Hands-on Agastya!

It´s been a week already since we arrived to Bangalore. My #ibmcsc #india team has done a lot of progress collaborating with our partner, Agastya International Foundation, a Bangalore based NGO that seeks to transform and stimulate the thinking of economically disadvantaged children, through innovative science education in government schools. "Sparking curiosity among students, to create confident children", they said. And I was impressed. Earlier this year while I was thinking about my personal and professional objectives for 2015 I came to the conclusion that "becoming a confident grown up" was top on my list, and here I am now, supporting an NGO which mission is to transform children´s attitudes from"fear" to "confidence" through education... Not a coincidence, is it? Every single day in India seems to be a learning opportunity to me.
Our project aims to build a roadmap for a Donor Management System deployment, to support the administration of current and future donors, specially from a fund-raising perspective. Recently India´s government has approved a new regulation to enforce private sector´s commitment to local development, having companies above certain revenue level giving the 2% of their net profit to NGOs, which will definitively increase their budget, and therefore non-government organization´s activities in-country.
We were invited to an event in a the Engineer Institute in Bangalore, where we got to see a science lab (and played a little too!!). It has been amazing. I am attaching some pics below!
Coni Caorsi.

Ready to work@ #ibmcsc #india

I can´t believe it´s Sunday night!! After a long flight (over 40 hours) and a bit of a panic attack after being told my luggage was missing -and Emirates had no record of it being checked-in!!- it seems  weekend is up and we are getting ready to meet our partner tomorrow!
Bangalore is a beautiful city: full of trees, flowers and plenty of tuc tucs*!! Our hotel is next to Ulsoor Lake, a very nice area. We have visited a palace, a local park and a very crowded "commerce" street yesterday. It is hot but usually windy, so the heat is not that bad. And food turned out to be great!!I have had not only Indian food, but also Vietnamese and European!
But what I have enjoyed the most during the last few days is the time spent with the #ibmcsc #india 26 team. It is such a beautiful group of people! Everybody is happy to assist you as family would at home. Smiles 24/7.
Today we attended a workshop to become more familiar with Indian society, culture and politics, among other topics. I could not avoid thinking how many things we take for granted at home, and I am so happy to collaborate in a project to improve children opportunities through education. What a great challenge to come...
After our first team dinner tonight, I came back to the hotel to find my dear dear (so dear) luggage waiting for me in the lobby. So now YES, I´m ready! Meeting with my sub-team for breakfast tomorrow to prepare for Monday´s agenda.

*tuc tucs are the local taxis, I am attaching a pic below! 

Getting ready for #ibmcsc india: first challenge, trying not to miss my dog so much!

I have always been some sort of homesick. As a child, I remember my first night away from home at my godmother´s: it was all fun until bedtime, when I realized my mother was not there to kiss me goodnight. I was crying so hard, that my godmother had a tough time trying to put me to bed. After a while, she succeeded.
I am thirty now, will definitively text my mother, but my dog Buda will be the one I really miss at night. As he has epilepsy & hydrocephalus -causing him seizures from time to time - it will be hard on me dealing with the fact that if something happens to him, I will be just too far away to help.
But the truth is Buda will be in good hands, and I trust God (give it any name you´d like) will support us both during this journey.
Before going to bed I will try thinking about him so hard, that he can feel my hands rubbing his floppy ears, despite we would be over 9, 300 miles away.

Only two weeks for arrival@ #ibmcsc india!!

I am very excited about this opportunity to participate in a program to develop leadership skills while addressing economic challenges in emerging markets!!!
It is going to be my first time working in such a different culture from mine, collaborating with a team of twelve IBMers from Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Mexico, Netherlands, UK, US & myself from Argentina! I already had the opportunity to work with some of them, and everybody seems very nice and respectful... Being engaged with such a group of top talented professionals will be indeed a true learning opportunity for me.
Upon arrival, adapting to Bangalore culture may be a real challenge!! I have so many thoughts about how Indian people will be like, from everything I´ve read, watched in movies, heard from former visitors... everything comes down to this idea about India being so special! I will keep my eyes and heart open to this extraordinary experience! I am positive I will be delighted =)
From a food perspective, I am a little concerned as I heard no salads at all, but all cooked vegetables! (gosh! I need to work this around with my nutritionist as I am on a diet!! LOL). But to be honest, as long as there is some cold beer I am opened to try any type of cuisine! I am sure it is great too!! And I do think it is part of the #ibmcsc india challenge!!
I will keep you posted!!!