On Saturday, the 6th of June, everyone arrived in Dakar and we got to know each other a bit and had a chance to get some first impressions of Dakar.
The official program started on Sunday with an introduction session and ice breaking activities and team building tasks. This was also the first time that the sub-teams met in person and had the option to discuss the scope and deliverables of the upcoming four weeks. The day was closed by a nice team dinner at the sea side with traditional Senegalese dishes.
Monday morning was the kick off event when clients and SAP cohort first met together with the local team assistants, that will support us on our projects. After an introduction into SAP’s CSR strategy and into the work of Pyxera Global, the four clients were presenting themselves and the tasks that are waiting for the teams. Just perfectly timed for lunch, we finished and every group headed off with their clients, had dinner and started into work.
At CTIC, the client I will work for, we were warmly welcomed with balloons in our own room and got the chance to meet everyone. We got further information about the client and a better understanding how they are working, which services they are offering and how we might help them. On the next days, we started with a small project plan, staff interviews, brainstorming activities,… to cut the elephant into pieces and deliver the best possible solution in just four weeks.
On Wednesday, it was the big day for Senegal — at four pm, the Senegalese national team played against Benin in the quarter finals of the Africa Cup. We had the chance to watch the match in the office, together with the CTIC staff and celebrate Senegals 1–0 victory. Afterwards, the complete city (most likely the whole country) turned crazy and celebrated.
Just in time for the match, we managed to get jerseys of the Lions (that’s what they call themselves) which got highly appreciated by the local people and put a smile on everyone’s face.
This week we needed to finalize our scope of work with the customer, to get an agreed understanding of what we’ll deliver and how we’ll do that. So in the next weeks, we need to work on those deliverables.
In the meantime, we also started planning our weekends: this weekend, we’ll have a trip to Lac Rose and will also visit Goree Island, known for it’s history in slave trading.
But most important is Sunday afternoon, when Senegal is playing in the semi-final against (Madagascar or Tunisia) and hopefully the people here can celebrate again in the evening and turn crazy. ALLEZ LES LIONS!
