I am writing this blog as I just found out that the CSULA Today magazine has been published last week. It highlights the work done by CSULA students, in designing interventions for the children in Africa.
I intend to take 10 CSULA graduate students to Mozambique to implement these interventions. I am looking for funding sources to make this a reality. If anyone out there is reading this blog and is interested in helping, please contact me and I will be happy to provide a detailed overview.
Thanks!
Manisha
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, November 24, 2008
CSULA Graduate Students Make a Difference
I will write about this in detail soon. Until then read the article published in Cal State LA Today. At the end of the article is a link to the two papers depicting work done by CSULA students to design interventions for Africa.
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/publicat/today/
http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/ppa/publicat/today/
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Deepak Gadhia: Gadhia Solar Energy Systems
In my endeavors in finding an expert in solar energy in India, I came across the name "Deepak Gadhia" in my google search. Deepak and his wife Shirin have received many awards, also from the President of India, in promoting solar technology and renewable resources not only all over India but in several other countries. I went to India with a list of names of vendors who were dealing in Solar Cookers. The first contact on my list was Deepak Gadhia. I called him once I was in India, not knowing that he would personally answer the phone. In my phone conversation with Deepak, I felt very comfortable and we arranged to meet in Baroda city at Muni Ashram (in the state of Gujarat), where he was delivering a lecture.
I booked my train tickets and was on my way to Baroda with my parents. It was my first visit to the city. We booked a hotel in downtown and arrived a day earlier. It was hot and humid. The humidity was just too much for me to handle. I booked an auto-rickshaw and next morning arrived at Muni-Ashram. The drive to the ashram was very beautiful. My rickshaw followed a curved road paved with coal tar and trees on either side, some parts landscaped with open fields and men and women in colorful clothes working in the fields. I arrived at the ashram feeling rejuvenated by the cool and fresh air. I arrived early and while I waited for Deepak (which is what he wanted me to call him, by his first name), I took a mini tour of the hospital located in the ashram. The hospital had a state of the art technology, with high tech diagnostic labs, MRI and CT rooms, Oncology department, cancer researach center and plush waiting rooms. The premises inside looked like any other hospital in a America. I was amazed with the place, and could not beleive that this was all in a remote village of India.
Deepak arrived soon and we had an hour long conversation introducing each other of our background. Deepak told me that his lecture was cancelled and he only flew down to Baroda to meet with me. I was touched. I found Deepak's demeanour very friendly, humble and warm. He shared with me his life story in a nutshell and how he got involved in solar energy projects. He was a very amiable and down to earth. We chatted for a while getting acquainted with each other. The more I got to know about Deepak and Shirin, I was very impressed with their accomplishments and their commitment to help not only the needy in India but any global community. For them the world was their home. It will take me an entire different blog post to write about him and his wife Shirin. Will save it for now for another posting and get to the real business.
In Deepak and Shirin, I found kindred spirits. Deepak then took me on a tour of the Muni-Ashram, introducing me to all the board members and staff at the ashram. Here are some pictures that I took at the ashram and will write about it soon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/manisha.javeri/IndiaSolarEnergyProject
Also here is the link to Deepak's website on Solar Energy Solutions.
http://www.gadhia-solar.com/
Please click on the video link to watch the videos. The first video will give you a very good idea of what has been implemented by Deepak and Shirin in India and other parts of the world.
I booked my train tickets and was on my way to Baroda with my parents. It was my first visit to the city. We booked a hotel in downtown and arrived a day earlier. It was hot and humid. The humidity was just too much for me to handle. I booked an auto-rickshaw and next morning arrived at Muni-Ashram. The drive to the ashram was very beautiful. My rickshaw followed a curved road paved with coal tar and trees on either side, some parts landscaped with open fields and men and women in colorful clothes working in the fields. I arrived at the ashram feeling rejuvenated by the cool and fresh air. I arrived early and while I waited for Deepak (which is what he wanted me to call him, by his first name), I took a mini tour of the hospital located in the ashram. The hospital had a state of the art technology, with high tech diagnostic labs, MRI and CT rooms, Oncology department, cancer researach center and plush waiting rooms. The premises inside looked like any other hospital in a America. I was amazed with the place, and could not beleive that this was all in a remote village of India.
