Our final week was all about final validation of our findings and recommendations, adding supplemental information based on research, and prepping for the final review meeting on Friday. Our sponsor had been out seriously ill the week before (food poisoning), so we were particularly anxious that if we had somehow gotten off track, there would be little time to recover, but he was pleased with the results and our pre-review meeting went well.
Everyday for the past several weeks we had been driven by a corner in Pretoria where a rather odd looking sculpture is displayed outside an apartment building. So far, we have been unable to unearth the story behind it: a tower with a donkey, tv, chickens, lamp, radio, and clock.
Soren had purchased a rather large painting on wood at Arts on Main that he now had to somehow ship home. The most cost effective approach turned out to be wrapping it carefully and taking it on the plane. So we made a trip by Uber to a Warehouse store to get packing materials. They were out of bubble wrap, but we were able to get used cardboard boxes that they just gave us (neatly tied up by the dock workers), and we bought things like sponges and aluminum framing pieces and tape. Brenda, a well connected client, had enough bubble wrap to ensconce the the Statue of Liberty delivered to the hotel, so we were able to cobble together a rude looking package and it actually worked fine to get the painting home.
Mary, a friend from home happened to be in town and we had decided that during the Human Rights Day holiday, we would get together for lunch. It seemed both natural to see her and a bit Alice-In-Wonderland as we sat outdoors enjoying the sunshine and tasty food at Relish Bistro. In South Africa, Human Rights Day is celebrated in remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre which took place on 21 March 1960. This massacre occurred as a result of protests against the Apartheid regime and we had been to the memorial in Soweto commemorating that terrible event.
For the final presentation meeting, back in the same SALGA room where we had done our Design Thinking Workshop three weeks earlier, we went through our findings and recommendations, enjoyed the interactions with the assembled stakeholders, and thanked our sponsor and hosts profusely. This has been an outstanding experience on so many levels. I haven't reflected yet in this blog on what I had been reading about in the History of South Africa, I will save that for the next entry, but it was a bit emotional to think our time was coming to an end and how much we had experienced and learned in this wonderful country.
We then went to the local IBM offices in Sandton for a debriefing about the program with our corporate sponsors, did a little shopping near Zoo Lake, and enjoyed a interesting evening dinner at Moyo. Aside from the face painting, the music, the laid back festive ambience surrounded by good friends, the thing I will remember most is eating a Mopane worm.
#CSCZA19 #IBMCSA
Everyday for the past several weeks we had been driven by a corner in Pretoria where a rather odd looking sculpture is displayed outside an apartment building. So far, we have been unable to unearth the story behind it: a tower with a donkey, tv, chickens, lamp, radio, and clock.
Soren had purchased a rather large painting on wood at Arts on Main that he now had to somehow ship home. The most cost effective approach turned out to be wrapping it carefully and taking it on the plane. So we made a trip by Uber to a Warehouse store to get packing materials. They were out of bubble wrap, but we were able to get used cardboard boxes that they just gave us (neatly tied up by the dock workers), and we bought things like sponges and aluminum framing pieces and tape. Brenda, a well connected client, had enough bubble wrap to ensconce the the Statue of Liberty delivered to the hotel, so we were able to cobble together a rude looking package and it actually worked fine to get the painting home.
Mary, a friend from home happened to be in town and we had decided that during the Human Rights Day holiday, we would get together for lunch. It seemed both natural to see her and a bit Alice-In-Wonderland as we sat outdoors enjoying the sunshine and tasty food at Relish Bistro. In South Africa, Human Rights Day is celebrated in remembrance of the Sharpeville massacre which took place on 21 March 1960. This massacre occurred as a result of protests against the Apartheid regime and we had been to the memorial in Soweto commemorating that terrible event.
For the final presentation meeting, back in the same SALGA room where we had done our Design Thinking Workshop three weeks earlier, we went through our findings and recommendations, enjoyed the interactions with the assembled stakeholders, and thanked our sponsor and hosts profusely. This has been an outstanding experience on so many levels. I haven't reflected yet in this blog on what I had been reading about in the History of South Africa, I will save that for the next entry, but it was a bit emotional to think our time was coming to an end and how much we had experienced and learned in this wonderful country.
We then went to the local IBM offices in Sandton for a debriefing about the program with our corporate sponsors, did a little shopping near Zoo Lake, and enjoyed a interesting evening dinner at Moyo. Aside from the face painting, the music, the laid back festive ambience surrounded by good friends, the thing I will remember most is eating a Mopane worm.
What a wonderful experience! Thanks for sharing it with us, Peter!
ReplyDeleteYour blog posting (with awesome pictures) is wonderful. Based on your narrative, I need to update my bucket list to include a visit to South Africa. Thanks for sharing--everything except the worm delicacies. Think I'll stick simply to non-buggy milk chocolate.
ReplyDeleteGood work, Peter!