Leaving on a Jetplane…

Well, not exactly…it’s a Qantas Boeing 747, taking me on a 14-hour journey from Sydney to South Africa! In less than a week, I will be leaving Melbourne with 4 weeks’ worth of clothes in this suitcase to Johannesburg. Together with 14 other IBM-ers from 8 different countries, we have been selected to represent IBM in the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) Program. (http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/corporateservicecorps/)

IBM CSC was inaugurated in 2008 to provide pro bono consultation to developing countries on business, technology, and society issues. This program also provides IBM-ers with an immersive leadership training & development. Groups of 10–15 high performing IBMers from different countries/background/roles/skills are sent to an emerging market for four-week community-based assignments. To-date, 3,000 IBM-ers from 58 countries have participated in more than 1,000 CSC projects in 37 countries.

This assignment has been 12 months in the making. I’d received an email invitation to apply for IBM CSC back in Jun 2016. The application requirement (I recall having to write several essays) was enough to put me off, but by some stroke of motivation (or maybe it was a Saturday where I had absolutely nothing to do) and literary inspiration (I used to enjoy writing diaries in my youth), I did it and clicked sent! In mid August, I was notified that I’d been selected! You can imagine how surprised I was; I’m not a lucky person (never won the lottery before…but then again, I don’t buy lottery!), so this felt like Terry Pratchettt’s Lady Luck had descended upon me.

From there, the magic wore off with the daily grind of work and all was forgotten, until I was informed of this assignment 3 months ago! For the past 11 weeks, I have been on weekly hour night calls with my fellow team members, going through learning modules, preparing ourselves and getting to know one another. I feel very honored to be selected for this assignment (South Africa is on my bucket list!) and to work with the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Metropolitan Municipality (more of that in my next blog). I’m sure the history, country, city, people, culture, animals (the BIG FIVE!), food and my team mates will blow me away! This will be an unforgettable experience and I’ll be sure to share with you the best bits each step of the way. Stay tuned!

#ibmcsc south africa

#cscza18