Deepak arrived soon and we had an hour long conversation introducing each other of our background. Deepak told me that his lecture was cancelled and he only flew down to Baroda to meet with me. I was touched. I found Deepak's demeanour very friendly, humble and warm. He shared with me his life story in a nutshell and how he got involved in solar energy projects. He was a very amiable and down to earth. We chatted for a while getting acquainted with each other. The more I got to know about Deepak and Shirin, I was very impressed with their accomplishments and their commitment to help not only the needy in India but any global community. For them the world was their home. It will take me an entire different blog post to write about him and his wife Shirin. Will save it for now for another posting and get to the real business.
In Deepak and Shirin, I found kindred spirits. Deepak then took me on a tour of the Muni-Ashram, introducing me to all the board members and staff at the ashram. Here are some pictures that I took at the ashram and will write about it soon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/manisha.javeri/IndiaSolarEnergyProject
Also here is the link to Deepak's website on Solar Energy Solutions.
http://www.gadhia-solar.com/
Please click on the video link to watch the videos. The first video will give you a very good idea of what has been implemented by Deepak and Shirin in India and other parts of the world.
Solar Energy in India: A way of Life
Solar energy is the most readily available source of energy and it is free. It is also the most important of the non-conventional sources of energy because it is non-polluting and, therefore, helps in lessening the greenhouse effect. There are three major types of solar cookers popular in India. Before we delve deeper, let us look at the basic types of solar cookers (information from the site http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles/SolarCookersinIndia.asp)
The following are three popular ovens used in India.
Most popular in India are the box type solar cookers with a single reflecting mirror being promoted by the Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources since 1982. These cookers are manufactured mainly by small/tiny industries to a set of specifications developed by MNES, later approved by Bureau of Indian Standards. There is an estimated potential demand of 10 million solar cookers in this country. In India a major portion of the market is covered by box type cooker and a small portion of the market share is taken up by community type box cooker/parabolic type cooker. Manufacturers intending to manufacture and market solar cookers under the subsidy scheme have to compulsorily get the cooker tested and certified by an authorized test center. There are about 40 manufacturers whose combined annual production capacity is 75000 solar cookers.
These cookers have proved immensely popular in the rural areas where women spend a lot of time foraging for firewood.
To popularize the solar cookers in urban areas the Ministry has formulated a strategy to introduce cookers with electrical backup which consume low electrical power.
Solar cookers are available with and without electrical back in different sizes and can be procured from dealers/manufacturers/nodal agencies/Aditya solar shops all over India.
A family size solar cooker is sufficient for 4 to 5 members and saves about 3 to 4 cylinders of LPG every year. Life of this cooker is 10 to 20 years. This cooker costs around Rs. 1000 after allowing for subsidy.
Concentrating solar cookers have been developed and deployed but the quantity is low and until wider acceptance is gained or some modification is made in the concentrating solar cooker which will allow the solar rays to be directed to a hot spot inside the kitchen, people will shy away from these giant contraptions.
A community type parabolic concentrating solar cooker developed by ULOG Group of Switzerland is being promoted by an NGO in Gujarat and has met with moderate success. This cooker is designed to direct the solar heat to a secondary reflector inside the kitchen which focuses the heat to the bottom of a cooking pot. This cooker costs upward of Rs. 50000 and it is also possible to actually fry, bake and roast food. More than 50 such cookers have been deployed under a project sponsored by Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute and Gujarat Energy Development Agency.
Unique in India is the solar steam cooking system installed at Brahmakumari’s Ashram at Mount Abu with financial assistance from German Government. This system consists of 24 Scheffler paraboloid reflectors, two each of which are installed to focus sunlight on a square type insulated fin and tube receiver. Twelve such receivers are focused by 24 reflectors. The concentrators track the Sun automatically using a mechanical clockwork arrangement and a DC motor run by photovoltaic power panel helps in resetting the reflectors to face the Sun as required. This system generates 500 Kgs of steam which is enough to cook two meals for 500 people. More than 1000 people can expect to receive cooked food from this system within an hour, provided sunshine is adequate.
