And that's a wrap!

Last night, I read through the girls emails telling me more about themselves. The stories are inspirational - being the first in their family to be educated, losing parents at an early age with no where to go, taking care of a large family with an income of a teacher, and one girl has hopes of becoming a doctor. All of this reminded me of my family's story, which is very similar to many of these women.

This morning, I began with my story. It seemed only fair since they had so kindly and openly shared theirs with me.

My grandmother married at 11, had her first child at 13, had 10 children (1 passed away early on), lost her husband when her last child was 2 months, and managed to raise 9 beautiful and wildly successful children. All starting from a village in Bangladesh. My parents were the first in my family to immigrate to the United States, hence I was the first to be raised and be fully educated abroad.

Initially, I asked the Camfed manager (who bears a strong resemblance to Bailey from Greys Anatomy) to tell it for me, worrying that the girls wouldn't understand me. She encouraged me to try as it would be more genuine coming from me. When I finished, there was a round of applause! Not gonna lie, I almost lost my marbles for a moment. Got it together before anyone noticed and charged forward with another typing exercise!

They spent the morning writing about what they learned, how they will apply their new computer skills in their lives and each told me how much their confidence has grown from Day 1. It was amazing to see each girl stand up and speak, projecting their voices and looking proud.

The filming guy arrived in the morning. My coworker and I were both interviewed, as well as some of the girls. We'll be given about 3 minutes of air time on CNBC showcasing my company's initiative and the work we have done in Tamale, Ghana.

We wrapped up with internet exercises and email. Then the women gave me some lovely notes that they had written which was accompanied by a heartwarming speech. Let me tell you, some of these women speak like they belong on the news (but they carry emotion in their voices). Just brilliant.

Group shot


Overall, it was a great experience and am very grateful to have been able to come to Ghana to spend time with these confident and ambitious young women. I wish each of them the best and hope to keep in touch via email.

Thank you for reading, I know this was a long one :)

She said to me "Take a picture and show people how we carry our babies in Africa"

Day 3: a BIG day

As the title says, today was a BIG day in many ways.

In the morning, the internet was only working in the other room, so we decided to swap rooms after lunch to give both groups a chance at setting up email addresses.

We began with another re-cap exercise. Then I showed them powerpoint and excel which was a huge challenge since they were just getting the hang of word.

After lunch, just as I was beginning to feel extremely challenged at the task of repeating myself 15 times per exercise, repeating myself 15 times per exercise...oops, the habit will take a while to go away after i'm back so beware.

Well anyway, after lunch, the girls threw me a bone and told me that they wanted to take pictures with me which felt like a major breakthrough! Maybe the attempt at relationship building actually worked? Or they are just buttering me up so they can have some pictures of themselves. Either way, I'll take it!

I promised them I'd upload the pictures to my computer tonight so I can transfer them to their USBs tomorrow. Its the most excited I've seen them! Ah the little things. :)

At the end of the day, everyone has email though they don't all quite understand how to work it and have been introduced to all of the Microsoft Office applications they need to know.

Review, review, review tomorrow and of course, the filming.

One of my coworkers advanced students ridiculous drawing on Paint


this one speaks for itself

Day 2 of training: Internet and email?

Had a nice chat with my dad yesterday and he reminded me that I need to spend time on adapting to the culture and understanding more about the trainees and who they are. He's right and so that's what I focused on doing today.

The women struggle to understand me because I speak too fast and in an intonation that doesn't register for them. When I speak to them as a group, very few understand what I'm saying. Sometimes one of the managers from Camfed steps in and repeats everything I've said and then they all nod. Ha.

Today began with asking for feedback...which of course could not be an american style blatant question type of way. So, my approach was to have them write down their fave part of Day 1 training, what they wanted to learn on Day 2 and what they felt comfortable doing after Day 1. Then I asked for volunteers to share their thoughts and each one of them wanted to speak! Learned that they LOVED typing.

