Last Weekend i Kenya

Last weekend Kenya - Carnivore, Elephants, and Karen Blixen

Friday was celebration that the IBM CSC Kenya 4 program was over. DOT had invited us all to the Carnivore being one of the best restaurants in the world. All sorts of meet is severed there from the huge grill. We tasted crocodile, lamp, turkey, cow balls (only a small piece) etc. The food was delicious and Marissa and I had our first real glass of red wine since we came here to Kenya. 

 

Speeches from Murieki, Alex, and a Poem from Jennifer telling about our tour and about each of us... so nice. Gifts were handed out and we went dancing at the Simba bar. A lot of goodbyes .......

SaturdayAs we hadn't slept lo

ng since we came, all of us woke up early and Jennifer, Isabel and I (the 3 old ladies) went with Rafael to the Elephant Orphans. For 1 hour we saw the 18 elephants staying in the Orphans all because they have been found alone out in the bush of whole of Kenya. We touched them - so smooth on their trunk and head and  so hard on their bag.

Of course we had to adopt one - Shukuru a 2 year old female found 3 days old....They all have milk every 3 rd hour and when their their trainer leaves them they scream like babies.

Karen Blixen's house is now a museum, so we went to see it. 

 

Such a nice house and wonderful garden. Karen is very famous here in Kenya and she has a whole district named after her - being all her 6000 HK land she use to own. Now it is a fancy area primarily for the Mgunzies (the white people). The garden was more than 100 years old and I was inside one of the old trees.  

After that we deserved lunch, where we went to the Momba village (crocodile)  and enjoyed a good African lunch.

 And then for the last time to Masai Market here in Nairobi. Again I bought a lot of stuff... glad it soon will be Christmas.

Rain stopped the shopping and Rafael ´took us to the Country lodge. All wet and with no more money....

Henriette

We did it!!

4th week in Kenya - We did it  - Our Final Presentation to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science & Technology

Friday was our turn for our presentation. We were all ready and set by8:45 a.m. We were all a bit nervous, as the room filled. There weren't enough chairs for all the attendees, so they had to bring in chairs from another conference room. The tension built until it was finally time to start at about 9:15 am. We were on the 10th floor of Jogoo House, the home of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science & Technology. Our mission was complete - we were presenting our final report on a framework to capture and track innovations in Kenya.

Our report recommends five main areas of focus for innovations in Kenya:

1. Integrate Industry with Academia
2. Promote an Incentive Regime to drive and share Innovations
3. Establish the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA) - which was the part I did
4. Drive Commercialization of Innovations
5. Innovation Performance Metrics.

We call them the "Big Five" as a play on words around the ultimate safari goal - which we achieved on our weekends off. Each of us including Richard from the Ministry presented on of the big fives. More than 50 people were in that room from different organizations, ministries, stakeholders and task force.
The chairman of the MoHEST expressed his satisfaction with the presentation, the content and the report. He said directly "this is an Eye Opener for Kenya and we will use it not from Monday morning as recommended but from today" That just made my day and the entire effort the last many months and mostly the last 4 weeks here in Kenya. The footprint is made!!!!




Henriette 

First Final Presentations and back in Nairobi

4th week in Kenya - First Final Presentations and back in Nairobi

This is really the culmination of all our effort, work and wishes for our CSC program that is taking place these days.
Wednesday - Vision 2030 Dashboard team
First team to go was the Vision 2030. All teams in business suites came to the Executive office in Nairobi from Machakos for the Vision 2030 Secretary. The team in charged delivered a professional and convincing presentation in a very nice layout to the Executive Officer Emannuel and his team. The recommendations were very well taken and promises that next week some of the lowing hanging fruit would already have been implemented.  Lunch at Java House and shopping again for Masai craft...We all hurried back for our final work...

Thursday - KAM team and Goodbye Machakos
We had goodbye dinner at the Garden Hotel Wednesday (Richard made it more spicy with his meat balls) and all packed we left the hotel in the Morning heading for Kenya Associations Manufacturers (KAM).
We arrived in good time as the Mombassa road did not challenged us with the usual traffic jam, so some of us headed directly to the first civilization for weeks ----- shopping mall with great coffee and already put up the Christmas stuff...