Types of Solar Ovens
The following are three popular ovens used in India.
See Table:
| Box Cookers | Panel Cookers | Parabolic Cookers |
 |  |  |
| When a glass covered chamber coated black inside and insulated all around is exposed to sunlight the temperature inside exceeds 100 degree Celsius, which is sufficient to cook food. More heat can be achieved by having an exterior reflector. The solar box cooker incorporates these features. | Roger Bernard in France came up with this design, where various flat panels concentrate the sun's rays on to a pot inside a plastic bag or under a glass bowl. The advantage of this design is that they can be built in an hour or so, from next to nothing. In Kenya, these are being manufactured for the Kakuma Refugee Camp project for US$2 each. | These are usually concave disks that focus the light onto the bottom of a pot. The advantage is that foods cook about as fast as on a conventional stove. Seen above is one model and there are many others possible. |
| Slow, even cooking of large quantities of food is possible Takes more than 3 hours to cook | Relatively quicker, but can cook only smaller quantities | Food can be cooked in half an hour. The disadvantage is that they are complicated to make, they must be focused often to follow the sun, and they can cause burns and eye injury if not used correctly. |
| With a single-reflector box cooker, once the food is cooked, it just stays warm and doesn't scorch.You can put in a few pots with different foods and then come back later in the day and each pot will cook to perfection and stay hot until you take it out. | Some people have reported the need to stir food every once in a while when using this kind of cooker, to ensure that the food heats evenly. | Cooking with a parabolic cooker is very similar to cooking on one burner of a conventional stove. Since the concentrated sunlight shines directly on the bottom of a pot, the pot heats up and cooks very quickly. The food will burn though. So you have to stir it and watch it carefully. |
| Box cookers with one back reflector don't need to be turned unless you arecooking beans, which take up to 5 hours. | Panel cookers need to be turned more often than box cookers, since they have side reflectors that can shade the pot. | Parabolic cookers are the most difficult to keep in focus. These need to be turned every 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the focal length. |
These cookers have proved immensely popular in the rural areas where women spend a lot of time foraging for firewood.
To popularize the solar cookers in urban areas the Ministry has formulated a strategy to introduce cookers with electrical backup which consume low electrical power.
Solar cookers are available with and without electrical back in different sizes and can be procured from dealers/manufacturers/nodal agencies/Aditya solar shops all over India.
A family size solar cooker is sufficient for 4 to 5 members and saves about 3 to 4 cylinders of LPG every year. Life of this cooker is 10 to 20 years. This cooker costs around Rs. 1000 after allowing for subsidy.
Concentrating solar cookers have been developed and deployed but the quantity is low and until wider acceptance is gained or some modification is made in the concentrating solar cooker which will allow the solar rays to be directed to a hot spot inside the kitchen, people will shy away from these giant contraptions.
A community type parabolic concentrating solar cooker developed by ULOG Group of Switzerland is being promoted by an NGO in Gujarat and has met with moderate success. This cooker is designed to direct the solar heat to a secondary reflector inside the kitchen which focuses the heat to the bottom of a cooking pot. This cooker costs upward of Rs. 50000 and it is also possible to actually fry, bake and roast food. More than 50 such cookers have been deployed under a project sponsored by Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute and Gujarat Energy Development Agency.
