... we've been introduced to the complete IC (In Charge) team

Yesterday we had agreed with Mr. Srivatsan to meet all the department managers (in Charge).
Today a meeting was scheduled, and Mr Srivatsan, CEO, addressed the department 'In Charges' to introduce us, explain our work and to help them understand what we require from the scheduled meetings... he even, there and then, asked for a department In Charge to go through a process!
This has been very helpful as we now all have a clear picture of what is expected from us as the first deliverable.... the scope is very wide and we have much work ahead of us!

நன்றி (nandri) Thank you Mr. Srivatsan!

Some pictures from our day at Sankara

Mr. Srivatsan going through a process

Excellence for the customer!

We also learnt a little bit more about South India, B. Bharath, our patient teacher explained that it was the custom to call people in India by their first name with a prefix, such as Mr, Miss, Dr... etc... He also told us about what the B. in his initial stands for, it is his father name... but not an easy name to remember: Balasubramaniam... so we all agreed to keep on calling him Barath.

Sverre, Alex & Barath at lunch in the canteen

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... & on the 27th september it was Amanda's birthday!

On the 27th we all celebrated Amanda's 29th birthday..... per her request we had pizza's in the Déjâ vu Hotel and as a surprise, Kevin, the hotel manager, got a cake for her!

Some pictures ....

Cordula, Amanda, Sverre & Alex eating non veg pizzas

Amanda's birthday cake!

Amanda making her wishes

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1st day at Sankara Hospital

Today we went to Sankara Hospital!
Dr, Ramani shared with us his 2020 Vision "Vision 2020 objective;i.e of providing 20/20 vision for all by the year 2020.Our network of 8 hospitals,having 1850 beds,reaching across 7 states and 2 UT's,aims to treat one million visually impaired people yearly,2020 onwards"

It is impressive to how this institution provides free eye surgery and service for those without means and finances this 80% of their operations with 20% paying patients. And also they are extremely efficient in how they run their operations.. they have centralised departments for the many hospitals they have opened.

Bharath, who is the head of community outreach & information systems showed us the complex. It is so impressive. The yogurt and milk used in the hospital to feed patients comes from their own cows; the food to feed them is also homegrown! We had the opportunity to try it in our chai and yogurt at lunch time, really worth while!...

We also met Mr. C.V. Shivatsan, CEO of Coimbatore Hospital, who shared with us in detail his expectations from our work here this month. We now have a clearer idea of what we need to deliver and already started meeting the ICs (In Charge) of the departments. 

We thought that it would be a good idea to share a picture of our office in Sankar

Alex, Bharath & Sverre

Sverre, Mercedes y Alex

More pictures from today

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...much to write about.... kick off with partners

.... a lot has happened over the past couple of days...
Sunday was a getting into Coimbatore day... much  like a relaxed spanish sunday... late lunch, we had a great thali  and no dinner because we ate late and too much! Instead we went for a beer to a hotel bar


Monday was big day... we finally met Dr. R.V. Ramani  and Bharath from Sankara Eye Care, our Partner for this month!

Kabi & Jailan presenting CDS

teams listening to presentations

Dr. R.V. Ramani - Founder & Managing Trustee
Sankara Eye Care Institutions - India

We had great initial meeting and it was an opportunity to listen to Dr Ramani explaining how Sankara Eye care Institutions came about. It was inspiring to hear how he and his wife, who is also a doctor, started the NGO.

After meeting, Sverre, Alex & I went for a quick visit to Arulmigu Eachanari Vinayagar Thirukoil Temple

.... evening meal at Grand Regent Hotel

More pictures from monday

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...first comments from Coimbatore

..after a long trip, Madrid-London, London-Mumbai... (nicely I met Alex in the plane which helped with the long flight). Spent the night in Mumbai, met most of the team at breakfast and then to the airport to our final destination.... Coimbatore,..Hotel Deja Vu. We finally all met! this is the India CSC 12 team :)

I'm liking Coimbatore very much... it is smaller, less busy & noisy than Mumbai.... spent a relaxed afternoon walking by and had a great indian Mushroom Dosa for dinner...
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All ready ... tomorrow I start the trip to Coimbatore!

 


Tomorrow will be 'the' start day...  This is after two months preparing for IBM's Corporate Service Corps assignment... Really looking forward to this great opportunity from IBM!
It will be a very early start and until saturday afternoon I will not arrive in Coimbatore

A little bit about Coimbatore...
Coimbatore is the third largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and Madurai. It's a lot like the rest of industrial India in essence but without the grey smoke-urban sprawl flavour. Surprisingly, it's a pleasant mix of busy bustle and small town ease despite being the business hub of textile and automobile industries in South India. At the foot of the Nilgiri Hills, it is the nearest large city to Ooty, the Queen of Hill Stations, and a very pleasant place to spend a night in transit. It is also close to the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border.

 More to come in the next few days.....
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