The Power To Make A Difference

The birthday wishes started coming in early this morning, through emails and Facebook. And if you thought you knew when my birthday is, nope, you didn’t get the dates mixed up. The event is tomorrow, but a lot of people feared that they might forget /not get the chance to send their messages/gifts over the weekend. So they did it today. Which was great, because it feels as if I’m celebrating my birthday twice.

Thank you all for your warm regards and well wishes. Much appreciated.

Nurturing leaders of tomorrow

Started the work day with an early morning meeting at the Innovation Hub in Pretoria, where a group of post-graduate students were presenting a proposal for a case management system for real life use at the Department of Home Affairs.

The system itself sounded promising, and the presentation was good (and very funny). This was part of my research to profile The CoachLab, as the Joburg Centre for Software Engineering is launching a similar initiative on Tuesday.

The thing I want to highlight about CoachLab@JCSE is that focus is not on the software programme that the students develop as part of their project; it’s on helping students bridge the gap between student life and the world of work, acquire business skills and become strong leaders.

Competition to enter the programme is fierce, and the companies that sponsor the programme invest time and effort into their charges.

Meet the students of CoachLab@JCSE 2009

Email me if you do ICT, education and social impact related writing and would like to know more about the programme or want to attend the launch event. My email address is on the profile page of this blog.

BTW, this is the one time I will not whine about having to go to Pretoria. Traffic to and fro was light, and Pretoria was considerably warmer than the iceberg we call Joburg. Felt like I was being defrosted while in that city, so it was all good.

A ringtone for your mobile

My normal writing day began around 11am, and included the usual: writing, updating sites etc.
If you liked the OneLove DVD I posted yesterday, you might want to download the song. It’s now posted on the web site.

The power to make a difference

I also wrote and posted on NY Mafia. The post is entitled:"The Power to make a difference," and looks at what we, as bloggers, can use our skill and resources to contribute to society's development.

Thank you, Muhammad Yaqoob, for inviting me.