Sunburns hurt even more today … aaargh ! I tried a few pharmacies in Calabar but couldn’t find Biafine, so I’ll have to stick to the second treatment option which is moisturiser and ice :(
Monday, September 14, 2009
Day 17 – Tinapa (Sep 13)
Sundays are usually fairly quiet in Calabar, most people go to church in the morning and spend the rest of the day with family. All shops are closed.
Thankfully Juan Pablo and Kish pulled a couple of strings to get us access into the Tinapa Water Park in the Tinapa Free Trade Zone and we spent a couple of hours running down water slides, enjoying the wave pool and the Jacuzzi, or doing a couple of laps.To put things into context, it has been grey and rainy for the last 2 weeks, so we all got excited when the sun came out. We were already in the water without sun screen, and we didn’t feel how strong the Nigerian sun was at mid-day … I got pretty impressive sunburns on my face, shoulders and upped back, and I hate myself for not having thought of applying the basic slip, slap, slop rule I told you about.
Day 16 – Deeper in the Watt Market (Sep 12)
Today is Saturday so the IBM team is in full exploration mode … unfortunely the Cultural centre was closed so we headed to the Calabar Museum which was next on the list. We learnt about the first interactions between Europeans and Calabar residents which led to the establishment of trading ports for British ships en-route for India. The museum provided great insights, many pictures and a few artefacts of the triangle of trade between Europe, Africa and the New World, slavery, colonialism and the Berlin conference where European countries agreed on territory allocation in the African continent.
I then spent two hours roaming around the Watt market looking for ready-made Nigerian clothing and wax fabrics … I didn’t find any of the former and there was too much of the latter to choose from ! The main highlight for me was to walk through the central part of the market where all things edible are traded: nuts, vegetables, fruits, palm oil, fish and meat in a suffocating mix of heat, smells and humidity. Meat, tripes, stomachs and intestines were particularly appetizing lying raw on wooden plancks … we were told by a couple of stalls attendants that they were all cow products, not entirely convincing if you saw the donkey head that was smiling at us nearby !
Another important discovery ... what I thought was chargrilled black fish is actually the smoked catfish we have in edikang ikong and other soups. Doesn't look too appetizing in a ratan basket but it's actually very tasty once at the table !Day 14 – Watt Market (Sep 10)
No power in the office today, the national power grid is down and the backup generator is playing tricks on the maintenance team. The main generator apparently isn’t working either as an unscrupulous civil servant borrowed core parts and never returned. Jenni and I couldn’t bear the heat in our upstairs closet so we setup temporary desks in the main hall.
We had a good workshop and awareness session today on Enterprise Architecture, our purpose was to introduce key concepts and establish a framework that will make a real difference on how the Information, Communication and Technology department and the Cross River State Ministries, Departments and Agencies will work on their IT roadmap and technology decisions together.
Ended the workday earlier than usual with a long nap, the IBM team is constantly solicited and we have very little time for ourselves… after two weeks here I am pretty exhausted.
We had a good workshop and awareness session today on Enterprise Architecture, our purpose was to introduce key concepts and establish a framework that will make a real difference on how the Information, Communication and Technology department and the Cross River State Ministries, Departments and Agencies will work on their IT roadmap and technology decisions together.
Ended the workday earlier than usual with a long nap, the IBM team is constantly solicited and we have very little time for ourselves… after two weeks here I am pretty exhausted.
This was then followed by a quick visit to the Watt market where I came across a packed liquor stores (see top left) and a couple more smily kids :)Thursday, September 10, 2009
Day 13 – Marian Market (Sep 9)
Second round of exploration at Marian Market, down the road from the hotel, but this time with my colleague Jenni only so as not to scare the crowds with too large a group. We were looking for african fabric and handicrafts, and as I am a demanding shopper so I went through (possibly) every fabric store in the market to figure out what quality was available and at what price. No handicrafts to be found however nor bangles or necklaces, it is a shame the African market is being inundated with cheap chinese goods and plastic jewellery.
