Hi All,
The past weekend was pretty great. We where taken to the
Ikogosi Spring Water resort, which still under development and its planned to
be open in about a month. The main activity they have in there is to see nature
(forest and so) and the 2 water sources, “gift from nature” as they say, that
come out within the park. One is hot (40o C) and the other cold and it meet at
a certain point making it nice and warm. The water we’ve being drinking is
taken from there and is called Gossy water. We walked thru the enterprise and
talked to the director who is coming back this week to meet us at the hotel and
gather suggestions. After that we went to another park in Ipole-Iloro, and
hiked to Arita waterfall and took some pictures. A very nice Saturday.
On Sunday, a couple tailors came to the hotel to take our measurements
and the fabric we bought at the market the other day so we could have our
custom made Nigerian/Yoruba suits. The hard thing in this for me was as I
wanted to have one made for my wife I had to combine the measurements from the
other girls to try to make if fit her well. I hope I got it right, because if
not, I’m in trouble… LOL.
Monday.
After coming to the office we worked a bit and then we where
taken to a village in another town so we could meet the elderly and ask
questions about how the process of social welfare payments work for them and
their expectations on how could it be improved. I loved it! First of all, what
a nice clothing they had. All different patterns and colors. When we got there,
the plan was to talk to 5 of them, but as time went thru, others started to
come in and we had a full house, actually front yard. Every time one of them
started to talk they prayed for us, which was very nice, and then gave their
opinion. They were so respectful with
each other’s opinion and always waited for their turn. All of this in Yoruba
language, which was later translated by our guide and partner Yemi, from ICT.
The moment I really liked was when we talked about our thoughts on biometrics
for identification and they really cheered up, so we knew we where going in the
right direction on our solution to avoid fraud on the payments. Thank you Babas and Mamas!!!
Well, being able to meet the people that will be helped by
our project has put a more human face to the job and made me really happy about
our work and this whole program. This is my ultimate goal here. Helping this
people that really need our help! J
On the way back we stopped by a Senator’s house, so we could
check out some local art, which was also pretty cool and then got back to the
office, and then to the hotel a little later. But work was not done.
During my research about biometrics I was able to contact
Anand Paul, who sent us some links to good documentation on that matter and
Dennis Carlton who referred us to Bill Willis, a biometrics/smartcard solution
expert consultant. So we met with Bill and gladly he cleared out some of our
questions and also told us that what we need done is totally doable! UHUUUU!!!
It’s great to work in a company that even when you never met
a person and they are far, far away from you, they are always willing to help
and making their best. Go Big Blue!!!
Thank you Anand, Denny and Bill!!! You’re now part of the
CSC Nigeria 6 team efforts and we really appreciate it!
Boa noite a
todos!!! (today its in Portuguese as I’m homesick)
No comments:
Post a Comment