Another brilliant presentation from the team and yet another grateful client, nodding and accepting the recommendations made by the team. The CIO received the report from the team, we had the usual team photo and then we all had a nice lunch in the garden.  Then we came "back" to the Country Lodge here in Nairobi, which was our first destination upon our arrival here in Kenya. Short time for our installation and then headed for the next formal meeting with the Primary Secretary for the Ministry of Communication and Information. He has been meeting all the 3 previous Kenya CSC teams and we had a  broad sharing of our assignments and the changes for Kenya to come.

Henriette

Last working week in Kenya

4th week in Kenya - work needs to be done

Last week here in Kenya, times fly. 

Monday & Tuesday were all working days for all our 3 IBMCSC4 team. Final reports had to be made and presentations as well, so we almost did not leave the hotel at anytime and it was some long working days.

Not much of interest... We were beginning to feel Machakos shortness in power (internet connection) hot water and menu in the hotel was not changing a lot. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would be all final presentation to our clients.

Henriette

3rd Weekend in Kenya, yet another safari adventure

3rd week in Kenya

NGong town market on Saturday morning

This weekend we again were to explore the safari country side. 9 of us left early at 6.30 am on Saturday morning to meet our guides in Nairobi. After meeting up we headed to the Ngong Hill for hiking, still hoping yet for the last civilized cop of coffee at the Java house. We got something as just good. :-) Stops on our way up to the hill in the NGong market really gave the diversity of Kenya. Just 20 minutes drive from city center of Nairobi.  We also crossed the slum with more than 2.5 mill. citizens on a very small area . Reaching our destination Ngong hills being Karen Blixen's mountain with her coffee plantation. We started our hiking. It took a total of 3 hours to reach the top and the views we had were spectacular. Trees with flowers, people living in their primitive sheds cultivating the soil for beans and taking care of their cows and goats. At the top there were more than 10 wind turbines on the top..from Vestas where else.  From the the top of the hills, we spotted a giraffe in the valley which would be on our route to meet the safari wans.  Luckily when we got down to his level, the giant giraffe was still there.... along with another 20 or so ranging from babies to fully grown males and females. We ended up surrounded by giraffes that were closer than I ever thought I would get to them in the wild! It was truly amazing!  So we literaly walked together with this group of giraffes.  We walked up hill again and after 3 hours we were back in the wan for a rest also from the sun.

Mamas place

Next stop was the Olorgesailie being some very old excavations with stone axes and many other evidence of human beings. Here we also had a nice lunch in the shade as this place is also the hottest spot in all of Africa. Back to the wan driving towards the salt Lake Magadi where we again saw a lot of bambooes and landscapes. The trip ended with a bath in the hot springs of Lake Magadi. It was really hot around 45-50 degrees and then very salt. But it was a healthy dip into the water and we all felt fresh and healthy afterwards.

Dinner at Mamas place

The night we spent in a Masai village in the Mamas' place. This was built for the woman  in the village to have a way of making a living. Spaghetti Bologna a Tusker and then we went to bed. The heat kept a lot of us struggling with the sleep but up again at 5 am - into the Wan after a short tooth brush and then headed to the Shompole Conservation Area. Not a lot of tourist go here but it is the home to a really expensive hotel called Shompole Lodge which has been visited by the very rich in the world. It is so remote that you have to fly to its private air strip! Lake Natron is mainly in Tanzania but a small part of it pokes into southern Kenya so we headed to see that. So now we have been twice to Tanzania and we walked on the half dry salt lake . The people we meet were very poor, not water in miles. Landscape was again amazing and we saw different animals and many of these huge termites as I have seen on television. Lunch was served at Mama's place. We were then to start our long trip back to Machakos - but first a stop in another authentic Masai Village  with a lot of kids. For the first time the small kids got scared of us and started crying when they saw us. I spoke to a boy of age 14 and he was a Manchester United fan similar to my oldest son Oskar, so he was to call my son... as they all have cell phones with coverage in the middle of the bush.

The trip back ended up taking more than 5 hours to drive maybe around 250 km- road and traffic is not for fast driving. But the weekend was good and again we saw yet another different landscape of Great Kenya. 
 


