Out the door to Indore

Observations around my work for the IBM Service Corp in Indore, India

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Last day in India (and a long blog post)

21 April

It's been a crazy last few days in Indore, and today I sit, one of two members left in the hotel, thinking about the one year that's passed since this all began. Tyler (my Canadian friend from one of the other project teams) and I have an evening flight together to Mumbai; from there we go our separate ways home. We've said goodbye to everyone else today, which was hard based on how quickly we all bonded over the last month, but it's always tougher to be the last one left behind.

I went out for my first solo rickshaw ride and it felt strange. We had all become so used to packing at least 3 of us in a rickshaw, sometimes four. I investigated a new market...and then ended going back to one that we'd visited several times. It felt pretty lonely to be out in the streets w/out my CSC crew.

On Wednesday, we gave our final presentation which was just short of 3 hours, then handed over a Marketing Guide that we prepared for UHRC as a practical manual. We feel that our work is very appreciated and, most of all, hope it will be helpful with UHRC's marketing efforts. I'm planning on continue to volunteer for UHRC to work on their website develop - an area in which I'm particularly interested and where I feel I can impact the cause.

On Thursday, we had a press event in the first slum area we visited - Jagdish Nagar and New Jagdish Nagar. The women in this area have been strongly organized - thanks to the work of UHRC - and have started a savings program, and have formed a Womens Federation that, among other things, had a temporary bridge made over this dirty drain water area. The big news (and why we had the press there) was that the women organized and got a permit for a permanent bridge, that we all hope will be put in over the next year's time. We had send out a press release earlier in the week and the press that covered the story did a very good job.

Below you see part of the temporary bridge. Before this was in, everyone had to wade through the filthy water.

After that, we called on a company, Sonic Biochem, who our local IBM sales rep had called so we could meet to attempt to enlist them in donating to UHRC. Not only did we want to discuss partnership with UHRC, but also show the local UHRC staff how to have a conversation with a business around partnering in some way -- either thru money contributions, or in-kind donation. The meeting went very well and the Managing Director was very agreeable to helping UHRC  in several ways. In addition, we had the idea to create a Think Tank of local, socially-minded business leaders, and we asksx him if he would participate in this...which he agreed to.

We tied up a few loose ends in the office and said our goodbyes. That was tough, as we'd grown attached to Neeraj, Shabnam and Eleri. We saw them each day and they were always looking out for us - food, travel plans, lots of things beyond the great work they collaborated on with us.

Final group shot (without Dr. Siddharth, who works out of a different office)

One of the people who make it particularly hard to leave the office - Abir - Neeraj and Shabnam's son.

One of our last "official" acts was the Fantasy Rickshaw pose. Our driver for the last week, Deepak, let each of pretend, if only for brief moment, to be real rickshaw drivers (which we know we could never do b/c they're incredible drivers).

Still, this rickshaw high only lasted briefly and I had to deal with Masashi's and Delfina's moods all day after this.

They eventually got over it and we got our last group shot together in the hotel lobby.

I'll do some final blog thoughts when I get home, as I've not fully wrapped every up in my head. But it's with mixed emotions that I'll pack up the computer now and get ready to leave Indore. Of course I'm excited to go home to see my family, but sad that this adventure - filled with new great people and such meaningful work - is ending.

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Nothing beats a man holding your underwear outside your room door

18 April

You never know what a day may bring. Today brought me elephants on the commute to the IBM office for our final presentation, a 2 hour 50 minute presentation (our own doing, but we feel it went well and it seemed appreciated by our agency) and a knock on my door by a man holding my boxer shorts (don't worry, I won't show a picture).

Oh, it started simple enough alright. But first some back story.

I had had a late night, meeting our agency (UHRC) for dinner last night at 8:45 (very late by my standards, but common here, and of course, in Europe and Latin America). We had a great time and took a "disco" rickshaw home (Delfina chronicles it best in her documentary), getting back around midnite.

Masashi, my teammate, thought we should get up early and do full run through of our presentation. Being the Neurotic that I am, I agreed.

Up @ 6, review slides, to breakfast (no one there), back to the room, review slides, better get some laundry together to get me through the week. Call room  service to pick up the laundry. That's done. Two minutes pass and knock on the door. I open. Man standing there holding my boxers. Brain does not compute. "Why are my boxer shorts outside my room? Why is this man holding them?" Turns out, in my very preoccupied mind, I had quickly forgotten that I'd handed over my laundry to the hotel for washing. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you put 3 undergarments on you sheet and you only included two." Oh, dear laundry man, it is I who am sorry. "Oh, thank you for being so vigilant"...all I can muster. The day will get better I tell myself.

