Since our visit to Isiolo, my team has been hard at work pulling together our final presentation and final report. We have all learned so much these past four weeks, it comes down to ensuring we are giving Millennium Water Alliance and Isiolo something tangible they can use to make the K-RAPID program successful.
First let me start by loving on my team. This is the best team I have ever worked with, hands down (and no offense to other teams I have worked with because the bar was high!). We all brought different skills and come from very different backgrounds and cultures, but that only made the quality of our work better. We didn't fight or argue, and when challenges arose we all worked together to come up with a solution and move forward. The level of professionalism, dedication, and comraderie was unbelievable. Even our clients couldn't believe we only just met in Nairobi, we acted like we have worked together for years!
But not everything was perfect! Just 36 hours before our final presentation, we are working in Bob's room going through our 260 slides. I had my laptop connected to the TV so we could all work together to review the material (obviously I was the one creating and editing most of the slides cause I am psycho about formatting). Balancing my laptop on the corner of a table combined with being Italian and unable to talk without flailing my arms resulted in me dropping my laptop and breaking the screen. Panic ensued, mostly by my team members who were wondering how we would finish the presentation. Bob was ready to call repair places across Nairobi and go there himself to get it fixed - times when you remember you aren't in NYC with a 24/7 Apple Store. Once we ensured the files were saved to an external drive we realized we could still project to the TV screen so spent the next 2 days working off the TV as a monitor. Looking forward to dealing with getting it fixed when I get home.
The four of us could barely sleep the night before our final presentation because we were so excited with what we were delivering to MWA and Isiolo. Four weeks ago we knew nothing about water, and now we feel like water experts, having dove into our project to learn as much as possible and coming up with some tools and frameworks that we really think will help make this new approach to creating a sustainable commercially viable model for water management work.
We had 10 organizations across 3 continents participate in our final presentation either in person or on the phone. We had a few technological glitches trying to video conference everyone in and ended up just using a conference call for those not in the room, but we didn't let that obstacle stand in our way of delivering a great final presentation. We were most thrilled that Honorable Amina, the Minister of Water from Isiolo was able to join us in person and make the 10 hour journey - we were unable to meet her on both our visits, only the former minister. She represents the people we focused on helping and will be responsible at the county level so it was great she was able to hear our final presentation in person.
Without getting into too many details (though more than happy to talk to anyone at length about our project) we delivered 3 key tools for Millennium Water Alliance to use to accelerate the adoption of the K-RAPID program.
- We created 3 personas and a journey map to articulate the vision for the future. One thing we quickly realized was that there were so many stakeholders involved, but none were able to clearly and consistently articulate how things would be different in the future. This is a tool that MWA can share with donors and partners, Honorable Amina can share with her fellow ministers in order to get her support and funding, and all the partners can use to focus on what they are trying to accomplish. Check out the 3 minute video (and big thanks to Courtney, Ross and Kevin who helped out from NYC in their free time!) to see the vision for Isiolo
- We created a Water Data Management Framework in order to understand all the data needed that would be the foundation for enabling 6 core capabilities to the County
- We detailed out that framework to understand all the activities needed to enable it (104 in total) and used a RACI matrix to assign Responsibilities, Accountability, Consulted and Informed roles to all 17 stakeholder groups.
With only four weeks to work on this project, we wanted to make sure we came up with tools and techniques that would last beyond our stay in Nairobi. The journey map is something they can share with stakeholders across all the counties they work in, not just Isiolo. The framework and the RACI we put together are probably 80% of the way there - but the point is how to organize themselves around what data is needed, who is going to get it, and how it will be used. We are all very proud of what we delivered because we really think it will help - this K-RAPID program is a new way of trying to create a sustainable commercially viable solution for water, and what we delivered can help them achieve that. Partners and water experts from around the world were impressed with what we were able to do in 4 weeks, the amount of detail we went to, and how we were able to articulate things in a new and refreshing way. I couldn't be prouder of my team and the work we did. I know we will all be keeping close tabs on the project and looking for ways to stay involved after we are back to our regular jobs.
I don't get emotional often or easily, but this was the second time I nearly cried during this project. There was a lot of gratitude and appreciation for our hard work and great progress, but when one of our clients said we were a gift from God, that nearly put me over the edge. I only hope our work has as much of an impact as this experience has had on me. We have not solved the water problems, but we have done our part to move things forward.
Our client took us out to a thank you dinner on Thursday night after our presentation and we had a great evening! Nice to unwind and spend time with our clients outside of the project, we really lucked out with great people to work with!
The next day before giving our final presentation to the IBM East Africa General Manager, Bob had the great idea of a Team Water farewell lunch. We had a great time eating, laughing and reflecting on the past four weeks and looking forward to how this experience will change our lives when we get back. We all agreed that this experience made us realize that some change is needed - we don't all have a lot of clarity on what exactly the change might be but as all of us are taking vacation after the project, we will have some more time to reflect before going home. We made a pact to have a call in a few weeks and check in on each other, and I am really looking forward to that. I know Bob will keep us all honest - he has a great way of understanding people and looking beyond the surface.D
Farewell Team Water Lunch
It was not easy saying goodbye to our clients, and our Kenya 10 team members, but I know these are people I will never forget and will keep tabs on!
Molly
#Kenyeah #LivinLaVidaVannucci #ibmcsc