October 12th - Just for fun!!

 I thought I would add one last update to demonstrate a personal benefit of participating in a CSC initiative.  I had the great fortune to work with people from 10 different countries and develop new friendships. I also had the opportunity to bring some of my family to Cape Town for a week of vacationing after the project was done … OK … 8 members of my family (children, hubby, sister and nieces).  When traveling that far from Canada … you maximize your trip if at all possible!  

Bob and Keiko - to Robben Island

Look forward

Other members of the team also stayed on to do some more exploring of this wonderful country and we did all manage to meet up in Cape Town to do some sight-seeing and have dinner together. 

Prashanth and family

Our group dinner!

What better way to close off the adventure than with a group shot of my family and  friends – Bob (Canada), Keiko (Japan) and Prashanth and his family (India).

I do expect to drop in to visit some of my new friends when I’m in their neighbourhood!! (Australia, US, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Japan, China, and South Africa – again).  I better start saving!!

October 6 - Finishing Up the Project

Over the past 4 weeks we have had the opportunity to visit schools, talk to the educators and the administrators, work with the Department of Education and teach some of the IT resources at the department.  We’ve asked a lot of questions, had many discussions, presented some ideas, documented a strategy and built a ‘proof of concept’ school portal. 

The School Portal

Today, we presented the new vision roadmap for Information and Communications Technology and demonstrated the capabilities of the new portal to the Executive Board.  For the first time in my experience, the CFO actually stated that he gave this new vision 100% of his support.  We must have done something right to get the head finance person to endorse the project.

Yep .. chicken head and worm!!

We started off the project with a big gala dinner and now we close off the project with another gala dinner.  We had requested some true South African cuisine and that is exactly what we got.  The evening began with presentations from the 2 teams working with the Department of Education and then moved on to dinner.  We began with an appetizer of chicken livers, and then proceeded to a buffet of delicacies such as; pap, chicken feet, chicken heads, Mopani worms, beef tripe, grilled chicken and pork, spinach, squash and salad.  It was completed with a lovely selection of desserts.  I must say I was a little intimidated but I did manage to try EVERYTHING except the chicken heads.  I did enjoy the meal .... it was only the Mopani worms I would be reluctant to try again.

Getting our souvenirs!

They presented all the IBM team members with some souvenirs.  With heartfelt thanks, we bid them farewell and promised to stay in touch.  

The entire experience was fulfilling on so many levels.  One can only be motivated to do more for our fellow humankind!

October 1st – Kruger National Park

Of the many South African’s we have met throughout our stay … most of them have asked us this question …. “Have you been to Kruger”?  Well before our departure to South Africa, the team had been planning a weekend trip to Kruger.

One of many elephants

Bright and early (4:30 am) on October 1^st , we dragged our weary, sleep deprived bodies to our tour bus comforted by that fact that we had a 2.5 hour drive (uummm nap) ahead of us.  Dawn would soon break and the awe and splendor of the park would soon unfold before us.    

An eagle!

A water buffalo!

Keeping it clean!

Just having a sip!

Mom and her cub!

We arrived at the park just before 7 am and began the tour of the park.  Incredible!!  From very early in our tour we encountered elephants, giraffes, water buffalo, zebras, and impala just to name a few.  We spent hours driving through the park over the next 2 days – early morning, late afternoon and in the evenings and managed to see hundreds of animals at close range.  The best I can do is to some a few of the thousands of pictures that were taken during our tours.  It was breath taking!

A very young leopard!

So .. when you go to South Africa … you have to visit Kruger National Park!!

The Sponsoring of a Village - Kgatla - Sept. 30th

The team with all the donations

He's beautiful!

Being greeted by the girls

This day by far has had the biggest impact on me personally.  As individuals, we brought some items to donate to a local school or organization.  When we asked our contact to help us find the right source for our donations, our request made it through the Department of Education up to the Premiere’s Office. 

There is a program underway within the Province called the ‘War on Poverty’.  The Premiere’s office had identified a village called ‘Kgatla’ as the poorest of the poor back in 2009 and they have focused many resources to bring this village up to a higher standard (water, electricity, housing).  Needless to say, when our request was received – this village was top of mind. 

Armed with information on this village and a specific request for school uniforms and dictionaries, we consolidated our donations (check the blog from Sept 18^th), and began our mission to collect more money from our friends and family at home.   As a result of this effort, the final numbers for the Kgatla donation pool are:

School Uniforms and Dictionaries:

67 skirts                                   127 trousers/shorts

156 shirts                                  175 pair of shoes

6 pair of socks                           44 dictionaries

The first recipients of the uniforms(all orphaned)

Other donations:

New and used clothing (baby, children, adult), food, baby formula, toys, candy, school books,

soap, tooth paste, toothbrushes, sports equipments, arts and craft materials … and more.  A total of about 2 pick-up truck loads of goods.

In their new uniforms - primary school

High school - new uniforms

Saying good-bye!

We were welcomed by the local community leaders, the Premiere’s office, The Chief, the school principal and teachers, parents and children.  We presented our donations and directly provided uniforms to approximately 25 students (most orphaned).  The community would later distribute the remainder.

The heart felt thanks we received cannot be put into words … I am in tears as I type.  I have been forever changed – so much we take for granted.

A true contrast - Sept 29th

The first school - Roseline our intern.

As we work through our assignment, we need to fully understand the breadth of differences between the urban and rural schools and the facilities they work within.

The Girls hanging out!

Awesome!