And it does. Wild traffic en route to the IBM, Indore office, where we do our final presentation. What's up with this guy? He rides on the back of a scooter with 4 plastic candelabra-type lamps? I'm at the point where someone could ride by on a scooter holding another group of people riding by on a scooter and I would think little of it.

One of, what seems like, thousands of great temples I've seen appears ahead of me.

I love all the wildly painted temples. More detail as we pass it.

This is IBM in its entirety in Indore (about 24 cubes and two small meeting rooms). The building is still under construction and largely vacant.

In this small office half way around the world, a sign that holds more significance to me now.

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The colors of India

14 April

One of my favorite parts of India is being out with the people. I can't say I've ever been immersed in a culture more alive, more receptive, more accepting of its circumstance and perhaps more

unaware of its place in the world order. Undoubtedly, it's the most complex society I've ever witnessed (I just counted and I've visited 14 countries and 1 unincorporated territory of the US); 30 languages are spoken by more than a million native speakers and there are even more languages spoken by a lesser group. The oldest culture in the world, India boasts the world's most religiously diverse culture. I'm told that the states are as diverse as the people I've witnessed in just two that I've visited here. Protests, democracy, corruption, rich, poor, big aspirations, India is not unlike the United States, where I'm from.

I've been reading about India's economy since I've been here. Expected to be the world's largest by 2050, it makes me wonder about its future. I've witnessed - close up - some of its big issues. I'm working with an agency that's doing some of the most important work I've ever seen - the Urban Health Resource Center. Its mission is to bring about sustainable improvements in the health conditions of the urban poor. Its doing some of the most important work I know of, perhaps short of feeding the starving (although it works with slum nutrition issues too). It goes into areas where doctors in India will not go (yes, doctors)...and it is making significant improvements in healthcare and empowering persons in the many slums in India (there are approx 600 just Indore, where I am). So there is hope in these forgotten communities of the world.

Still I witness some of the most polluted landscape I've ever seen (not just in Indore, but in the countryside). Garbage everywhere and no apparent organized effort to deal with it. Rarely do I see a garbage can in public. The taste of the pollution rivals the seemingly infinite flavors of the Indian cuisine. One of our Service Corps team works on the issue of water shortage in Indore, a very real threat to the region and other areas of India.

So India shows a lot of its colors, but it's difficult, from the street, to tell whether they'll form a fabric as beautiful as those worn by its people, or if they'll all mix together into black.

It's beautiful in simple and ancient ways.

ways.

But faces so many challenges ahead.

Still, my experience here with UHRC and its exceptional people doing this important work gives me hope for the people of this vibrant nation.

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On the street

12 April

Tonight we headed out to a busy marketplace in Indore. It was a great night, alive with lights, traffic, more stimulation than you can rightly take in. We've all become slightly addicted to the noise, grit and ever-changing street scenes.

En route to marketplace. Note the guy on the back of the scooter.

More en route, but note the cows at around :28. They are on both sides of us in traffic, but I just can't capture all of them.

Chaos in the streets.

Delfina in a decked out rickshaw (LDC lights on the outside and curtains inside!)

A cute kid helps his brothers make some sales.

More action on the street.

A proud father offers his son up for the tourist.

Playing with the shutter speed.

The ride home.

One of the most fun nights yet. Great to be out in the action.

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The project and other things

10 April

The last few days have been very interesting as the intensity is ramping up. We're just over a week away from presenting our project and turning in, as we often say at IBM, our "deliverable." In our case, we've done some investigation around Marketing issues for our NGO, the Urban Health Resource Center. We've learned about their programs, budget, and tried to find out anything we felt would help is in the very short time we have here. We've connected with other Service Corp teams and looked for overlap, and reached out to local resources.

For last three days, we've been writing the final Marketing Strategy document. This includes general marketing principles, helping UHRC approach corporations for funding, assessment of their website, Facebook and printed collateral and suggestions around improvement. We hope we can keep the final document as simple as possible and under 75 pages. We break the Table of Contents out and put an initial next to each area and dig in. At the end of this week, when we have a rough draft, we'll begin to work on the PowerPoint presentation that we'll deliver as a summary of our findings and suggestions. The process, very consultative in nature, has been engaging and interesting for me. I'm amazed at the meetings, individual research, brainstorming and huge amount of work we're pulling together. There's no lack of motivation.