Unique in India is the solar steam cooking system installed at Brahmakumari’s Ashram at Mount Abu with financial assistance from German Government. This system consists of 24 Scheffler paraboloid reflectors, two each of which are installed to focus sunlight on a square type insulated fin and tube receiver. Twelve such receivers are focused by 24 reflectors. The concentrators track the Sun automatically using a mechanical clockwork arrangement and a DC motor run by photovoltaic power panel helps in resetting the reflectors to face the Sun as required. This system generates 500 Kgs of steam which is enough to cook two meals for 500 people. More than 1000 people can expect to receive cooked food from this system within an hour, provided sunshine is adequate.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Background of Solar Energy Project for Mozambique
Background of my Visit to India and Solar Energy Research
It has been almost a year since my visit to Africa. A whirlwind of trips followed after that to Toronto, Quebec city, Hawaii, Colorado, San Francisco, Chicago, and finally to India. In the last one year I have spend more time on the plane and airport then I have at my place in Los Angeles. The purpose of my visit to India was related to my continued work in Africa. Below are the project details:
African Millenium Foundation (the los angeles based NGO, that sponsored by Africa trip in 2007) and Dr. Neal Baer (executive producer of Law and Order) along with some sponsors from Hollywood are planning to implement a solar oven project for in Mozambique (Sustainable Solar Oven Project for the Women in Maputo (Mozambique)
Current Situation in Mozambique:
Several miles outside of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique is a sprawling community with around more than 6000 children orphaned by AIDS. These children live in their houses within the community who are practically raising themselves or are taken care of by the women living in the neighborhood. Many of the women have themselves lost their husbands to AIDS and are also single handedly taking care of their own 3-4 children along with other orphaned children.
In summer of 2008, I (sponsored by AMF) visited this community first hand to conduct a needs assessment of the situation in Mozambique. The needs assessment included onsite visits with several families, interview with the women care givers and activists. These women care givers and activists are the women from the community who have taken on the responsibility of serving their own people. Also some of the teenage girls and boys have joined hands with women caregivers and activist. Of the several needs of the women in Maputo and Gaza district, one of the greatest needs was getting fuel for cooking. The firewood was very expensive and so many women would walk several miles in the rugged terrain to get wood for cooking. This practically took over their entire day, leaving little time for these women to engage in any other activities and for the girls to go to school. Also the smoke and carbon emission from the fuel burning polluted the environment, leaving several children with respiratory disorders. It is very evident that if the women had access to solar cookers/ovens many of these problems could be alleviated.
Goals and Objectives:
The overarching goal of this project is to create a sustainable and replicable training program on the implementation of solar ovens among the women in Maputo. This goal will be achieved by the following objectives:
1. Conduct analysis of the needs of the women in Maputo with regard to their cooking and fuel requirements.
2. Conduct research and needs assessment to find the solar oven model that best fits the needs of the women in Maputo.
3. Introduce the concept of solar energy to the women in Maputo.
4. Train the women in Maputo on the use of solar ovens and their application in cooking, baking, sterilizing water etc.
5. Conduct formative and summative evaluation during and after the implementation of the training on solar ovens in Maputo.
6. Document best practice examples of the use of solar ovens by the women in Maputo to be able to replicate in another community
It has been almost a year since my visit to Africa. A whirlwind of trips followed after that to Toronto, Quebec city, Hawaii, Colorado, San Francisco, Chicago, and finally to India. In the last one year I have spend more time on the plane and airport then I have at my place in Los Angeles. The purpose of my visit to India was related to my continued work in Africa. Below are the project details:
African Millenium Foundation (the los angeles based NGO, that sponsored by Africa trip in 2007) and Dr. Neal Baer (executive producer of Law and Order) along with some sponsors from Hollywood are planning to implement a solar oven project for in Mozambique (Sustainable Solar Oven Project for the Women in Maputo (Mozambique)
Current Situation in Mozambique:
Several miles outside of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique is a sprawling community with around more than 6000 children orphaned by AIDS. These children live in their houses within the community who are practically raising themselves or are taken care of by the women living in the neighborhood. Many of the women have themselves lost their husbands to AIDS and are also single handedly taking care of their own 3-4 children along with other orphaned children.
In summer of 2008, I (sponsored by AMF) visited this community first hand to conduct a needs assessment of the situation in Mozambique. The needs assessment included onsite visits with several families, interview with the women care givers and activists. These women care givers and activists are the women from the community who have taken on the responsibility of serving their own people. Also some of the teenage girls and boys have joined hands with women caregivers and activist. Of the several needs of the women in Maputo and Gaza district, one of the greatest needs was getting fuel for cooking. The firewood was very expensive and so many women would walk several miles in the rugged terrain to get wood for cooking. This practically took over their entire day, leaving little time for these women to engage in any other activities and for the girls to go to school. Also the smoke and carbon emission from the fuel burning polluted the environment, leaving several children with respiratory disorders. It is very evident that if the women had access to solar cookers/ovens many of these problems could be alleviated.