I brought a couple of small koalas bears from Australia to give to children along my Nigerian journey and started handing them out today, the first few attempts were quite interesting to say the least … the first little boy ran away screaming seeing the koala bear as a threat to the bunny he was holding in his hand. The second was in his mother’s arms and erupted in tears afraid of the tall white man! Ooops. Eventually I figured I should really just give them to slightly older children and I got very very big smiles in return :)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Day 12 – Staples & CDs (Sep 8)
The department stapler only has 5 staples in it, I guess we need to go back to Marian market to stock up!
Jenni and I took advantage of lunch break to venture around the Women Development Centre, we found a small CD shop and got a couple of traditional, Christian, or Nigerian rap music … the thing is though that each CD has one long track including all songs, or a few clusters of songs, not particularly user friendly for navigating tracks. I should have remembered the China days when I listened first and bought second!
Jenni and I took advantage of lunch break to venture around the Women Development Centre, we found a small CD shop and got a couple of traditional, Christian, or Nigerian rap music … the thing is though that each CD has one long track including all songs, or a few clusters of songs, not particularly user friendly for navigating tracks. I should have remembered the China days when I listened first and bought second!
Day 11 – Shake, Shake, Snap (Sep 7)
In Australia we have Slip Slap Slop motto to protect ourselves against the sun, and here in Calabar it is Shake Shake Snap! I have been shaking hands a thousand times with a thousand people and have now mastered the local technique of sliding hands apart and snapping fingers :)
The Internet is back on after a 4-5 day drought … actually it is back on and off but mostly off! I haven’t been really able to keep up with emails as I lose connectivity while I respond to messages. Actually most of this blog is written in Word and posted whenever possible.
Our second workshop was scheduled today with the client management team, we managed to start on time and go through our whole agenda that was a mix of change management education and brainstorming around stakeholder management. Minor hiccup, I found out 20 minutes before the meeting that none of the stationery we needed had been purchased so I got the driver to take me to Marian market to buy them myself! All we needed was whiteboard markers, post-it notes and scotch tape. And we also needed electricity for the projector … minor detail.
Another hiccup for lunch … we were told Driver 1 was going to pick us up so we could grab a bite… it so happened that he was driving someone else at the exact same time so he told us to call Driver 2 who pointed us back to Driver 1. Thankfully the IBM team from Tinapa picked us up on the way into town so we could fill our hungry stomachs.
The team went back to the canteen next door for dinner. They make a great grilled fish for 1,100 naira or about US$7. Reasonably spicy to clear sinuses but not enough to make one drool without knowing :)
The Internet is back on after a 4-5 day drought … actually it is back on and off but mostly off! I haven’t been really able to keep up with emails as I lose connectivity while I respond to messages. Actually most of this blog is written in Word and posted whenever possible.
Our second workshop was scheduled today with the client management team, we managed to start on time and go through our whole agenda that was a mix of change management education and brainstorming around stakeholder management. Minor hiccup, I found out 20 minutes before the meeting that none of the stationery we needed had been purchased so I got the driver to take me to Marian market to buy them myself! All we needed was whiteboard markers, post-it notes and scotch tape. And we also needed electricity for the projector … minor detail.Another hiccup for lunch … we were told Driver 1 was going to pick us up so we could grab a bite… it so happened that he was driving someone else at the exact same time so he told us to call Driver 2 who pointed us back to Driver 1. Thankfully the IBM team from Tinapa picked us up on the way into town so we could fill our hungry stomachs.
The team went back to the canteen next door for dinner. They make a great grilled fish for 1,100 naira or about US$7. Reasonably spicy to clear sinuses but not enough to make one drool without knowing :)Day 10 – Afi Mountain (Sept 6)
The Afi Moutain Wildlife Sanctuary is where the Nigerian government and NGOs are implementing a protection program for drill monkeys and other endangered wildlife. Only 3,000 drills remain worldwide and they can only be found in Cross River State – Nigeria, south western Cameroon, and Bioko island – Equatorial Guinea.