Yesterday, a film crew showed up to document what the various teams are doing. We were filmed at the office, at a slum meeting with a women's group, then individually around one set of questions, again today individually and then with our team. My favorite part was when we got ready to shoot our individual piece in the slum we were visiting. It was 104F and I was dripping with sweat. The film crew gave me tissues to try to dry off, then out comes the makeup! Whatever they put on you does help and I look relatively dry for the interview. Masashi gets the same treatment.

We're done with the film work and now have a Press meeting for half of the day on Thursday. Local press will come and ask us questions about our projects. Between the project, film and press, needless to say, we're all a bit in overdrive. But all of these experiences have been challenging and fun.

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To Aurangabad and back

8 April

Today at 5, we returned back from a 1000km roundtrip drive to Aurangabad (to the south). We had a 3-day weekend and decided to take on the 9 hour drive each way, leaving @ 10 pm on Thursday eve and driving through the night.

After a wild night (we sleep in a dark gas station parking lot around 3 am at our drivers request for 30 minutes of sleep [we caught him drifting a few times while driving and were glad he spoke up], but we have trouble waking him at the hour mark and finally get him ready to drive again. However, one person takes "watch" and sits up front to keep and eye on him) we arrive at about 7 am (in my case, with no sleep) and go right to Ajanta caves, the first of two cave areas will visit. I leave the link above as the best source for history of the caves.

We meet our unofficial guide (a local who has the tourist trade mapped out and greets us at the turnoff to the road to the caves). He takes us the "non-tourist" way to the caves. We're the only people we see approaching the caves this way and come to a cliff and this is the view.

We then do the 25 min hike down to the cave area.

A closer look at the left section of the caves from where we stand before we hike down.

A tree full of Monkeys greets us.

We hear the unmistakable sound of bats - thousands of them - in several caves. Here, in total darkness, I manage to capture a few hundred hanging from the roof.

I'll take advantage of my teammates Facebook page for more photos on Ajanta (we have basically the same ones).

On Saturday, we visited Ellora caves. These are as spectacular as Ajanta, though in a different natural setting. The contain Buddhist, Hindi and Jain caves.

I cheat again here and use Masashi's FB page on Ellora vs. uploading the same ones. These caves are hard to describe. Huge areas with tremendous caves used by religious types. Some caves took as long as 600-700 years to complete.

Here I try to show a panoramic of Ajanta with this video.

On the way home: India's answer to Monet (haystacks in interesting mounds).

We drive through 15-20 small towns (this trip is all back roads). We come to a traffic jam and honk our way through like everyone else. Some sort of celebration, but we don't know what it is (and our driver speaks only a few words of English). Check out this video.

We had a great weekend, but there was one tough part I hesitate to mention. After two longs days in the 103 degree heat, we had to return back to our hotel and deal with this.

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A word about my teammates (bonus entry!)

4 April

I've yet to tell you about my immediate teammates (the other two working on the UHRC project).

Meet Masashi and Delfina:

My friends and family know that I love to have people do funny things - pose with miserable expressions on their faces etc. Masashi and Delfina are only too happy to oblige.

Here Delfina happily poses at my request in front of a museum statue (unfortunately my camera was switched onto a mode where the photo is blurred)

They can act normal for very brief periods, but it's very difficult for them. Here they pretend to look busy and hard at work. Good one guys! You're not fooling me!

Delfina is a HR Diversity leader for Latin America and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Masashi is a Global Business Services consultant and lives in Tokyo, Japan. I feel very fortunate to work with them both. They're super smart and, most importantly, fun to be around.

That's it for the blog until early next week. We have a national holiday on Friday and Masashi and I are leaving on Thursday night - Sunday to drive about 500km north to: Ellora Caves and Ajanta caves. We'll leave around 9 pm tomorrow and arrive circa 7 am on Friday, tour Ellora all day and then crash hard that night. Then to Ajanta on Saturday and then the long drive again on Sunday. Here are some great images for Ellora.

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Dignity and hope in all places

4 April

Yesterday we visited Shanti Nagar (Slum of Peace). We had previously visited a slightly more developed slum and like any other neighborhood around the world, this one had its own personality.

We met with a relatively newly formed Women's group (only two months old). The women were upbeat, friendly, hopeful and interested in us, perhaps, as much as we were interested in them (only our respect for their courage and attitude far exceeds anything they could have thought of us).

