Yesterday was a jam packed day. After a quick breakfast of oats, plantains, paw-paw (papaya to the Americans) and pineapple, we went to register at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Calabar. We were warmly welcomed by everyone, filled out the necessary paperwork and were then issued our hospital cards. Hopefully, nobody will be paying the hospital another visit during our stay.
Our next destination was the Tinapa Business resort. The resort was built primarily to host business events and conferences. Contained within the resort is a hotel, free trade zone, waterpark, movie studio and a lake. The grounds are beautifully maintained and very well secured. It is definitely something that the people of Calabar can be proud off.
The Amber Sun was the venue for the official launch of the CSC project in Nigeria. The event was attended by His Excellency, Governor Imoke, his personal guards, members of his staff, special advisors, a number of IBMers, other members of the community and the press. The event opened with the state and national anthems and an opening prayer. Speeches were made by Ann Oden, the CDS representative in Nigeria, a senior CDS representative from D.C., the West Africa General Manager for IBM, Endy Chiapko, representatives from all the projects were are working on, Kevin Thompson, the CSC representative and Ron Favali, representing the CSC team. Finally, the governor gave his address. He was very gracious and expressed his warm welcome to us. After the ceremony concluded, he made a point to shake hands with each one of us.
After a lunch of traditional Nigerian delicacies, we all went to the offices of our respective clients. As it was the first day, we were only introduced to the office staff and shown were we would be working. The governor’s office has provided transportation to and from work each day.
Alvin, one of our partners suggested we all go to Aqua Vista for dinner. Aqua Vista is a tilapia fish farm and guest lodge. Fish is caught in time for dinner and cooked over an open fire. What a delicious meal. To cap off the evening, we all drank coconut milk straight from the coconut.
Our next destination was the Tinapa Business resort. The resort was built primarily to host business events and conferences. Contained within the resort is a hotel, free trade zone, waterpark, movie studio and a lake. The grounds are beautifully maintained and very well secured. It is definitely something that the people of Calabar can be proud off.
The Amber Sun was the venue for the official launch of the CSC project in Nigeria. The event was attended by His Excellency, Governor Imoke, his personal guards, members of his staff, special advisors, a number of IBMers, other members of the community and the press. The event opened with the state and national anthems and an opening prayer. Speeches were made by Ann Oden, the CDS representative in Nigeria, a senior CDS representative from D.C., the West Africa General Manager for IBM, Endy Chiapko, representatives from all the projects were are working on, Kevin Thompson, the CSC representative and Ron Favali, representing the CSC team. Finally, the governor gave his address. He was very gracious and expressed his warm welcome to us. After the ceremony concluded, he made a point to shake hands with each one of us.
After a lunch of traditional Nigerian delicacies, we all went to the offices of our respective clients. As it was the first day, we were only introduced to the office staff and shown were we would be working. The governor’s office has provided transportation to and from work each day.
Alvin, one of our partners suggested we all go to Aqua Vista for dinner. Aqua Vista is a tilapia fish farm and guest lodge. Fish is caught in time for dinner and cooked over an open fire. What a delicious meal. To cap off the evening, we all drank coconut milk straight from the coconut.
Today was the first full day of work on site. We are trying to wrap our minds around the project and come up with a plan for the next few weeks. There is a huge amount of information to read, interviews to conduct and presentations to prepare. It is going to be interesting to see how we fare. So far, so good!!!
Cynthia and I in our new office
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