 


Henriette

3rd week in Kenya- Visit to School of Deaf

3rd week in Kenya

Friday was our second community day here in Kenya. This was planned to be a visit here in Machakos to the School of the death. It is a public school with 250 students from nursery school age to high school grade. As the school is a boarding school where all the students live there, there is a prices for the stay being 30USD per term (same as 10 USD per month i.e. 55 DKK). This money to cover food, clothes, medicine etc. Thinking about it we get per Diem per day is to cover for  one term for 1 kid. We all arrived at 9 am except from the 2 having food poisoning and meet with the Principal and the teaching staff. An assembly with all the students in their either red/grey uniform or blue for the high school students and we learned the basic deaf language and signs and were showed around the school. Learning the signs for each of our countries made a laugh, where Mexico is the sombrero hat and India the red bindi dot in the forehead. We saw some of the school and lot looks familiar with a Danish school i.e. Class rules in 4 class where "no Noise", "be Punctual. I can recognize that from my hildren's' school. Next on the program was to plant a tree, we have bought 20 trees to plant in the garden and we all got into it together with the students. Communication then gets' another angle as they cannot hear. But we managed to get the trees right. Doreen and I were planting 2 trees with mostly our hands as tools was not much available. We also had to do the lawn, and not with machines, electricity or anything. No old fashion tools were used. This is tough and I'm glad I don't have to use this at home.The kids just love having their picture taken, and then watch themselves afterwards on the camera. They have never seen anything like it. So we all had to take a bunch of pictures showing them - one of the good ones. Cleaning their dining room
and kitchen and then we went to the fun part playing football and just letting the kids "talk" with us and see and touch our hair. The final was amazing with a group of senior girls presented a traditional Kamba dance for us. One girl played the drum and 12 girls danced to the beat of the drum, which they could feel through vibrations. It was beautiful and very emotional. The leader of the dance group had a stick/baton with an animal hair tail, which she swished around in time to the beat. The other girls never took their eyes off the baton so they follow the "steps". Amazing. We all got emotional....Giving presents and saying goodbye ended an unforgettable day. 
Nice lunch in the garden and shopping in Machakos made this day just perfect.

Henriette

3rd Week in Kenya - Working, shopping in Machakos

3rd week in Kenya

Monday was a long working day with Richard (Mavisi), Christine and Charles coming from the Ministry to Machakos working with us as a team all day. We divided the tasks in between us and worked around the hotel to get Internet, room for conference calls and discussions. By 7 pm dinner was ready by our own chef Richard. He had cooked Indian dinner for us - it was so tasty and good variation to get something else than African food. My stomach had given me trouble the last couple of days but after Richard's food I'm all settled.

Me in the tailor

Tuesday was yet another working day the entire team here in the hotel. Pressure was on to get the midterm review presentation ready for Wednesday. With good teamwork and efficiency at the end, we managed to be ready at 5 pm. I
was going to town to get the skirt from the tailor that I have ordered on Sunday. The girls went to town and found the tailor. Even they had measured me on Sunday, the skirt was 3 size too small, and the tailor had to change it. That was down on the street with the remaining daylight and a petroleum lamp. While waiting the skirt to be ready we took a walk in Machakos. This town is just a mixture of very old Kenya and newer Kenya with cars and fancy super markets.

After buying more stuff we went back to the tailor - where the skirt now was ready for the final test and final ironing. The iron was very old and heat was made with coal - no electricity. The skirt was now a perfect fit and I paid 1200 Schilling (around 72 DKK) for a hand-made tailored skirt. It was now getting late, dark and very raining and fortunately we meet Alex from DOT and he hired a matatu -being the Kenyan taxi/bus. We all 5 got into this very little wan and drove the little piece of road to the hotel. But it was a fun experience. I don't think there was any springs left in this old car. But we all got home safe and dry and with a good laugh

Henriette

Second weekend in Kenya

Second weekend in Kenya

Saturday started early with take off to Lake Nakuru, where 6 of #ibmcsc Kenya 4 team headed off for another safari around the lake. We wanted to see the Rhino - so we had the Big Five.

After another long drive we came to the Lake and sure did we see all the animals.
7 Rhinos in all, and one of them (the big male one) passed just next to our car.

The natur around the big lake was very much different from the savannah we saw on last weekend safari in the Masei Mara.

