All posts by Rodney

Osogbo Sacred Forest and Dance Performance ( #ibmcsc )

2013-03-02general update, Travel, Workgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogue, workRodney

So today the team took the long awaited trip to Osogbo in order to visit the sacred forest. It was the one thing that we had wanted to see and it was fantastic that we were able to finally see the forest and learn about it’s history and cultural significance. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site. We were also equally fortunate to get a personal tour with by the Managing Director of the site.

After our visit to Osogbo we saw a dance troop perform traditional African dancing which was complete with acrobatics. They were a pretty interesting bunch to see dancing!

We also paid a visit to the Nike Gallery (not associated with the sports clothing company, but it is the name of a famous Nigerian artist) and her home and workshop, but more on that later.

Market Visit and Dinner at the Melting Pot ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-28general update, Travelgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogueRodney

Every hard working team needs a night off 🙂

Today we made a visit to the market in order to do some shopping (weren’t so successful but was nice to look around) and after the market we went out for dinner which was a nice change from the hotel. The place is called The Melting Pot was a fun night out at least in the beginning! In the end the place was just so busy and the staff was so disorganised and confused that the night ended in a huge debate with the staff over the invoice so the place is not to be recommended for dinner, but our lunch experience was fun enough!

Anyway, we’ll remember the fun parts and the good photos 🙂

Dams and Kings ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-25general update, Travel, Workgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogue, workRodney

After a great volunteer experience on Saturday, on Sunday we took a visit further into Ekiti State to visit Ero Dam in Ikun-Ekiti (to understand where the water comes from), and paid courtesy visits to the Onikun of Ikun, the Onigogo of Igogo, and the Oore of Mobaland.

The visit to the dam was really interesting. On the drive out to the dam as well as at the location itself, you’re reminded constantly of the natural beauty of Ekiti State and that even though it is land-locked, it has so much going for it in terms of natural resources that with the proper development could be used for renewable energy as well as some other things such as crop production, tourism, and economic development. Since I was lucky enough to share a car ride with the Permanent Secretary whose portfolio includes these areas, I was able to share some of my views and we had a really great conversation about opportunity and development.

The visit to the Kings was equally exciting. We paid a courtesy visit to the Onikun of Ikun (the dam is located in his village), and then we paid a visit to the Onigogo of Igogo (who is also American) and His Majesty hosted a lunch with traditional Nigerian food and palm wine for us at the community centre. Finally, on the way back to Ado, we paid a courtesy visit to Oore of Mobaland, who could be considered to be the “King of Kings.” In each of the cases we were grateful for their hospitality and making us feel at home.

At this point it would probably be helpful to explain the concept of Kings in Nigeria (at least as I understand it). In every town there is a King. In a sense we would consider the King to be something like a Mayor. However, they have no political powers and are not elected by the people. Like other royalty they inherit their position by birth or succession. But even without political authority, they carry strong moral authority amongst the people of the land that they have responsibility for. Thus they have pretty strong influence in their communities and therefore have a form of soft power. They are custodians of history and keepers of tradition. Where they live are considered to be palaces (however extravagant or modest they are). Furthermore, there levels of Kings. In addition to Kings of villages, there are also Regional/State Kings as well.

After our final royal visit we made our way back to the hotel for a quiet night – which was sorely needed after having such an active Saturday and Sunday.

It dawns on our now that in our assignment there are fewer days ahead than there are behind. One some level I am excited because my next stop is Kilimanjaro with Christina. On the other hand, Ekiti State has really grown on me. 🙂

(sorry for the sideways pictures..I’ll fix them before they go up on my Fotki website I promise!)

School for the Deaf and the Blind – Community Service Event ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-24general update, technology, Travel, Workgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, technology, travel, travelogue, workRodney

Community Service Event: School for the Blind and the Deaf ( #ibmcsc )

On Saturday the team went to the Ekiti School for the Deaf and Blind, which was our community service event during our trip in Ekiti state. Kelsen, Mithilish, and I made an early visit to the school on Wednesday in order to understand the environment and to get some ideas around the ways that we could contribute. We were determined that the day be something more than a “meet and greet” where we shake hands with officials and get a tour – the team wanted to be interactive and get their hands dirty!

