai (different airlines though) we went to the domestic flights. I had to go in the ladies line and Stefan to the men´s line. Again I was ready quite quickly and I went to wait for Stefan. Then I saw him really confused getting his stuff back in his backpack and following a man to another place...

So there I was, all by myself in the boring Bangalore terminal after a month of being surrounded by 8 colleagues almost 24 hours a day... But I found out that I could use the WiFi for free and I could charge my laptop. So I started writing these blogs while charging my laptop. A good way to kill the 3 hours I had to wait before the flight would take off.

In Mumbai I met Stefan when I arrived at the International Terminal. So the trip had gone right with him after all. I had assumed so, but could not be sure off course. Stefan had also met Dominiks girlfriend at the Mumbai airport as she was on her way to Bangalore. What a coincidence! Anyway, it was good to have company at the Mumbai terminal as that terminal didn´t provide laptop charge functionality, nor did it seem to have free WiFi. Stefans flight left earlier than mine though, so I did have to kill some time by myself.

Once all passengers had boarded our plane, the plane could not leave for another 2 hours as it was too busy at Mumbai Airport ?!? Unbelievable! But for me it didn´t matter as I would have to kill another 4(!) hours of waiting at London Heathrow anyway, so I was in no hurry.

Once arrived at London Heathrow, I went through customs towards the baggage-belt as instructed in Bangalore and... my baggage was not there. Really annoyed I went to the Baggage Services to ask where my baggage could be, then noticing that my voice had disappeared overnight. The simple answer was: ´But ma´m, your baggage is shipped through to Amsterdam. You will have to collect it once you arrive there´. So first I had been waiting in line for customs, then I had been waiting 1,5 hours for my baggage not to be placed on the belt, for nothing! But again, as I was in no hurry (the delay of my flight to London was only 30 minutes as they had made up a lost of the lost time) because I had a lot of time to kill, it was quite allright. Only I really felt ill (headache, sore throat, coughing, voice dissappeared)...

So I went to the check in desk to get a ticket, stood in line again for security check and then another line for customs. The ´collect-your-baggage-in-London´-activity had taken around 3 hours all in all, so the good thing was that I had little time left to kill until my flight to Amsterdam left. Once I had arrived in Amsterdam, I went to my favorite airport location by now... the baggage belt... I waited and waited and the by then to me so familiar sight repeated: people getting their baggage of the belt and leaving... When I started to think that again my baggage would not arrive, it finally appeared on the belt as one before the last item...

Paul was there to pick me up and after a short nap I finally had... a nice and juicy entrecote accompanied by a glass of red wine :-)

Saturday, November 14, 2009

20091113 - Fantastic IBM Event in Bangalore - Rangoli Teamvideo a hit!

Our final ´task´ of this CSC assignment was the IBM Event in Bangalore. After sleeping in a very luxurious hotel, but having to share rooms due to a misunderstanding with the hotel (´be flexible´), we got an extensive tour through the IBM Bangalore office. We shook hands with the manager of IBM India and had an exclusive lunch with a view over the neighbouring buildings (Microsoft, KPMG and Yahoo). The golf course that we could see is mentioned in a book called ´The world is flat´ that everyone, except me, seemed to know.

End of the afternoon we headed to the actual event. Invitees were from IBM and NGOs. The venue was great and the reception was unexpected catching: a group of men playing drums, singing and dancing.

Once we were inside the location, we got to see people working on handicrafts. Prianca put beautiful manna on our hands, while telling us about her Indian marriage (love marriage; not arranged) that is planned for next month.

After a while the presentations started. The purpose of CSC was explained and we held our team presentations. First the Mumbai (India 3) team, then us (India 4 alias Rangoli Team) and finally an Indian IBM-er who just returned from a CSC assignment in Halong Bay (Vietnam) which, according to me, is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

The presentation of our team (Rangoli Team) existed of:

Susanne – explaining why we name ourselves the Rangoli Team
Soon – introducing the video
The Rangoli Teamvideo

The video was a hit!

See here the Rangoli teamvideo

After the presentation, there was a beautiful dance performance by some of the best (professional) dancers in India. The performance consisted of various styles of traditional dancing. It was amazing!

Following a delicious buffet, we headed back to the hotel where we said goodbye to the many people of the Mumbai and Rangoli Teams that left for the airport. It was a strange goodbye as it was so quickly after the event and therefore so sudden. I was one of the people leaving later, so the other ´stayers´ and me grabbed a beer (legal and in public as we were not in Gujarat anymore)...

20091111 - Successful final client presentation

The 11th of November is in the Netherlands referred to as the ´dag der dwazen/zotten´ (day of fools). For us, it was the day of our final presentation. Remarkable coincidence ;-)

Anyway, for us it was an important day. This was the day we had been working for this month. And although my blogs did not always show that we were working hard, we really did. Work is just not a good blog-subject. So we were pretty nervous; hoping it would all go well. We have been putting the slide deck together until the last minute. Then it was time...

The presentation went very good. We took turns in presenting: Annamari (Introduction), me (survey results), Rich (sales pitch), Elizabeth (micro-finance aspects) and Rich (closing). Our public existed of Vishnu (Ashoka, our client) and 3 people from SAATH (including Niradj who has been a great help to us throughout our project). During the presentation I noticed that the expressions on the faces were very positive, but after the presentation it became clear how positive. They were genuinly happy with the results and they will continue with our deliverables. They applauded twice and Vishnu stated several times that it was really good and exceeded his expectations by far! It felt really great that our work was so well appreciated!

Now, I have with mixed feelings. Although I´m sad that the experience has ended, I´m really happy that we have contributed to the good work of Ashoka and indirectly also of SAATH and SEWA. I am fortunate to have seen the persistance and enthousiasm of these people working to make a difference and I am really glad that I have had the chance see their good work and contribute a little.

And of course we celebrated the successful result we delivered and the end of our assignments :-)

Monday, November 9, 2009

20091109 - IBM Media Event

Today we had our first IBM Media Event for the Ahmedabad press. To be honest I had expected it to be a lot more exiting, but all in all it was an interesting experience.

After the necessary introductions and photoshoots, the presentations started. First the NGOs got time to speak about their organization and their projects. Vishnu (our client) explained the goals of Ashoka, the new housing project of Ashoka and told the press what excellent work the IBM Team (that is us...) did for Ashoka´s ´Incremental housing for the urban poor´-project. As Vishnu is a very gifted and speaker and charismatic person, this speach went very well.

Next on the agenda was our IBM Team presentation. Our presentation was split into two parts:

professional experiences (about our projects and the remarkable things we noticed while performing our daily jobs)
personal experiences (about the remarkable things we did and noticed outside our daily jobs, e.g. enormous amount of people continuously connected, our team trips, etc.)

Finally, the press was allowed to ask us some questions (spontaneous, uncensured). What disappointed me most was that the press only asked questions about the TDD project (eco-tourism in rural areas). I think that the Ashoka project is at least as important and social relevant. But I guess the issues in the rural areas are currently the hottest political issues in Ahmedabad...