But it changed me

A few months back I got an opportunity to "change the world", or so I thought, through IBM's Corporate Service Corps program. The program took me to Ghana—a place in sub-Saharan Africa—a place I never imagined visiting in this lifetime. I ate fufu, banku, kenkey, kelewele—foods I had never tasted or even heard of before. I lived, worked, had fun, and bonded with IBM-ers from Japan, US, Canada, Spain, Italy, Brazil, and India—heard "Good Morning!" in seven different tones ... oops ... eight ... can't forget the friendly Ghanaians. New sounds ... new tastes ... new smell ... new landscapes ... new people ... new stories—enough sensory and emotional stimuli to etch it in my memory ... permanently.

Amidst all such "newness"—at the intersection of society, business, and technology—we forged ahead with our assigned tasks (a series of socio-economic development projects) with a dogged determination to make a positive change in the world around us. I don't know how much of a change my work has caused in the lives of people I've touched, but it has changed me for sure. It has made me more open, understanding, accepting, and compassionate. And most importantly, since my return from Ghana, I'm carrying the spirit of Lovetta Conto, a little girl from Liberia, who grew up in a refugee camp in Ghana in order to escape the brutalities of civil war, and who makes pendants out of bullet shells.