First Day at Work

Finally!! The day we'll meet our clients has arrived and we are dressed to impress!

In his welcome message, Bapak Husein Ahmad, Secretary of BAPPEDA provided an excellent overview of the West Java District and of the plans to make it the Cyber Province of Indonesia.
He was followed by presentations from Bapak Rudi Mahmud Zafrullah from PUSDALISBANG, Bapak Sofyan Sastrawiria from BPPT and Bapak Dudi Sudrajat Abdurachim from DISKOMINFO.
Ibu Hartini Haris, IBM Indonesia Marketing Manager presented the CSC program with some historical details.

All parties concluded this kick off meeting sharing a delicious Indonesian lunch.

The second part of the day consisted in a community activity in a library to encourage children to stay in school.
We first had to spend an hour in the car that drove us across town to the library but the fantastic welcome reception we received was well worth the wait and the time spent in traffic.
The children had prepared, rehearsed and memorized a series of songs, poems, dances and martial arts demonstrations with traditional instruments and costumes. What a welcome! We were as impressed by the show as they were to learn about the extreme cultural variety of our team.

The kids had the opportunity to participate in several activities and contests including using the Kids Smart computers, coloring building Origami models.

We all had a lot of fun and all CSC members had to sign at least 50 autographs and take numerous pictures with young and old alike! They felt special and so did we, especially since I was called Obama..lol

What a great experience and opportunity to share with the children and inspire them to reach their potential.

There are over 10000 schools in the West Java district. Kids Smart technology was provided to 2500 in 2011, 1000 in 2012 and an additional 1000 are scheduled to receive it in 2013. IBM is really making a difference where it matters; in the life of thousands of tomorrow's leaders!

After this tiring but so rewarding first day at school work, some went straight to bed while others enjoyed a well deserved massage or found the energy to indulge in culinary pleasures.

I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds in store for our team after such a terrific start...