After the meeting we came up with one very clear project: to take the computer equipment that they had received a few months earlier and use our expertise to set up their specialised computer lab which could support visually-impaired students. We also asked them to give us suggestions as well in time for Saturday. So we received their listing of suggestions on Friday evening and shortly after we got to the schools we took on the following projects:

Building a computer lab that supports visually-impaired students
Washing clothes
Weeding
Erosion Control (digging a gutter)
Personal hygiene counseling
Cooking
Sporting activities
“The Future” for the Visually-Impaired

I participated in the project for personal hygiene counseling, setting up the computer lab, and “the future.” I have to say that this was one of the best parts of the experience so far. The kids were so thankful that we were just spending time with them, getting to know them, and helping them with things that they might not have been able to do themselves.

I have to say that I am particularly proud of the computer lab. We managed to set up a machine that can make photocopies of braille pages, a printer that can print out in braille, and set up some computers and laptops which support the visually impaired. So both the hearing and visual-impaired kids can take advantage of the computer lab. We also downloaded some activity kits and software from IBM’s On-Demand volunteer community so kids could plays games and do events teaching them more about math and science.

I am also proud of time we spend with the blind children talking about the future. I gave them a homework assignment that they had to write me a letter telling me what they want to be when they grow up and I promised to do some research to find good examples which would help to prove to them they can follow their dreams. And several of us from the IBM team committed to use our personal connections to see what we could do to support the school after we left (we had each begun working on contacting organisations separately and it’s wasn’t until a few days later that it was clear that several of us were reaching out to our personal contacts. It’s moments like these when I am at my proudest to be an IBMer and work with colleagues who think beyond themselves. 🙂

But rather than write a lot of text about it…pictures 🙂

Meeting with the Ekiti House of Assembly Leadership ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-22general update, Travel, Workgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travelRodney

Today the group working with the ICT department had a meeting with the leadership of the Ekiti House of Assembly, including with RT Honourable Speaker Omirin Adewale Albert, Hon. Deputy Speaker Orisalade Adetunji Taiwo, and senior members of their staff. We heard from the Speaker and were given the opportunity to explain to the Speaker and his staff our work our Smerter Governance and Citizen Identity Management Systems projects (Cynthia did a great job representing the team as the primary speaker). It was a great opportunity to meet with more members of the government and get a legislative perspective to our projects (and it even resulted in some small scope change which will be great for the project).

And of course, pictures from the event:

Tomorrow we will be working on our community service project at the School for the Deaf and Blind. The team is looking forward to the volunteer opportunity. And with all of the major photo-takers in our team there, you can be sure that we will have a lot of photos 🙂

Bonus Experience: Yoruba Art and Women’s Development

2013-02-21general update, Travelgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogueRodney

During our visit to a rural area in order to meet with elderly citizens whom would be impacted by our project, we had the opportunity to make a short side visit to see some Yoruban artwork. Many of the pieces were intriguing and awesome to look at, and I share some of the pictures here. Leslie, Kelsen, Yemi, and Ayo are the others in the pictures.

We also had the opportunity to visit the Raliat Ojudu Women Development Center (ROWDEC) which is named for the mother of one of the senators in Ekiti State. We got to see the arts and crafts that were being made. We also got to hear about future plans. It sounds very exciting and like a very good cause.

The End-User Experience ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-18technology, Travel, Workibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogue, workRodney

Today we had the opportunity to drive out Isan-Ekiti, which is considered one of the rural areas of Ekiti state. The drive took us about 45 minutes from our office and even the ride itself was a mixture of paved roads and roadworks under construction. The purpose of the visit was connected to our Citizen Information Management System (CIMS) project. The felt that it was be a good idea to talk to the people who would be impacted by the project that we want to implement – elderly citizens. We were specifically interested in understanding their experiences with the process today and what they thought about some of our proposals to introduce some technology-related solutions into the payment process. We also wanted to get a sense of the different types of towns where our solutions would be implemented in terms of infrastructure and communities.

We were scheduled to meet with 5 of Isan-Ekiti elderly residents, but we ended up meeting with about a dozen. Thanks to our local host team (Yemi and Ayo) we were able to speak to them (the residents spoke Yoruban so we needed translation support), I think we were able to have a great conversation and learn a lot about the process from the End-User perspective including what issues were important to them (trust, convenience, security, ease of use, amongst other criteria) as we work on the alternatives. What I can say here now is that the use of biometrics was a clearly preferred option! That was fantastic to know because it shows that technology can be adapted to the environment, instead of the other way around.