Here's a shot of the (colorful) group (Delfina is holding one of their babies -- 7 months old - in front of Masashi and I)

It's fun to see how a baby can bring people together. We fawn over the baby and his mother beams with pride. We can all sense the connection even though we communicate through translation. Is their any greater pride than that of a parent for a child?

A woman cleans the street outside her home. We constantly comment on the beauty of the traditional dress.

Another piece of the human "connective tissue" - a satellite dish on top of a home.

The government delivers water to these water stations where it's rationed out...and becomes more and more scarce as summer deepens (today the temperature reaches a bit over 39C [about 103 F]. Water recycling issues are major issues for India (and one of our CSC team's focus). It's not that India doesn't receive enough rain, it will get around 40 inches during the Monsoon season. It's collecting and recycling it that is the issue.

Life is tough for all things in the slums

As is the case above, cows, pigs, dogs (I've yet to see a cat) drift among the garbage to find a meal. Yet, several times, I've observed people going out of their way to feed these animals on the streets

Garbage dumps like these are everywhere in the slums. You have to wonder how India will deal with it's solid waste, not only in the slums, but across the nation where garbage management seems to be lacking.

Yet in the midst of all this, there are smiles, hope, inquiry and indomitable spirit.

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Yoga @ 7 am

3 April

Maybe I just got swept up in the moment, but my CSC teamsters convinced me to try a yoga class with them at 7 am today and, in a moment of weakness, I said I would. They'd arranged an instructor for the month to come most days of the week.

The alarm sounds, I reluctantly get out of bed and throw on the sweat pants and shirt, run my fingers through my hair, rinse some bottled water around my mouth and I'm out door.

Within minutes I'm dripping with sweat. "Wait, I'm in good shape" I say to myself. But I'm not in "Yoga shape"; this much is clear. Sun salutations, Cow's mouth pose (what the hell is that?), licking the toes of one foot while combing my hair with the toenails of the other foot - all things our instructor ask of us... and we gladly attempt to do. "Is this guy just toying with us?"

He walks around the room. "Good, good, nice, excellent" then he comes to me "sweating, sweating, sweating," then back to the others "good, nice, good" then to me "sweating, sweating, sweating." At one point, the pose seems very easy to me. I think "I've got this, it's just a matter of adjusting to this stuff." Then the voice from in front of the room "You are 100% incorrect!"

Yoga may be good for some people, but I don't believe that it's good for me ;)

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Bhopal and back

2 April

This weekend the larger CSC group traveled to Bhopal, a name long synonymous with the world's largest industrial accident, now 28 years past. I didn't really know what to expect, having only looked briefly at the region during planning emails a few weeks before our trip. We had great time.

Heading to Bhopal, we crossed the Tropic of Cancer.

After arriving in Bhopal, we headed to Sanchi, a Buddhist monument and a major pilgrimage site.

Next, we visited Udaygiri Caves which have ancient carvings and statues of Hindi significance (more carvings which I'll skip here) and then on to our hotel for the night, an old converted fortress with heavy Islamic influence and tradition (separate swimming time for women in the pool, no alcohol). While eating dinner, the power went out at the hotel (we lose power everyday at least once), evidence of India's widespread issues with power management and infrastructure.

On Sunday, I was awakened just before 6 am by the hauntingly beautiful call to prayer for Muslims. I've heard this before on TV and movies, but this was different. It felt ancient, poignant. Big time cliche, but I felt like a stranger in a strange land.

Our group split, some going to other caves with ancient paintings and my group opting to go "non-tour" and walk on our own around downtown Bhopal, where we wandered through a park and suddenly found ourselves under a tree that seemed alive with movement. Bats - huge ones, like we'd never seen. Flying foxes (or Pteropus). Here's some video of one of the groups.

Next we walked and finally rickshawed to a market area. A man calls to us "cobra." Could it be? He quickly pulls out a small cobra, maybe 2.5 feet in length while asking for payment. Not the charmer with flute we'd seen in the movies, but it's certainly isn't everyday that someone pulls a cobra from a duffel bag!

Later on to the Taj ul Masajid. We were told this is the 2nd largest mosque in Asia.

Sometimes life gets busy and you don't remember when to pray. We've got you covered.

On the way home that night, I get an action shot of a family on a scooter. We're going about 65 mph and they are moving at approx. 45 mph. I get this shot from the car window. Count them - 1,2,3,4,5. Helmets? Pffff - for wimps only (almost no one in India uses them).