Goals and Objectives:
The overarching goal of this project is to create a sustainable and replicable training program on the implementation of solar ovens among the women in Maputo. This goal will be achieved by the following objectives:
1. Conduct analysis of the needs of the women in Maputo with regard to their cooking and fuel requirements.
2. Conduct research and needs assessment to find the solar oven model that best fits the needs of the women in Maputo.
3. Introduce the concept of solar energy to the women in Maputo.
4. Train the women in Maputo on the use of solar ovens and their application in cooking, baking, sterilizing water etc.
5. Conduct formative and summative evaluation during and after the implementation of the training on solar ovens in Maputo.
6. Document best practice examples of the use of solar ovens by the women in Maputo to be able to replicate in another community
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Update on my Blogging
Dear friends,
Many of you have been anxiously waiting to read my travel adventures in India and projects in Africa. However, my laptop has died and I am unable to type anything. Using a cybercafe to write long blogs is not feasible. As soon as I am back in LA in september and get my laptop fixed, I will resume writing.
Thanks for your patience and please visit my blog in september.
In a nutshell, I am having a wonderful time here in India currently. I am in Delhi and am learning so much about renewable energy resources, particulary solar energy. There is so much to learn and so little time.
Hope you all are having a wonderful time as well.
Manisha
Many of you have been anxiously waiting to read my travel adventures in India and projects in Africa. However, my laptop has died and I am unable to type anything. Using a cybercafe to write long blogs is not feasible. As soon as I am back in LA in september and get my laptop fixed, I will resume writing.
Thanks for your patience and please visit my blog in september.
In a nutshell, I am having a wonderful time here in India currently. I am in Delhi and am learning so much about renewable energy resources, particulary solar energy. There is so much to learn and so little time.
Hope you all are having a wonderful time as well.
Manisha
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Ripples of Change at Reencontro
I have been extremely busy with several projects and so have not been able to write much on my blog. However, I received some great news and could not resist myself from posting it on my blog.
Last night I came home from work after a very long day. It was 9:30 pm when I walked into my apartment and I saw several men with big water pumps and dryers, yelling and screaming at each other. That morning the water in the building was shut down for some repair and I had left one of the taps in the bathroom sink open. The sink stopper was closed and water flooded my entire apartment and started leaking down the lower floors. The carpet was all soaking wet, the closet clothes (that were on the floor) were all wet, the entire bathroom area, half of the bedroom and the living room was all wet except my couch. Luckily my laptop was on the desk and not on the floor that day. The security men from the building left after most of the water was suctioned out. Other then updating me with what happend, none of the men spoke with me at all (Of course angry at my negligence!). I was up until 3:00 am trying to dry all my clothes and clean up as much as I could. I was very tired, was dizzy, felt miserable, and was missing my family and neighbors in India. If something like this would have happend in India, my entire family along with all my neighbours would be right there with me cleaning up and the place would be fixed in few hours.
I woke up in the morning after 4 hours of sleep to the stench emanating from the wet carpet. I looked around me and did not know where to start. I thought of calling my work place and taking the day off to take care of the mess (which I could not do eventually). While I got on the computer to e-mail my department chair, I read the e-mail that I received from Malena Ruth from African Mellinium Foundation. Below is the e-mail content pasted.
******
Dear Manisha,
Hope all is well and that your apartment is being cleaned.
I thought you would love to know that my dear friend Gloria Ruben and her fiancé Chris Zalla will be sponsoring Irenio's family. It takes 5,400 a year to care for his family, from school fees, clothing, food, medical assistance, etc. Thanks to YOU, the future of Irenio's family looks much brighter. They are committing 5,400 a year for this family. Olinda found a company that will build a house for them and Gloria and Chris will pay to have the house furnished. Once again thank you a million times for your courage and being diligent and pointing out the needs that this family had. At least you can rest assured that your trip to Mozambique is already producing amazing results. Interesting note, Gloria is coming back to ER for an episode I will let you know when it will air.