Rain had made a section of the trail leading to the Sanctuary impassable so we got off the bus and walked a bit before we got onto the escort’s pick up truck. One of the armed guards hopped on next to me after asking me “can you hold this for me?”. I help up his AK-47 for him, carefully I might add, and handed it back to him after taking a couple of pictures for the record!
We drove through a village on the way back to the main road, at a time when all kids where bathing in the river. I am glad I managed to get a few pictures as they could not contain their excitement at the sight of a bus full of white people.
Rain had made a section of the trail leading to the Sanctuary impassable so we got off the bus and walked a bit before we got onto the escort’s pick up truck. One of the armed guards hopped on next to me after asking me “can you hold this for me?”. I help up his AK-47 for him, carefully I might add, and handed it back to him after taking a couple of pictures for the record!
We drove through a village on the way back to the main road, at a time when all kids where bathing in the river. I am glad I managed to get a few pictures as they could not contain their excitement at the sight of a bus full of white people.
Day 9 – Obudu Cattle Ranch (Sept 5)
I wondered what was happening when I stepped out of the hotel on Saturday morning and saw armed forces in the hotel compound. I quickly found out that the Governor had detached some of his personal escorts to accompany us on our journey out of Calabar! I sat on the bus right behind their leader and his AK-47 with double magazines taped to one another in a colourful yellow and green, the colours of Nigeria.
The IBM team left at 7.30am for a long drive to the Obudu Cattle Ranch (OCR) north east of Calabar. The road is paved pretty much all the way with the exception of a couple of sections, but it must have been sprinkled with asteroid dust because it is just a succession of potholes of varying sizes. Our driver must have practiced his driving skills over many years as he was zigzagging between holes and oncoming traffic at around 120km/h!
We stopped on the way at the Agbokim waterfalls to take a few pictures and have a nature break, always in the company of our faithful protectors. The next stop was a refuelling one at Ikom where we were quickly surrounded by local kids selling cashew nuts, roasted plantain, bananas and other snacks. It is just incredible to see the way they balance their load on their head as they walk about doing their business. I even saw a few ladies coming back from work in the fields carrying their machete on their head. Now my ignorant mind tells me it would also make sense to hold the machete though this would come across as a lot more threatening … I guess they just keep their hands available for other things, such as shaking hands five hundred times a day like we do in the office!
We arrived at the Obudu Cattle Ranch about mid-afternoon and hopped on the Austrian-made cable car to go up to the hotel resort. Now this place is out of this world, or at least it feels like it is out of Nigeria! It is actually only a few kilometres away from Cameroon. What a haven of fresh air, peace and quiet. I didn’t quite know what to expect and the Ranch was a very pleasant surprise. Our accommodation was in prefabricated chalets designed in Finland, surrounded by mist and a temperature below 20C. Very serene.
After a tour of the facilities, including the presidential suite and the governor’s lodge we made our way to the canopy walk, cattle ranch and yogurt factory, restaurant and quickly found the path to the bar. Actually we were chauffeured all the way, how sad.
Question: how do you light a fire at the OCR lodge ? Answer: what else but diesel fuel?! We heard a big whoosh, the hotel staff almost managed to get rid of all of his facial hair.
The IBM team left at 7.30am for a long drive to the Obudu Cattle Ranch (OCR) north east of Calabar. The road is paved pretty much all the way with the exception of a couple of sections, but it must have been sprinkled with asteroid dust because it is just a succession of potholes of varying sizes. Our driver must have practiced his driving skills over many years as he was zigzagging between holes and oncoming traffic at around 120km/h!