Someone needs eggs and they need them yesterday. The Egg Brothers aim to please.

It's amazing to visit these places - no doubt. And I can admit to being spoiled having traveled a good amount. But for me, it's rarely about the amazing engineering feat, or the intricate stone carving or how good past civilizations were at Math. What does impact me as I stand in these places is how man, almost as far back as we can figure, wanted to document, express himself, worship and challenge himself in ways we can relate to today. For me, witnessing the connective thread is worth the price of admission.

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How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Your colors remind me of summer, beautiful yellow partners with verdant delight. Your horn, like that of a swan. Your breath runs over me in the open air. You are the auto rickshaw of my dreams, and I pinch myself, but alas, I am not sleeping, but here with you. And we ride as one.

Hoping I'm not getting too intimate here, but I must tell you of my newly found love. She delights me, and a day without her is like day without laughter.

Our crew here has grown to marvel at the traffic - - scooters, some with up to  people on (usually a small child or infant if there's 5 - no helmets), small cars, large buses, cows, dogs and a tremendous amount of regular bikes thrown in for good measure. But the beat that drives the music of these streets is the rickshaw. They're cute, fun and intimate (usually fits 3 people tightly, but there are slightly larger ones) and just a blast! See the happy faces of our team and decide for yourself.

Or how 'bout this happy shot! Well, almost everyone...

Could the auto rickshaw contribute to world peace? You're not alone in thinking this, I've considered it as well. Envision Palestine/Israel talks where the leaders discuss issues while riding around town enveloped in "rickbliss." This could be the paradigm shift that is required to move the big issues of the world forward.

It's not crazy, it's the rickshaw.

Take the "Rickshaw Challenge"- - Eat a plate of this:

Then mix in a bowl of this:

Now jump in the rickshaw and ride on the bumpiest roads you can find for 20 minutes. If you're like me, you'll be glad you did!

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Luck of the draw

Seeking what is true is not seeking what is desirable.” ― Albert Camus

Today we went to our work site and met with our client, the Urban Health Resource Centre. After an initial few hours of further discussion around our project, we boarded an auto rickshaw, the hands-down transportation favorite of our group, as it's a sanctioned way to take your life in your own hands (stay tuned for more on this at some point) and went to visit two slums in Indore.

Of course, we were going to see the conditions (our host agency went easy on us and didn't take is to the worst there are), but also to meet with an incredible group of women and children.

Most people I know - - myself at the front of the list - -  would wither to nothing in a matter of very short time in the conditions in which these women and children live. Yet these women have organized to form a Federation. This is a group of woman from different slums areas (called bastis) who get together to help organize around women's and children's health issues and other improvements to the slum. This is impressive enough, but doing this in a male-dominated society makes this mountainous challenge even the more massive.

The group of children was equally impressive. Bright (my teammate from Japan told me that India school children are known for their advanced math skills, doing double digit multiplication where most countries only do single digit in elementary school. Masashi proceeded to test them!) and optimistic (they shared what they want to be when they grow up), we could only leave them knowing that few would get a chance to reach their dreams. One of the most hopeful interactions was when they showed us a poster-sized drawing of what they wish their slum could be. It had a hospital, pool, playground, temple and other things a child should have. 

They waved and smiled at us as we left, leaving a me with, what felt like, a 3-lb. stone in my stomach, and a feeling that life is a card game where the deck is stacked against innocence.

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Pachyderm mania (Day 2)

The last thing you want to do while walking in Indore is drift and lose your attention. No mindless moments permitted by the sidewalkless roads, crazed autorickshaws, scooters, cars and buses. As the hot sun beats down on me, I see a hulking outline moving toward us in traffic ahead. Is this one of the side effects of the malaria pills I'm taking? Is it a flashback from Woodstock (wait, was I even at Woodstock?)?

We're treated to an elephant and his owner who stop to pose. One of our team members, Delfina, touches our big friend and gets an "elephant welcome" - a friendly spray down!

Meanwhile these two guys point to the elephant and, with smiles and hand signals, try to convince me that they're infinitely more interesting to photograph. You know, at closer inspection, maybe they're on to something?

The people of Indore are very interested in us. We stand out, no question. One member of our team, Jessica, with blonde hair, is particularly of interest. It's been fun watching the locals watch her. I may have to dye my hair!

