Think, prepare, rehearse... Linen, laundry and lotions...

Week three flew by working with the partners.  I continue to be honored and humbled to work with such bright, dedicated people.  If I can offer in return even half what I learn from them, I will feel I have contributed a lot.

The statements of work were shared with the full Corporate Services Corps team and the team has been divided and sub-divided and assigned to one of four projects.  Now the team's preparatory work shifts from learning about Ghanaian culture and cross-culture teamwork to learning about their specific partner and their partner's projects.

Meanwhile, I am working with both partners in-person as well as with the Peace Corps staff in Ghana trying to prepare resources and interviews so the team achieves full productive state as quickly upon arrival as possible.  For example, in two days we collaborated to write and distribute a survey to Peace Corps volunteers countrywide that will help us identify overall trends associated with girls' education and also identify specific villages where we might interview community leaders, school teachers and staff, parents and students.

I would be remiss to not mention the Peace Corps' acceptance of and collaboration with me.  In many ways I feel like I'm working with longtime colleagues and friends, whom I've only recently met.  Perhaps this is a testament to the similarities between the two cultures and affirms the decision to partner.  I think it also reflects the individual staff members, who have received me such that I feel like a peer.  I feel we have hit a productive pace that comes to some organizations only after a long elapse of time, and eludes other organizations completely.

On the professional side, I find myself thinking about a mantra instilled in IBMers minds of late by our current CEO, Ginni Rometty, "Think, prepare, rehearse."  We are asked to think about what needs to be done, prepare to do it and then "rehearse", which in some cases means "practice," or "act."  I try to end each day thinking about what the next steps are and preparing materials so when I arise the next morning, I'm ready to accomplish things for the client. 

That's all well and good and I'll get an A+ for reciting the corporate mantra.  But, there's a reason I prepare the night before versus in the morning. 

I understand that the 90+ degree Fahrenheit weather (32+ degrees Celsius) I have experienced here so far is "cool."  The harmattans currently grace Ghana; that is the dry trade winds blowing from the Sahara towards West Africa bring a pretty steady breeze and abundance of Saharan dust right now.  My body this time of year expects below freezing temperatures and abundant snow...and wind chill factors....that is how I define "cool."  But being as this is the "cooler" time of year here in West Africa, the air-conditioners (if they are available) often sit silent.  Hence, linen has become my ally because it breathes. 

However, the fine coating of dust means every morning I'm washing out yesterday's linen garments.  In addition to my morning laundry, my morning preparations involve a cast of lotions and potions to repel mosquitoes and sand fleas, shield my fair skin from the sun, rehydrate my skin from all the dry dust, countermand the allergies I have associated with dust, and lacquer my hair to my head so the dusty wind does not coiffe my hair with that certain, "I just rolled out of bed." look.

Before coming to Ghana I had read in the book, "No Worries, the Essential Guide to Living in Ghana" that the authors could not emphasize enough the importance of a cotton and linen wardrobe.  I heeded their advice and crafted some cotton and linen skirts and unlined linen jackets for myself before I came.  I am beyond grateful for the advice and that I took it to heart.

I'm also glad my thinking, preparing and rehearsing to come to Ghana conjured up lessons from Girl Scouts...because I also brought my bandana...the one that accompanied me on all scouting trips, and that I just used to wipe off my laptop's screen so I could see through the accumulated patch of dust to write this fine missive.

Think, prepare, rehearse....  Linen, laundry, lotions... and a bandana.