On late Tuesday / early Wednesday, I began to feel less than sterling. In fact, I was unable to work at all on Wednesday. By late evening Wednesday, I started to turn the corner finally and fortunately made it into the office Thursday and Friday.
The cause of the malady? Unknown. Could have been something I ate. Could have been something I drank. Could have been something I transferred from my fingers to my mouth. We had read in our pre-assignment that Ghanaian currency carries a lot of nasty germs. If you're more academically inclined, here is a paper on the subject of bacterial contamination of Ghana currency notes. So, licking your fingers to help turn the page of a book or biting your nails is to be avoided.
Montezuma's Revenge is no fun at all. While our Ghanaian physician didn't call it that, he did share with us how to treat it. So I took my Azithromycin from home and also visited a local pharmacy across from our office to stock up on ORS, which I hadn't heard of before, and the local equivalent of Immodium. On a whim, I also asked for Cipro, which the doctor had mentioned and some had used to combat similar symptoms. All of this medicine for 26 Ghana Cedis, the equivalent of approximately $16 US, no prescription required!
Experiencing Ghana the hard way with #IBMCSC #Ghana-VII.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
On the ground / Internet is back! / End of Official Day 1 of consulting
Monday, 10/3/11, 11:00 pm GMT
My original plan was to blog at least every other day, so by that standard, I am OK. However, I am finding that if I don't write my thoughts and impressions down immediately, they slip away due to the intense nature of this assignment. So I wanted to post yesterday, but we experienced an internet outage at the lodge that ended up being insurmountable even with USB modems, so I catch up tonight for the two days...
Saturday, 10/1, arrival day for the team of 11. We experienced a loss before we even started the in-country program when one of our colleagues with whom we'd prepared for nearly 3 months couldn't travel due to a serious family matter. Eventually, the rest of us arrived at the lodge, so we got together late in the evening to enhance the bonding that started over weekly conference calls. As Day 1 ends, Day 2 begins.
Sunday, 10/2, a very busy day of orientation. We toured the campus then key parts of the city of Accra, stopping for lunch at a traditional Ghanaian restaurant. All 11 of us ordered native food; two of us (one being me), ate our groundnut soup in the traditional manner, with our right hand only. Fun, messy, but I'd decided previously to immerse myself in this experience to the greatest extent practical. Good, good! Upon our return to the lodge, we were given various presentations about the key things that we'd need to know to get by in Ghana for the next four weeks.
Monday, 10/3, the consulting begins in earnest. The morning was spent absorbing information from the key stakeholders: CDS, our host; the Minister of Trade and Industry; IBM Ghana; and our four clients:
Later, we split into our four subteams and very quickly laid out a rough plan for the four weeks in country. It was great to hear about all of the project Statements of Work (SOWs) which are uniformly intriguing, challenging, and in fact, have many commonalities across them even though the clients are so diverse. More on that later though as this combined post is getting lengthy. Tomorrow we battle the legendary Accra traffic, meet the clients on their home turf and dive right in with site visits and tours on our agenda with #IBMCSC #Ghana-VII.
My original plan was to blog at least every other day, so by that standard, I am OK. However, I am finding that if I don't write my thoughts and impressions down immediately, they slip away due to the intense nature of this assignment. So I wanted to post yesterday, but we experienced an internet outage at the lodge that ended up being insurmountable even with USB modems, so I catch up tonight for the two days...
 |
| My humble abode for the next 28 days |
Saturday, 10/1, arrival day for the team of 11. We experienced a loss before we even started the in-country program when one of our colleagues with whom we'd prepared for nearly 3 months couldn't travel due to a serious family matter. Eventually, the rest of us arrived at the lodge, so we got together late in the evening to enhance the bonding that started over weekly conference calls. As Day 1 ends, Day 2 begins.
 |
| I have a pet in my room |
Sunday, 10/2, a very busy day of orientation. We toured the campus then key parts of the city of Accra, stopping for lunch at a traditional Ghanaian restaurant. All 11 of us ordered native food; two of us (one being me), ate our groundnut soup in the traditional manner, with our right hand only. Fun, messy, but I'd decided previously to immerse myself in this experience to the greatest extent practical. Good, good! Upon our return to the lodge, we were given various presentations about the key things that we'd need to know to get by in Ghana for the next four weeks.
 |
| Vendors selling their wares along the side of the street |
Monday, 10/3, the consulting begins in earnest. The morning was spent absorbing information from the key stakeholders: CDS, our host; the Minister of Trade and Industry; IBM Ghana; and our four clients:
- Association of Ghana Industries (AGI)
- Ghana Tourist Authority (GTA)
- National Youth Authority (NYA)
- Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA)
 |
| My plate from Monday's buffet lunch loaded with more traditional food |
Later, we split into our four subteams and very quickly laid out a rough plan for the four weeks in country. It was great to hear about all of the project Statements of Work (SOWs) which are uniformly intriguing, challenging, and in fact, have many commonalities across them even though the clients are so diverse. More on that later though as this combined post is getting lengthy. Tomorrow we battle the legendary Accra traffic, meet the clients on their home turf and dive right in with site visits and tours on our agenda with #IBMCSC #Ghana-VII.
 |
| Team AMA |
Saturday, October 1, 2011
In the air
4:30 am, CDT, October 1, 2011
Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues:
As I write this, I am 33,003 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, traveling at 570 mph in a 767 jumbo jet, four and a half hours away from my destination for the next month: Accra, Ghana, in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. Many of you know that I am participating in IBM's Corporate Service Corps, our corporate version of the Peace Corps. I am joining ten other IBM colleagues from seven other countries for this tremendous experience. Follow me, if you wish, at Blogspot and please feel free to share this with others as well as I am currently sleep-deprived and surely overlooked people!
Best regards, KEN
#IBMCSC #Ghana-VII
Dear Family, Friends and Colleagues:
As I write this, I am 33,003 feet above the Atlantic Ocean, traveling at 570 mph in a 767 jumbo jet, four and a half hours away from my destination for the next month: Accra, Ghana, in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. Many of you know that I am participating in IBM's Corporate Service Corps, our corporate version of the Peace Corps. I am joining ten other IBM colleagues from seven other countries for this tremendous experience. Follow me, if you wish, at Blogspot and please feel free to share this with others as well as I am currently sleep-deprived and surely overlooked people!
Best regards, KEN
#IBMCSC #Ghana-VII
Friday, September 30, 2011
Heading to Ghana tonight!
This is a test post for #IBMCSC #Ghana-VII. I am getting near the end of my 7-hour layover in Washington, DC (after my 3-hour flight this morning from Austin, TX) en route to Accra, Ghana for what I hope will be the experience of a lifetime with IBM's Corporate Service Corps.
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