With the internet working sparingly in the morning, I had them write some "emails" in Word and we worked on using the Mouse (Mouserobics is a great tool!). The whole day was spent on my feet, going from person to person, answering questions. Exhausting but fulfilling! Felt like I made some good progress today, especially with the ones that were behind yesterday. Saying "Good job!" goes a long way! Loved seeing the proud smiles on their faces.

The last exercise of the day was to write me an email telling me about themselves, their lives and their stories. Can't wait to read about where these women are from. To me, that will be one of most interesting parts of this week.

They are eager to use the internet tomorrow and especially to set up facebook accounts. Though I'm not sure how I feel about spending class time on that so we probably won't....

Day 1 of Training

My coworker and I arrived early to ensure that the computers were set up and so we could load up each computer with the powerpoint presentation that we have prepared. We quickly learned that one room was locked and in the other, the computers were still being set up....hence almost 1 hour delay to the start of training! I'd give us a pat on the back for maintaing a balance of calm and collected, yet letting them know what we needed. :)

We split the girls into 2 groups:
1) those who have worked on computers
2) those have never worked on a computer.

I got the latter group.

We slowly made our way through the first few slides as using the mouse was a challenge for most of them. Anytime we needed to open an application (ie Paint, Word, Solitaire), I had to go around to each girl (they are 15) to show them individually. Needless to say, it was a day of individualized attention in what was meant to be a group setting.

They practiced to type in word, learned to write a letter and other basic computer terminology. We don't even realize how much we know about computers until we go to teach someone!

It was a good and productive day. By the end, I had most of them saving to their new USBs (a BIG thanks to my coworkers!)and typing with some level of newfound confidence. Cross your fingers for the internet to be up and running at a decent speed tomorrow! Lesson plan includes internet and email so without it, we could have an interesting twist of events.

Our classrooms:

Office Visit & more

Today consisted of meeting everyone at the Camfed office where we learned about all of the good work they are doing in Ghana. Some amazing stats of helping almost 20,000 girls in the past 4 years with their education and thereafter. We had to exchange money and were told that we'd get a better rate if we didn't go to a bank....so we rolled up in the middle of a local market, our driver rolled down the window, got the exchange rate from 5 guys throwing themselves in the window, got our approval and voila - dollars to Cedis!

(woman on the right: suitcase on her head and child on her back)

After lunch, we visited a secondary girls boarding school for a special assembly in honor of us. The girls each told us what they were studying and got really excited when I pulled out my SLR. They started calling out "Madam" to me to take pics, pretty cute! One even asked for my email address. My name is easy to remember here (50% muslim/50% christian in Tamale), which is a pleasant change :)

Our training begins tomorrow and will be held at the local stadium that was built for the 2008 African Cup of Nations.

Tamale

Made it to the airport by 5:15 am and waited for the 7 am flight to Tamale. Met up with the other guy from my company who is on the assignment as well. Arrived in Tamale in about an hour and met a few people from Camfed who are here for another project - filming young girls in small villages in the area.

Not too much to report for the day.

Randomly enough, we ate Indian food for dinner. The restaurants here have Ghanaian, Indian and Chinese food all in one menu. Tried Red-red last night, a popular dish with beans, tomato sauce and sweet plantains (kinda wish they had this at Sophies) which was delicious! Apparently you're not supposed to eat it for dinner because its too heavy to digest later at night, oops..classic tourist mistake.

Akwaaba (Welcome) to Accra, Ghana!

Have safely arrived in Accra! The flight was okay and pretty full. A crying baby and man with a booming voice seated in front of me made for interesting times. The woman next to me is headed to a small village, 8 hours on the bus outside of Accra, with 45 nurses and doctors from Utah to set up a clinic. They each had 50 pounds of medical supplies with them as their second bag. It was this woman's first time outside of the US, pretty impressive!

As you can tell from the outdoor pic, we walked out of the plane into the Arrival terminal. Standard immigration area. Only 2 baggage belts for the international airport.

Hotel shuttle arrived as promised. Quick drive to the hotel while listening to Timbaland's "Give it to me" on the local radio. Saw a sign for Nielsen (can you believe it, Michelle?) on the way here and a giant Shoprite. Might venture off to the mall later, we'll see!

