Kenya Diaries... (Part III)

June 15:
It’s Sunday and full of fun. I have been to my cousin’s place and enjoy delicious traditional food. I’ve also took a small round of Nairobi town and it was fantabulous!! I visited nearly all happening places of Nairobi i.e. Diamond Plaza, Village Market, Nakumatt Westgate, yaya center etc. Diamond Plaza is basically a market for Asian community where you will find a solution for all your need; Delicious Indian food, jewelry shops, tailors, grocery shops etc. I even visit a vegetable market and surprisingly Kenyan vendors try to convince customer in Guajarati and Hindi!
June 16:
Oh! It’s very difficult to wake up on Monday but I’ve to… I’ve started my trip towards Embu and Siakago at 6 AM and reached Embu by 8.30 AM. Here we had a meeting with our largest distributor and discuss a lot on women groups and their working style. We reached Siakago at somewhere around 12.30 PM and meet a women group’s leader. We also managed to bag some order from her. We come back to Embu by 3.00 PM and we had a meeting with another group leader over a lunch. We left Embu at 4.30 PM for Nairobi but our car had some mechanical problem we stuck on the highway! Somehow we managed to resolve it and reached Nairobi at 8.30 PM. It was very looong day for me.
June 17:
It’s bit relaxing after a day long trip to Mt. Kenya region. I’ve a meeting with KADET people at 2.00 PM so no more work in first half! Meeting was good and we finalized 3 road shows in Central and Western Kenya. We also work out new strategies on road shows and promotion of our products. It was over by 4.30 PM and I managed to reach home early. I hosted a booze party to myself as no one is there to give me a company!!!
June 18:
It was an ordinary day for me. In morning I had a brief meeting with Mr. Paul Madoc, company’s exclusive designer and Innovator (Don’t laugh guys here word “Innovation” is not so popular…lol!). He takes me through various functions of organization, Product knowledge, work functions etc. It was very informative session for me. Post lunch I prepared a proposal for tomorrow’s meeting with MANDELEO (NGO). That’s all for the day!

Kenya Diaries.... (Part II)

June 12:
Second day at office!
My boss allotted me a mentor Mrs. Magdaline; she has been working in rural areas especially among women groups since 1996 so it will be a great help for me to understand rural market. I got a cell connection today so now I am connected with friends and family. The whole day I spent in making presentation on given assignment. It was another boring day for me; let’s see what comes in to my way tomorrow!
June 13:
Oh! Another good day at office…I got my next week’s schedule; I will have to travel throughout the Kenya next whole week. It will be fun, I hope! I have to visit many NGOs and SHGs and try to understand their working style and company’s position among those groups. I met a German delegation working for UNICEF they are here in Kenya since last six months and working in eastern Kenya where >70% of the population is below poverty line and most of the region affected by insurgencies, because the province is bordering with Somalia. Now I am just waiting for weekend to come so that I can have some good break!!
June 14:
It’s Saturday and I have to work for half day somehow it gives me a feeling of our own Indian work culture; but the only difference here is people are more relaxed and come on work on Saturday for just sake of it. No one is bothered to work on Saturday but still they follow the rituals by attending office on Saturday. For next whole week I am on tour so not sure about when can I get a time to write, but let’s hope for the best…..
Adios!

Kenya Diaries..... (Part I)

Friends keep visiting this space...I will keep you updating at regular intervals!!
June 09:
It’s raining heavily outside and I am waiting for my flight to Kenya at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai. My flight got delayed by an hour and I have to wait, no other option left!!!
CSIA’s condition is very pathetic due to renovation under progress (As authority claims!!)…No one is there to assist passengers, not even single signage which can guide you properly. In this situation it is very difficult to navigate especially for the people flying first time. I helped two old ladies going to Canada to fill their Immigration forms; they were roaming directionless and ask everyone to help them as they didn’t know English.
I am feeling sleepy now so it’s time to take a small nap……
June 10:
Finally, I have been landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi. It was totally different experience from CSIA. Airport staff is very cooperative and always ready to help you. Very well managed and specious airport compared to CSIA. I got business visa for 3 months so now can stay and work here! Company sent a car to pick me up and Mongi (My Driver) is very humorous personal, Company gave me 2BHK apartment with all amenities but it seems boring to stay alone. One interesting thing I would like to share with you is Suzy – The caretaker of my apartment is a black woman but she cooks excellent Indian food! It really surprised me!!! Don’t know how many more surprises I will get… One strange thing is that, here no one except USD printed before 1999 and I am still searching for the answer…..
June 11:
Somehow I managed to wake up early as I have to reach at office by 8.15 am and it will take 30 minutes to reach there. My reporting boss (Group CMO) introduced me with his staff and assigned me a small research work to complete within 2 days. Everyone in the company seems very cooperative and I feel very comfortable to work with them. After lunch he introduced me to Group GM and he literally screwed me by asking me lots of questions which I never hear about it, at one moment I thought I am gone but then he smiled and explain the whole concept. Mr. Dave (Group GM) is simply the “MARKETING GURU” and I didn’t surprise when I came to know that twice a year he is flying to Ahmedabad to teach marketing to IIMA students!
Way back to home I’ve seen road side market and it represents different Kenya…a poor, hungry Kenya which I’ve never come across earlier! Inflation rate is roaring very high after February general elections in Kenya and Per Capita Income is $ 1200 (Source: Wikipedia), 23% of people lives below poverty line and earn less than $1 per day, which makes their life miserable.

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