Tuesday, January 14, 2014

22 days until take-off

This new adventure to Ludhiana, India for the IBM Corporate Service Corp is now starting to feel real: 1. I am preparing my list of back-ups and open tasks to review with my manager and teams, 2. I have been working on my post CSC India adventures (Taj Mahal, Nepal, Veranasi on the Ganges river and ending on the beach in Goa) 3. Yes, I have already started packing, see picture below and 4. most importantly we found out who our customer and our customer teams are!! Eduardo (from Mexico), Kazu (from Japan) and I will be working with the Swabhimaan NGO who provides education for underprivileged children in India. These are children whose families live on less than $1USD per day and live in the Ludhiana, India slums. The three of us are going to develop a 5 year strategic plan to grow within Ludhiana and potentially into greater India, we will also look into recommendations for branding and sustainable funding sources, try to recommend possible partnerships with national and international organizations and if we have any overall ideas on improving the existing processes of the organization. Part of our requirements are going to include the opportunity to meet with the children, see the schools and meet the parents that are sending their kids to these schools. I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity and hope we can achieve the goals set for us. I am very lucky to have a group of coworkers and friends, not to mention my husband! who are all doing things for me that are allowing me to go on this journey and enabling me to give my time to the people of Ludhiana.

8 comments:

  1. OMG!! I'm so excited for you Cathy!! This is certainly an exciting news to start off the 2014. Looking forward to the upcoming updates on your India adventures. Congratulations on this oppty! - Lan Shing

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  2. Congratulations Cathy and thank-you for including me as part of your readers ... I will follow your blog with anticipation and enthusiasm. "And without sounding condescending: I am very proud of you" (stole that line from Pretty Woman, but it conveys my thought nonetheless)

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  3. Hear from you more.. have a safe trip Cathy

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  4. I can't wait to follow your journey. Best of luck...you're so inspiring.

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  5. Good luck Cathy. I look forward to hearing about your experiences over the next few months. Very excited.

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  6. Congratulations Cathy! I hope you can enjoy every minute of this "mission" since it is a great opportunity. Good luck!

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  7. Safe travels Cathy, and enjoy the experience. It was the best project that I have been apart of. I look forward to hearing about your time in India.

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  8. Hey Cathy - congratulations and have a great trip! You know I learnt a few things after I read your news. First, that there is a place called Ludhiana. Second that it is about 300 km from Delhi. Third, that is has over 1.5m people living there. Amazing isn't it how India (and China) have all these large cities that we just never hear of.

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