Tomorrow: 5 am departure for the airport for an early flight to Tamale where I'll spend the rest of the week.

Ghana'n November

Off to Ghana in a few hours to volunteer at Camfed Ghana for a week!

How did this opportunity come about?
My company has a new initiative where they have selected 25 individuals to each work on one week assignments with non-profits around the world. All of these non-profits are part of our Foundation's Education Portfolio.

My assignment with Camfed Ghana
Teaching basic computer skills to the Cama Alumni, young women who are part of Camfed's network which offers peer support, further education and economic opportunities to female high school graduates.

Lessons will include: navigating a computer/desktop/internet, using MS word, learning how to use the internet and construct e-mails.

Potential and intended outcome of this training
Enabling the Cama Alumni, who are recognized as leaders of change in their communities, to optimize their business and employment opportunities.

What is Camfed's vision?
Camfed fights poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women to become leaders of change. http://us.camfed.org/

A big thanks to my management, company and Camfed for supporting me in this endeavor. It's inspiring to see corporations in financial services get involved and allow their employees to give back in to our Non-Profit partners in very meaningful and practical way.

Overnight flight to Accra tonight, will attempt to check back in tomorrow. The hotel is supposed to have wifi!

Brasil

Brazil for my last ever SEA trek. organized by me :)

Salvador. Manaus. Amazon Jungle. Rio. 11 days. 2 international flights. 4 domestic flights. 4 hotels. 28 MBA students. Service Project. Site visits. Beach time.

Day 1: Thursday, March 10th - leave from NYC

Day 2: Friday, March 11th - arrive in Salvador. Mercado Modelo for shopping. City tour of the lower and upper city. Dinner at the hotel and out for live Brazilian music.

Day 3: Saturday, March 12th - Schooner cruise. AMAZING day on the beaches off the coast of Salvador. Traditional Bahian cuisine for dinner and a trip to a club.

Day 4: Sunday, March 13th - Service project with an organization that supports underprivileged children with cancer! Then off to Manaus.

Day 5: Monday, March 14th. ACCION Manaus site visit. Tour of Manaus - markets and Teatro Amazonas also known as the Amazon Theatre, a famous opera house of Brazil. Off to the Amazon Village!

Day 6/7: Tuesday/Wednesday, March 15th/16th: Amazon Rain Forest - Trekking excursion on Lake Acajatuba, jungle tour, Piranha fishing, and alligator spotting.

Day 8: Thursday, March 17th: Rio.The Christ Statue at Corcovado Mountain via cog train through the Tijuca rain forest. Shopping, Copacabana Beach, Acai juice, Brazilian steakhouse and out to celebrate a friends 30th birthday.

Day 9: Friday, March 18th: Rio. Favela visit. Saude de Crianca site visit. Shopping. Farewell Dinner.

Day 10: Saturday, March 19th: Rio. Ipanema Beach. Lunch. Back to NYC.

Starting 2011 in Bangalore!

2011 started on a plane ride to India. Different and just for all you out there who are wondering, the captain did a countdown but not on NYC time, but as it was new years in the new time zone that we were approaching. so really, it was 10 pm for me. ha.

Bangalore's is great! Spending two weeks here for a consulting project.

Sunday, January 2, 2011: Get adjusted to India
Landed at 130 am, was at the hotel by 330, unpacked, tried to sleep. Day was pretty lazy, we slept, walked around a little bit and went to Church St for dinner, nothing special. Dont even remember the name of the place.

Monday, January 3, 2011: We meet the client!
Our client is AWESOME. He's sharp, strategic, kind and all good things. Overall, impressive. The facility is top-notch, state of the art quality. We did a tour and got acquainted with the founder (our client). Went to a ridiculous mall called UB City with Jimmy Choo and LV and all these stores i cant afford, to have lunch. Lunch was a south indian style thali, where they bring you all this food, whatever they made for the day, in unlimited portions. Loved it!