This was more like the jungle and many beautiful flowers. Beyond the Rhino, we saw  lot of bamboos, zebras, buffaloes and not at least the flamingos which the Lake is famous for. Millions of pelicans were at the lake and was an amazing view.

We were very closed to the animals driving with Julius in a normal car, so when some big buffaloes where to pass the road we waited in secure distance. Going back without any food since our breakfast stop at the Java House, we headed again for dinner at that place.

Sunday first relaxing day. No alarming waking up in the morning, easy breakfast, planning next weekend safari and doing some emails . We had a good lunch at the hotel at then we went for a walk in the mountains around Machakos. The area around is very beautiful and the people we meet were so friendly. All the children called "jambo" and wanted to shake hands and have their photo taken. Laughing all over when they saw themselves on the picture. We meet 4 ladies coming from church and they gave us a little song in the middle of the road.
We saw coffee plants - and tasted that the beans non roasted is nothing like the well-known coffee bean. We walked for more than 3 hours being a relief from the last 2 weeks driving in cars and wans.



Looking forward to the next week here in Machako. 
Henriette 

RA: #ibmcsc #kenya4

Second week in Kenya

Times flies and 2nd week of our stay went very fast. We in team Twiga had a very tight schedule.
Monday was another presentation meeting this time for the Permanent Secretary Professor Kiamba at MoHest. Despite a very stress morning getting up at 5.00 with traffic and everything, the meeting went very well and we got engaged with the PS and got some good feedback. Coming back to traffic as said we left  at 5.30 in order for us to be ready for our meeting at 8.30 in Nairobi. That's three hours to drive 70 km! And guess what? We arrived 15 minutes late.  Luckily, Professor Kiamba was on "Africa time" and  the meeting didn't start until  9:30. Presents were as usual given at the end of the meeting.   Remaining of the day was work in Machakos at the hotel.

Tuesday was yet another early morning and as we were almost late on Monday, we agreed to start even earlier. So we left at 5.00. We were in good shape until a puncturing took place. Rafael our driver was very efficient and with all our help it took less than 8 minutes to replace the tire. We arrived in time for for the first interview with the Principal from Univerisity of Nairobi. We stayed there all day doing interviews on Professors, lecturs, researchers and students for  our assignment. As we had so many interviews we agreed to divide the team into 2. So I had the interviews together with the 2 Richards.

Wednesday we slept longer as we were to make the interviews by phone. So the entire team was making phone calls to universities around Kenya.

 Conference calls is not something available here in Kenya and phone's with speaker neither. So we had to use our own cell phone. Some of the university only had a cell phone as they hadn't paid for their land line. Multiple call were cancelled at last minute, people not being in, people not there and everything seemed a bit unstructured. But we had some good interviews.And stayed tune in our hotel.  Look at my room with the mosquito net....

Thursday was another Nairobi interview day and yet another early day. But this time no challenges on the road, so we got into a nice breakfast before all day meeting.  Interviews were at the Kenya Poly technical University where Richard, Richard and I were in the Board room all day.
First came the Maasai Technical Training Institute coming all their way from Masai land, so they had to get up as early as we did. Good interviews and we learned about innovations to make clean water a
nd machines to make bricks for houses instead of the Maynattas they live in. As we saw it when we went to the Masai Mara village last weekend . All in favor of he health and future of the masai people. But they were all reluctant to use these great innovations. Again today meetings were cancelled, moved etc. So the afternoon ended up with working on our laptops and meeting the Principal of Kenya Poly technical University again being a courtesy call. After the work Richard and I went to the Post Office where sending letters home to Denmark turned out to be very cheap (less than 25 DKK).

All in all the working days demonstrated one of our initial our hypotheses was totally validated in each and every interview. Makes the report and further work much easier and valid..

Friday was our first social community day for whole CSC team Kenya 4. Visit to Daystar University nearby Machakos. Driving just the 15 km gave us meeting with  zebras, giraffes, welder beast etc - think about seeing such great animals on your way to work.We arrived at 8:45 am at the University and were warmly greeted and we did several presentations about IBM, what what's it like to work in an IT Company, good discussion about democracy and finally a speed mentoring. All the students were very engaged all through the day and very grateful for us being there . A very inspiring and good day.

Henriette
#ibmcsc #kenya4