We stopped on the way at the Agbokim waterfalls to take a few pictures and have a nature break, always in the company of our faithful protectors. The next stop was a refuelling one at Ikom where we were quickly surrounded by local kids selling cashew nuts, roasted plantain, bananas and other snacks. It is just incredible to see the way they balance their load on their head as they walk about doing their business. I even saw a few ladies coming back from work in the fields carrying their machete on their head. Now my ignorant mind tells me it would also make sense to hold the machete though this would come across as a lot more threatening … I guess they just keep their hands available for other things, such as shaking hands five hundred times a day like we do in the office!
We arrived at the Obudu Cattle Ranch about mid-afternoon and hopped on the Austrian-made cable car to go up to the hotel resort. Now this place is out of this world, or at least it feels like it is out of Nigeria! It is actually only a few kilometres away from Cameroon. What a haven of fresh air, peace and quiet. I didn’t quite know what to expect and the Ranch was a very pleasant surprise. Our accommodation was in prefabricated chalets designed in Finland, surrounded by mist and a temperature below 20C. Very serene.
After a tour of the facilities, including the presidential suite and the governor’s lodge we made our way to the canopy walk, cattle ranch and yogurt factory, restaurant and quickly found the path to the bar. Actually we were chauffeured all the way, how sad.
Question: how do you light a fire at the OCR lodge ? Answer: what else but diesel fuel?! We heard a big whoosh, the hotel staff almost managed to get rid of all of his facial hair.
Day 8 – First workshop (Sept 4)
It took about 3 hours to rustle up participants, a whiteboard and a projector. We still fell short of post-it notes and whiteboard markers … the marker we were given ended up being a permanent one, which we obviously found out too late.
I felt bad keeping everyone in the office until 3pm on a Friday afternoon, but at least we had a successful session on structured thinking and problem solving on how to best align the ICT with the Government.
I felt bad keeping everyone in the office until 3pm on a Friday afternoon, but at least we had a successful session on structured thinking and problem solving on how to best align the ICT with the Government.
Day 7 – Saint Gregoire (Sept 3)
Each day has a saint in the roman calendar and in France today is St Gregoire … this did not give me biblical powers and my stomach is still digesting Garri from yesterday ! This was my first experience with the African super-foods, those that sustain the masses that live under US$1 per day, that is 70% of the Nigerian population. Light breakfast, light lunch and no dinner for me today.
IBM and CDC in the news: http://crossriverstate.gov.ng/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=94
IBM and CDC in the news: http://crossriverstate.gov.ng/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=94
Day 6 - Settling down in the office (Sept 2)
Great night away from the power generator, heavy rains made for a relaxing soundtrack that put me to sleep in no time.
Wednesday was our first full day in the office, Jenni and I were introduced to just about everyone we came across and decided we should get our hands on the department’s organisation structure to remember who is who.
The highlight of the way was dinner … the team headed to what will most likely be our canteen next door to the hotel and I got my hands dirty in Edikang Ikong soup and Garri. Edikang Ikong is a type of vegetable that grows very rough but is softened by being boiled and pounded, and Garri is pounded cassava. This is the first of a long list of typical dishes that I will taste over the days, for example Afang, Agusi or Goat pepper soup, and carbs such as pounded yam and moi moi (semolina).
Wednesday was our first full day in the office, Jenni and I were introduced to just about everyone we came across and decided we should get our hands on the department’s organisation structure to remember who is who.
The highlight of the way was dinner … the team headed to what will most likely be our canteen next door to the hotel and I got my hands dirty in Edikang Ikong soup and Garri. Edikang Ikong is a type of vegetable that grows very rough but is softened by being boiled and pounded, and Garri is pounded cassava. This is the first of a long list of typical dishes that I will taste over the days, for example Afang, Agusi or Goat pepper soup, and carbs such as pounded yam and moi moi (semolina).