Much love,
Malena
*******
When I read this e-mail, I took one glance at the mess around me and jumped out of couch and started cleaning up. I was so estatic that Irenio's family now has a home!!! If you all remember, in my past blogs on Reencontro, I had written an entire story on Irenio's family that had deeply touched me and everyone else who had read my blog. This family of six children were in dire need of a safe home to live (You can read more about in my archived blog). On my last day in Mozambique, I had breakfast with Dr. Neal Baer (the executive producer of Law and Order) and Chris Zalla (a film maker from New York). I had talked about all the kids who had left an impression on me and I really wanted to do something for them. I mentioned to Neal and Chris about Irenio's family and was hoping that they would take their story and tell it to the world. Neal Baer and Chris Zalla are now making a documentary on their lives and I believe the shooting is already done. I have also video-taped their story with my Mini DV camera and am working on making my own version of a mini-documentary that I can share with my family and friends.
So after all, at the end of the day, I am happy that I have a roof over my head and just a wet floor with some stink......as somewhere in another continent I was able to help someone get a home with dry floors :-)
More later!
Last night I came home from work after a very long day. It was 9:30 pm when I walked into my apartment and I saw several men with big water pumps and dryers, yelling and screaming at each other. That morning the water in the building was shut down for some repair and I had left one of the taps in the bathroom sink open. The sink stopper was closed and water flooded my entire apartment and started leaking down the lower floors. The carpet was all soaking wet, the closet clothes (that were on the floor) were all wet, the entire bathroom area, half of the bedroom and the living room was all wet except my couch. Luckily my laptop was on the desk and not on the floor that day. The security men from the building left after most of the water was suctioned out. Other then updating me with what happend, none of the men spoke with me at all (Of course angry at my negligence!). I was up until 3:00 am trying to dry all my clothes and clean up as much as I could. I was very tired, was dizzy, felt miserable, and was missing my family and neighbors in India. If something like this would have happend in India, my entire family along with all my neighbours would be right there with me cleaning up and the place would be fixed in few hours.
I woke up in the morning after 4 hours of sleep to the stench emanating from the wet carpet. I looked around me and did not know where to start. I thought of calling my work place and taking the day off to take care of the mess (which I could not do eventually). While I got on the computer to e-mail my department chair, I read the e-mail that I received from Malena Ruth from African Mellinium Foundation. Below is the e-mail content pasted.
******
Dear Manisha,
Hope all is well and that your apartment is being cleaned.
I thought you would love to know that my dear friend Gloria Ruben and her fiancé Chris Zalla will be sponsoring Irenio's family. It takes 5,400 a year to care for his family, from school fees, clothing, food, medical assistance, etc. Thanks to YOU, the future of Irenio's family looks much brighter. They are committing 5,400 a year for this family. Olinda found a company that will build a house for them and Gloria and Chris will pay to have the house furnished. Once again thank you a million times for your courage and being diligent and pointing out the needs that this family had. At least you can rest assured that your trip to Mozambique is already producing amazing results. Interesting note, Gloria is coming back to ER for an episode I will let you know when it will air.
Much love,
Malena
*******
When I read this e-mail, I took one glance at the mess around me and jumped out of couch and started cleaning up. I was so estatic that Irenio's family now has a home!!! If you all remember, in my past blogs on Reencontro, I had written an entire story on Irenio's family that had deeply touched me and everyone else who had read my blog. This family of six children were in dire need of a safe home to live (You can read more about in my archived blog). On my last day in Mozambique, I had breakfast with Dr. Neal Baer (the executive producer of Law and Order) and Chris Zalla (a film maker from New York). I had talked about all the kids who had left an impression on me and I really wanted to do something for them. I mentioned to Neal and Chris about Irenio's family and was hoping that they would take their story and tell it to the world. Neal Baer and Chris Zalla are now making a documentary on their lives and I believe the shooting is already done. I have also video-taped their story with my Mini DV camera and am working on making my own version of a mini-documentary that I can share with my family and friends.