I think the team and I left with new energy. We have faces now to the work we are doing. I am committed to make this important part of their lives more convenient, more secure, and the more efficient. One of the residents we had the privilege of speaking with prayed for our success. I have no intention of letting her down.

And of course the pictures 🙂

Church and Golf

2013-02-17general update, technology, Workgeneral update, ibmcsc, nigeria, travel, travelogueRodney

This morning I woke up and went to church, which I have to say is the first time in a very long time. However, I really wanted to participate in a church service in Nigeria as I had heard that they were very intense experiences with lots of prayer and singing. About half of the group went to the services and I have to say that I am very glad that we did go! The church was welcoming of us all, and even took a few moments out of the service to mention that we were there, what IBM was working on in the community, and then the minister asked the congregation to pray for our success. It’s really hard to describe what we experienced. In some places, it was about solemn reflection. And in other parts of the sermon, it was only what I could describe as “violent prayer.” Not violent in the sense where people were hurt, but in the sense that there was a lot of shaking, shouting our prayers and asking for redemption, and holding hands. If the roles of ministers are to whip the congregation into a frenzy of devotion and unity of message and purpose, then the mission was accomplished. The congregation seemed to hang on their every word. At the end of the service, the congregation gave us some small gifts and told us we were warmly welcome back. It was hard not to smile leaving the church. Next week we hope to visit a traditional Yoruba church as well as a mosque as Ekiti seems to be a multi-religious society.

After a morning of prayer (the service was 3 hours!), we had a an afternoon of golf thanks to the kind auspices of the Chief Security Officer (CSO). There were 3 of us who met up with the the CSO who took us to the golf course in Ekiti. I have to say that it was a great experience and it was great to spend the afternoon being a bit active and working on improving my horrible golf handicap! Towards the end of the game we were joined by a couple of other colleagues and just then it started to rain. So back at the lodge area, we had some beers and started talking with people around it. It was a great way to end the Sunday! I also realised that I am a long long way away from being anywhere close to Tiger Woods.

I don’t have golf pics at the moment, but promise to add them later!

Ikogosi Springs Resort and Arita Waterfall ( #ibmcsc )

2013-02-16technology, Travel, Workibmcsc, nigeria, travel, workRodney

Today we had the pleasure of visiting the Ikogosi Springs Resort and Arita Waterfall as a team. The resort at Ikogosi is in the final stages of Phase 1 development and not ready for the public, so we were grateful to be able to see the resort as it is in its final stages of Phase 1 development. We were also honoured to get a tour of the facilities by the Managing Director of the property. From what we saw so far, when the resort opens in a few months time it should be very impressive! Besides have great lodging options, pools, etc, the resort is surrounded by beautiful nature and hot and cold springs which make for an interesting and beautiful experience. Of course, the Managing Director was friendly, welcoming, and was eager for our feedback. I really do hope that the resort is a success. It has everything going for it!

After our tour of the resort, we made a short drive over to Arita Waterfall. The waterfall itself is relatively small, but it definitely is in a scenic and location and as part of a trip to Ikogosi is well worth a visit. The team took a lot of pictures in the water and a few of us even climbed up towards the top of the waterfall.

So by the late afternoon, I think most of us were ready to head back to the hotel. It was a nice day out. And I am looking forward to attending church service tomorrow. I heard that they do it differently here in Nigeria.

A night out, Ado-Ekiti Style

2013-02-15general update, Travelgeneral update, nigeria, party, travelRodney

So after an interesting first week, our awesome hosts Yemi and Ayo realised that we needed a night out on the town. In Ado-Ekiti, there isn’t a restaurant and bar culture like you’d find in many other places. In fact, it just might be that the most popular bar in Ado Ekiti is attached to our hotel. But since we live there, we needed to get out of the building. So we were taken to a local bar, got a private performance from a local band, and had beers and danced and relaxed. It was a cool night out!

As normal (well, kinda normal anyway), some pictures 🙂 The internet connectivity continues to be a significant challenge, so I can’t upload so many just now 🙁

Rodney's Blog

Taking it one day at a time, with all of the fun it brings