People seem to really like getting their picture taken. Here's a shot of a family of 4 on a scooter (I've seen as many as 5 people on a scooter). I asked if I could take their picture. I love this shot. But the real beauty was after when I showed their son his picture on my camera. His expression was the photo I'd love to have captured. Generous of this family to let me take a part of them for my memories.

The people of Indore are very friendly. I've shaken many hands of strangers on the street. I'm novel, they're novel. It's hard to know who's more intrigued and I suppose it doesn't matter.

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Some things move fast...(day 1)

...but not me. We fly across the sky at over 300 mph and are gently placed on the ground. Then into a taxi, but only now do we get a sense of flying. Scooters slip by us as we drive on the left side of the road (strange enough for me). I see up to 3 people on some, weaving around bikes weaving around cars weaving around bikes and scooters. Each honking its horn. I know that it's not about singing your part and all about joining the choir. We're thrown suddenly forward and to an abrupt stop...just short of a bull in the road, missing it by inches. My teammate and I glance at each other - That could have been bad. But it wasn't and so goes life in Indore India, at a party we've crashed and about which we know so little. We try to understand the secret handshake. Later, we move slowly. Walking around our new home for a month to come. It feels strange. Hot, dusty, a constant noise that begins to almost fade in your head before it comes on even stronger. Smells, some quite strong. Fuel, smoke, food, feces. We walk thru market places, dodge traffic as if we're in a video game, only not frogs this time hopping across the road.

Can you find the cow in the first shot? #ibmcsc #ibmcsc india

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(Paul Hoffman) Liftoff!

Well the day is here. I'm seeing final home-based blogs from CSC peers talking about heading to the airport, pictures of baggage ready to go. There's an unmistakeable  sense of excitement, likely hiding some normal anxiety.

Time for me to put my stuff - - sitting in piles, shirts folded and counted and recounted (neurosis shines brightly during pre-travel packing I find!) - - into the baggage.

My trip begins in Boston from where I head to Paris to connect to the flight to Mumbai, India. A six hour layover and early flight the next morning from Mumbai and, in just a little over 24 hours of travel, I'm in Indore.

More soon from India. And I promise some photos soon to keep this interesting! (After all, you don't really want to see piles of shirts, socks, and my luggage do you?)

#ibmcsc #ibmcsc india

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More on what's ahead

Back to where I'm heading and what I'll be doing.

Our team of 12 is headed for Indore, India. Indore is located in the western part of Madhya Pradesh, on an elevated plain. It will be warm when we arrive (it's 95F today), but we're told it will be over 100 degrees for much of April. No spring for this NH boy.

My team members (the overall group) are from all around the world - Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Canada, Australia, Japan and Mexico (3 of us from the US and 2 from Australia if you're doing the math). For the last 3 weeks, after being given our Statement of Works (what we're to do for the organizations we'll be working with), we've been split off into 4 teams of 3 each. My teammates are Delfina from Argentina and Masashi from Japan.

Our smaller team will be working with an agency called the Urban Health Resource Centre (UHRC) whose mission is to bring about sustainable improvements in the health conditions of the urban poor by influencing policies and programs and empowering the community. Though we'll clarify exactly what we we'll work on at the onset of the project, our job for the 4 weeks is to create a Marketing and Branding Strategy plan, with a major emphasis on connecting the agency with funding. In the final days of the project, we present our plan to all of the key persons at the agency, and others we may encounter during our time there.

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18 March 2012 - The path

A few years back, I saw an email inviting IBMers to attend a call where an IBM Service Corp member ("What's that?") would talk about her experience in the field. Since that day, I'd had it in mind that someday I would apply. That day arrived last April when I took the step to clear the "possibility" of deployment with my manager. Meaning, if I made the cut (it's competitive), she would support my accepting the assignment and enable me to be away from my regular job for a month. She did! I applied and selected Asia as the continent of interest (the program attempts to honor the wishes of applicants in selecting a continent for a project, but you have no choice regarding the project).

Now it was a matter of waiting about 6 weeks after the application process. I tried to put it out of mind but it was always lurking in my thoughts. Then one day in late May, I got an excited instant message from my manager - "I need to talk to you right now." Uh oh, what did I forget to do? I could hear the excitement in Ann's voice. "You got in! You've made the Service Corp." I was so convinced it would take me multiple applications to the program, that it took a while to sink in.

The Corporate Service Corps - often called IBM's Peace Corp. - was launched in 2008 to help provide IBMers with high quality leadership development while delivering strong problem solving for communities and organizations in emerging markets. You can learn much more about the program here.

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