So after all, at the end of the day, I am happy that I have a roof over my head and just a wet floor with some stink......as somewhere in another continent I was able to help someone get a home with dry floors :-)
More later!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
My Meeting with His Excellency Armando Guebuza President of The Republic of Mozambique
About two weeks ago, I was vacuuming my apartment in my dirty old T-shirt and smelling of Clorax, when I received a phone call from Malena. She asked me if I was available to meet with the President of Mozambique as he was going to be in New York City for the United Nations convention and would like to meet with me about my visit to Mozambique. So, I leave my cleaning half way and work on finishing my report related to my visit to the University of Unilurio, as I was supposed to present my report to the President. I then realized that I did even know the name of the President. So I googled him and that evening caught up on read everything about him.
I start my preparation for my meeting with the President. Malena had booked my tickets and had made all the plans for my visit. First, I had to request my department chair to find a substitute for my class. My department chair would not believe me that I was meeting with the President. He sent out a hilarious e-mail to all my colleagues and I finally had one of my senior colleague who offered to substitute for me. By the way my department chair is one of the kindest, caring and a wonderful man that I know. I promised him to get a picture of me with the President as a proof. I took a red eye and flew to New York city on tuesday night, right after my class that evening. I could not sleep all night in the plane with the excitement of not only meeting the President but also meeting my childhood friend who I had not seen for more than 14 years and with whom I had not spoken to in more than 20 years. I arrived at 8:00 am in the morning and took a shuttle to Grand Central station where I was meeting my friend. The whole world seemed to stand still when I saw my friend. We went down memory lane and talked about our childhood and school days. It was pretty nostalgic and I was “the happiest” in a very long time. I knew then, my meeting with the President that evening was going to be just perfect. And yes it was!
I arrived at the New York Palace hotel on Madison Ave, that evening, dressed in black trying to look professional. I walked through the security tight entrance of the hotel, into a magnificent lobby all decked with flowers, with several men and women sitting at tables, drinking wine and eating colorful desserts. I found myself a secluded table, waiting for Malena who was going to meet me there. I was half hour early, so it gave me time to bring myself back to the present reality as I had drifted away to my childhood days since that morning. As I sit there at the table, lost in thoughts and intermittently catching on the conversations around me, a gentleman walks up to my table asking me if he could sit there. He sits down and we ended up just chatting about the hot weather and the UN convention. He then extends his hand introducing himself as the Chief Analyst and advisor to the President of Zambia. I at once wake up from my semi slumber. We then talk about all my travels and work in Africa and at the end of the conversation, I got invited to visit Zambia in summer of 2008. It was then that it struck me that everyone in that hotel lobby was either a President, or a Vice President or Chief advisor, Analyst etc and that they all were attending the United Nations Annual Convention.
Later, I met Malena and her husband Joe who went up to the President’s suite while I waited again to be called in. I was again lost in thoughts when the President’s secretary Maria walks upto me in the lobby and says “The President is waiting for you”. I walk with her and take the elevator upstairs accompanied by NYPD cop. I was then led to the President’s suite along with Malena and Joe. I shake hands with the President, his advisors and other cabinet ministers after Joe introduces me to everyone. We all sit down and Joe gives a very glowing introduction of Dr. Javeri. It was only at the end of his introduction, I realize that he was speaking about me. I then address the President and provided him candid details of my visit to Mozambique. He listens to me very intently while the press is clicking away pictures from all angles. The President eyes lit up when I talk about my one-on-one interactions with the students of the University of Unilurio and he asked me if they were able to communicate with me in English. I told him yes, the students were very smart, intelligent and articulate. I then handed him my 30 page report and my vision related to building a technology infrastructure at the University. We talked about it for another 20 minutes and toward the end, the President promised me that he would read the report and will get in touch. I then asked him if I could take a picture with him using my camera as I needed to provide a proof to my boss. He kindly obliged and we took several pictures. I am posting the one we took with Malena as well. I shook hands with everyone and left the room. As soon as I came out of his suite, I was surrounded by press who interviewed me about my talk with the President. I and Malena came down in the lobby, chatted for a while over coffee and a quick dinner; while Joe her husband came down to tell me that I spoke very well with the President and that he was very impressed with my candid and honest spirit. It was still very surreal for me to really grasp the situation. Malena, then helped me find a cab and I drove back to the JFK airport. It was a long 45 minute drive to the airport, enough time for me to relive the memories of one of the most memorable day of my life, seeing my long lost friend and meeting the President of Mozambique.