Walked to the local Food World to buy liters of water and then my friend and walked home with about 8 liters of water in our hands. Tiresome! Dinner on MG at Ebony (great views, its on the rooftop of the Barton Center), red curry for dinner which was eh.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011: Site Visits
Morning at our client office, interviewed one of the nephrologists and the dietician. Picked up sandwiches from Caffe Coffee Day (local barista) and headed over to our first site vist - Columbia Asia to meet with one of the top nephrologists in India. Facilities were again, amazing and the meeting was great. We learned so many interesting stats,debated about US healthcare issues, and so much more. Quick workout and then headed to Hard Rock Cafe to meet up with my friend from NYC who is visiting her family in Bangalore. Great night!

Wednesday, January, 5 2011: Hosur
Morning at client office after finally getting there. Rickshaw battle each day is funny, they never know where they are going, neither do we and then we all laugh. At this point (and its been like 2 days) we are beginning to direct them where to go. God bless google maps and free wi fi!
We interviewed the other nephrologist after meeting with our client and redefining our project scope. Then two of us headed off to a tier 2 city - Hosur while two went to visit a new private hospital (Vikram Hospital). Hosur was how i remember India to be - hectic, people every where, people selling stuff, people yelling, just pure chaos. Loved it! Especially because i was in an air conditioned car. We also went over a new toll fly over (over pass) that leads to Bangalore's IT area. Took some pics and tagged along as our client spoke to his contact and checked out some real estate. Our class met for a group dinner at a South Indian restaurant.

Thursday, January 6, 2011: Site Visit + Oberoi
Morning meeting at Victoria Hospital with Dr. Satish and then saw the dialysis unit, met with 2 of the 3 DM students (residents) in the state of Karnataka. Very interesting view points, and so different between genders. Meeting with our professor and then back to the client office for some time with the dialysis manager and some patients. Hit up Garuda Mall to see what shopping is all about here and then off to The Oberoi Hotel for a lavish meal. Great food, ambiance and company!

Friday, January 7, 2011: Meet the investor + Jayanagar
Met with our entrepreneurs investor today, what a great experience! He asked about our thoughts on the weaknesses and strengths of the company. Basically he's an ex-pat, grew up all over, with italian and bengali parents. Spent time living in the states and europe, and then went back to India a few years ago. Late lunch at a nice italian place in UB City and then called it a day. Took my first solo evening rickshaw ride! The rickshawallahs arent quite sure where im from so as long as I speak with a semi-indo accent and hop in, they use the meter as opposed to charging me whatever they feel like :) Dinner with some friends at Mumbai Masala in Jayanagar and bedtime.

Saturday, January 8, 2011: Organic farm + Dance Show
Our entrenprenuer offered us an opportunity to visit his parent's organic farm outside the city, so we decided to go! His parents, who run a fragrances business, decided they wanted to build up a farm about 15 years ago, and so they did! Cinnamon, bay leaves, bamboo, veggies, and tons of other plants, all settled in with an irrigation system. On the way back, we got our first taste of shopping in Bangalore. Hit up FabIndia and Mother Earth, both social enterprises! Didnt have much time for dinner since we spent 4 hours shopping so we ordered Dominos and ate it on the way to the Local Dance Show where we got to meet our client's wife (she was a former Bollywood actress!).

Sunday, January 9, 2011: Shanti Bhavan - best day of the trip!
"Shanti Bhavan is a home and exceptional school located in rural Tamil Nadu, India, for the region's most socially and economically disadvantaged children. The school follows a completely unique and innovative model of combating poverty, educating the poor and fighting social injustice. Admitting students at the age of four, Shanti Bhavan provides a holistic, high quality education until the age of 17 free of cost, and subsequently funds college education for its students. "

As you can imagine, totally inspirational day! These kids are so talented and brave, our hearts all melted for their struggles and successes.
--- to be finished soon ---
Monday, January 10, 2011: Entrepreneur meeting + City Market

Tuesday, January 11, 2011: Mysore + dinner at UB City at Toscano + Shiro

Wednesday, January 12, 2011: NL time (patient surveys) + early release + fab india + commercial st + leela palace

Thursday, January 13, 2011: Konark+ CPWD meeting + NL+ commercial st

Friday, January 14, 2011: Last day at NL, lunch with client and off to Delhi.