Day 5 - Meeting with the Governor (Sept 1)
Unfortunately this morning the power generator kicked in at 3.30am and kept me awake for most of what remained of the night. I woke up with a bad headache, it is time I asked to change room.
It is not particularly hot at this time of the year but as we are nearing the end of the wet season humidity stays between 90 and 100%. It may have been a bit uncomfortable to put on my French cuffs, tie and suit this morning but it turned out to be a great day in the presence of Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of the Cross River State.
The IBM Volunteering – CDS kick off event took place at the Tinapa resort about 20 minutes out of town. Tinapa is a Free Trade Zone that includes a hotel, commercial centre, movie studios (Nollywood), and a host of other facilites under construction or at various stages of planning.
The Governor chaired the high table, surrounded by representatives from IBM and CDS. A specific protocol was followed, starting with a prayer, the Cross River State anthem and Nigerian anthem, then speeches. This must have been a first for a lot of us as meetings preparations don’t tend to be that elaborate in the West. I also discovered it is a unique skill to thank each and every one of the guests before starting a speech, for example with Your Excellency, IBM and CDS representatives, […] members of the press, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen …
For your reference you can find more details on the IBM Corporate Services Corps at www.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps as well as information on CDS at http://www.cdcdevelopmentsolutions.org/
Jenni and I will be working on the same project at the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Development Department, so we then made our way to the office within the Women Development Centre on Marian road. The building wasn’t built for its current purpose, it actually served as a wedding hall amongst other thing! This means the layout isn’t particularly suited for hosting a team of professionals in charge of looking after all IT matters for the government. Nevertheless no one is put down by the lack of infrastructure and everyone moves on with their job with or without desk, computer, let alone Internet access.
The team then drive to South Calabar to enjoy (quite literally) finger-licking-good fish at Aqua Vista, and toast with cold beer, and fresher than fresh coconuts. My coconut must have seem paradise to some, two mosquitoes figured it’s be a nice romantic spot but they ending up drowning themselves. Sad end but made for a terribly good laugh :)
Tummy is happy, time for a good sleep,
- Greg
It is not particularly hot at this time of the year but as we are nearing the end of the wet season humidity stays between 90 and 100%. It may have been a bit uncomfortable to put on my French cuffs, tie and suit this morning but it turned out to be a great day in the presence of Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of the Cross River State.
The IBM Volunteering – CDS kick off event took place at the Tinapa resort about 20 minutes out of town. Tinapa is a Free Trade Zone that includes a hotel, commercial centre, movie studios (Nollywood), and a host of other facilites under construction or at various stages of planning.
The Governor chaired the high table, surrounded by representatives from IBM and CDS. A specific protocol was followed, starting with a prayer, the Cross River State anthem and Nigerian anthem, then speeches. This must have been a first for a lot of us as meetings preparations don’t tend to be that elaborate in the West. I also discovered it is a unique skill to thank each and every one of the guests before starting a speech, for example with Your Excellency, IBM and CDS representatives, […] members of the press, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen …
For your reference you can find more details on the IBM Corporate Services Corps at www.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps as well as information on CDS at http://www.cdcdevelopmentsolutions.org/
Jenni and I will be working on the same project at the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Development Department, so we then made our way to the office within the Women Development Centre on Marian road. The building wasn’t built for its current purpose, it actually served as a wedding hall amongst other thing! This means the layout isn’t particularly suited for hosting a team of professionals in charge of looking after all IT matters for the government. Nevertheless no one is put down by the lack of infrastructure and everyone moves on with their job with or without desk, computer, let alone Internet access.
The team then drive to South Calabar to enjoy (quite literally) finger-licking-good fish at Aqua Vista, and toast with cold beer, and fresher than fresh coconuts. My coconut must have seem paradise to some, two mosquitoes figured it’s be a nice romantic spot but they ending up drowning themselves. Sad end but made for a terribly good laugh :)
Tummy is happy, time for a good sleep,
- Greg
Monday, September 7, 2009
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