Last day of school before break!

IBM's KidSmart Centre

Today our assignment has taken us to 2 different schools in Sekhekhune.  The first school was amazing.  Although this school is in a rural area, they had two computer labs in place one for the junior learners (grades 3 – 5) and one for the senior learners (grades 6 – 9).  They also had IBM’s KidSmart centre set up in their Grade R (kindergarten) classroom.  The school principal and staff were very motivated to incorporate technology into their curriculum.

Next we moved on to one of the Special Schools.  This school had just been signed up as a school in the Province and at this point had not been provided with any materials or programs.  This school also had no electricity or running water but operated two separate classrooms of programs for special needs young adults.

The new school - to be upgraded

The new school

The contrast between these two schools truly illustrates some of the challenges ahead of the province for delivering a quality education that includes technology.  The task may seem daunting but I see such a spirit of hope and determination – I have little doubt they will achieve their goals in time.

The Adventure Tour - Sept 25th

Yep .. that's me!

For those of us adventurers at heart … this was the perfect day.  Our day began with a journey to the Mountains to a place called Magoebaskloof.  The first order of the day – zip-lining over a canyon.  There were 11 lines through the trees and across the canyon.   Simply breath-taking.

Yes ... it's that far!

Overlooking the canyon!

Some local talent - they were amazing!

Our next stop was for lunch in the village where we had an opportunity to explore a few local craft shows, enjoy some home made baking and see some young musicians at work.

I think this ride was more dangerous!

The final adventure – rappelling (abseiling) down a canyon wall about 100 feet.  Not for the feint of heart.  An exciting final day during an action packed weekend.

Heritage Day - Sept 24th

Bakone Malapa Museum

 

Today is Heritage Day in South Africa so we planned a whirlwind cultural tour.  Hang on for the ride!

The day began with a visit to an outdoor museum – Bakone Malapa – which is a reconstruction of a South African village.  It was very Interesting and informative.

A warrior

Is shipping expensive?

 

We then moved on to a local craft market which was filled with hand-made crafts and original art works and sculptures.   I left the market a few rand lighter than when I got there.

Sharing lunch with the nyalas

 

Who needs a security system?

The next stop was lunch at a riverside outdoor restaurant where we got to see many different antelope close up (nyalas, elands and springbok).  The lunch was delicious – outdoor grilled t-bone steak!!

Some of the local boys

The sangoma and his aunt.

From there we went to another village to visit a ‘sangoma’ which is a traditional healer or medicine man.  We sat through a ceremony where one of colleagues ‘threw the bones’ to allow sangoma to connect with Susan’s relatives to do a reading.  A great learning for us about their culture and beliefs.

The chief's mother and the sangoma

Our final stop of the day was to meet the chief  Kgosi Kgabo Mololo III of a local tribe … of one million people.  As it was Heritage Day, he was at a celebration in one of his villages but we did get invited in to meet his mother who holds the same ‘power and esteem’ as the chief.  She was very warm and welcoming … an lovely end to such as hectic day!

The Game Reserve on Horseback - Sept 23rd

We are off ...

Our evening in the game reserve gave us just a taste of nature here in South Africa so we have decided to do it all over again on horse back this time.  The evening was much warmer.

After getting everyone seated on their horse, for some the very first time we headed off to the wilderness.  We discovered that the animals are much less intimidated by us on horseback than in a vehicle.  We immediately spotted some elands and nyalas.  A little further down the trail we came upon some white rhinos.  A group of females and young ones.  We also learned about the serious poaching problem they have on all the reserves.  The price for a rhino horn is in the millions of rands (7 rand ~ 1 dollar) which makes it hard to resist for some.  In the past 3 weeks, this reserve had been poached – one rhino was killed, another one darted but found alive.

Mom!

They've lost interest in us!

Now our adventure truly begins!  As we continued on the trail, we came across 2 young bull rhinos.  Apparently they are quite curious and territorial.  To our amazement and horror, they began to follow us.  For 5 kms. we trotted through the reserve with them closely on our heels finally to have them give up when we got to a wide open space where we could spread out and display our group size.  Our fantastic version – we were chased out of the game reserve by 2 young bull rhinos.  Reality – we were in their territory and they wanted to check us out and make sure we knew where we were.  With but a few bumps and bruises and a lot of adrenaline we have a great story to tell.  The rest of the trail somehow seemed uneventful.

A beautiful evening

Now on to the next adventure …

A week of work in summary - Sept 19 - 23

Now on to our true initiative here in Polokwane ….

Our team which includes myself, Narcisse (Germany), Prashanth (India) and Roland (China) have been tasked with developing a strategy to implement ICT (Information and Communication Technology) for the Province of Limpopo to almost 4,000 schools.   We have a second team on the ground here working with the schools directly on their professional development strategy for their teachers.

Much of this week was spent further learning about the Department of Education and the schools, how they interact with each other and what challenges they are facing.  Their goal is to ensure that school administrators, teachers and students have access to and use technology to further enhance their learning and communication. So much of what we take for granted is a ‘real stretch’ for a high percentage of the population here.  We are working with the poorest province in South Africa with the greatest need and the most hope. 

The challenge is to introduce technology (computers, software and the internet) to so many that have never used a computer!!! Technology has simplified our lives in so many ways and enabled us to do and learn so much more.  The key to their future is education and we have been asked us to help them formulate a plan to deliver it as simply and effectively as possible.  We will continue to learn and develop our strategy ... only half way there.