I start my preparation for my meeting with the President. Malena had booked my tickets and had made all the plans for my visit. First, I had to request my department chair to find a substitute for my class. My department chair would not believe me that I was meeting with the President. He sent out a hilarious e-mail to all my colleagues and I finally had one of my senior colleague who offered to substitute for me. By the way my department chair is one of the kindest, caring and a wonderful man that I know. I promised him to get a picture of me with the President as a proof. I took a red eye and flew to New York city on tuesday night, right after my class that evening. I could not sleep all night in the plane with the excitement of not only meeting the President but also meeting my childhood friend who I had not seen for more than 14 years and with whom I had not spoken to in more than 20 years. I arrived at 8:00 am in the morning and took a shuttle to Grand Central station where I was meeting my friend. The whole world seemed to stand still when I saw my friend. We went down memory lane and talked about our childhood and school days. It was pretty nostalgic and I was “the happiest” in a very long time. I knew then, my meeting with the President that evening was going to be just perfect. And yes it was!
I arrived at the New York Palace hotel on Madison Ave, that evening, dressed in black trying to look professional. I walked through the security tight entrance of the hotel, into a magnificent lobby all decked with flowers, with several men and women sitting at tables, drinking wine and eating colorful desserts. I found myself a secluded table, waiting for Malena who was going to meet me there. I was half hour early, so it gave me time to bring myself back to the present reality as I had drifted away to my childhood days since that morning. As I sit there at the table, lost in thoughts and intermittently catching on the conversations around me, a gentleman walks up to my table asking me if he could sit there. He sits down and we ended up just chatting about the hot weather and the UN convention. He then extends his hand introducing himself as the Chief Analyst and advisor to the President of Zambia. I at once wake up from my semi slumber. We then talk about all my travels and work in Africa and at the end of the conversation, I got invited to visit Zambia in summer of 2008. It was then that it struck me that everyone in that hotel lobby was either a President, or a Vice President or Chief advisor, Analyst etc and that they all were attending the United Nations Annual Convention.
Later, I met Malena and her husband Joe who went up to the President’s suite while I waited again to be called in. I was again lost in thoughts when the President’s secretary Maria walks upto me in the lobby and says “The President is waiting for you”. I walk with her and take the elevator upstairs accompanied by NYPD cop. I was then led to the President’s suite along with Malena and Joe. I shake hands with the President, his advisors and other cabinet ministers after Joe introduces me to everyone. We all sit down and Joe gives a very glowing introduction of Dr. Javeri. It was only at the end of his introduction, I realize that he was speaking about me. I then address the President and provided him candid details of my visit to Mozambique. He listens to me very intently while the press is clicking away pictures from all angles. The President eyes lit up when I talk about my one-on-one interactions with the students of the University of Unilurio and he asked me if they were able to communicate with me in English. I told him yes, the students were very smart, intelligent and articulate. I then handed him my 30 page report and my vision related to building a technology infrastructure at the University. We talked about it for another 20 minutes and toward the end, the President promised me that he would read the report and will get in touch. I then asked him if I could take a picture with him using my camera as I needed to provide a proof to my boss. He kindly obliged and we took several pictures. I am posting the one we took with Malena as well. I shook hands with everyone and left the room. As soon as I came out of his suite, I was surrounded by press who interviewed me about my talk with the President. I and Malena came down in the lobby, chatted for a while over coffee and a quick dinner; while Joe her husband came down to tell me that I spoke very well with the President and that he was very impressed with my candid and honest spirit. It was still very surreal for me to really grasp the situation. Malena, then helped me find a cab and I drove back to the JFK airport. It was a long 45 minute drive to the airport, enough time for me to relive the memories of one of the most memorable day of my life, seeing my long lost friend and meeting the President of Mozambique.
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