What makes us a celebration always is the joy of giving and sharing. Arriving from 7 different countries and mentors from Canada and operations managers from USA, we the team of CSCCAN1 arrived in Halifax from India, Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Philippines, Romania & Australia.
Sharing the spirit of each of our countries and meeting our friends and colleagues from all over the world is spirit of CSC and we have one thing that bonds us further and it is IBM.. The passion for community service, the warmth of working together and being a home away from home recharges us for the month ahead working on social-impactful project that make the different to the Nova Scotia community
Visit to Halifax's Best Kept Secret! McNab Islands
McNabs Island is the largest island at the entrance of Halifax Harbour
in Nova Scotia. Part of the McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park,
McNabs Island is only a short boat ride from Halifax or Eastern Passage,
but feels like a world away with its colorful past and unspoiled
natural beauty.
Promoting and preserving McNabs Island’s many
historical and natural features is the Friends of McNabs Island Society,
a volunteer, non-profit charity.
Beyond hosting events such as
picnics, nature and historical tours, the Society produces informative
newsletters, a guide book, maps and brochures. It also works with Nova
Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Parks Canada to upkeep and
develop park infrastructure on the island.
After 3
months of pre-work along with our full time jobs, 15 of us boarded our
planes from different cities around the world, across several time
zones, different flight carriers, extremely unpredictable weather
conditions, after amazing visa and immigration stories to the 4 amazing
weeks of our lives.
On other side of the Planet, an absolutely
incredible woman Liesl Mulholland,
Program Manager from DOT for CSC Canada program was at the peak of work
to make our journey successful. That did not stop her from being at the
airport to receive each one of us, all through the day and night making
us feel warm, welcoming and to a very comforting start of the CSC
journey onsite. Thank you Liesl and DOT team for this most wonderful
welcome.
Despite
the time zones different and possible jet lag, all of us were at the
hotel conference room at 9.30 a.m except for 3 of us who were redirected
to Toronto due to fog weather conditions in Halifax as we landed. They
later joined us in the afternoon to continue with rest of our program.
9.30 am- 12.00 : Place Homewood Suites Hilton-Halifax Downtown.
As
we assembled after a refreshing coffee and breakfast, our mentors
Andrew, Mark & Rick joined us and we were so excited to see them
face to face after being guided & mentored for 3 months.
Probably
that’s the strength of CSC -Alumni who turn out to be absolutely
phenomenal mentors for the future teams. Our DOT team Andres, Liesl and
Alessandra were happy to meet and greet us and take us through the most
interactive Orientation session. We had the briefing on the upcoming 4
weeks agenda, host organizations & planned projects, details of the
formal kick off and closing ceremonies, and how we will be engaged
during our personal time.
12:30 pm : DOT team arranged for a great Asian-themed lunch, post which our 3 colleagues who flew from Toronto joined us.
12.45
pm : We started to McNab’s Island — a historical island that once
helped Halifax be the torch bearer to support protecting the Province
during two world wars.
1:15
PM: All of us reached Bishops Landing- Halifax Waterfront Marina and
boarded our first boat ride to McNabs Island with an incredible team of
enthusiastic ‘Friends of McNabs Island’ volunteers. (These amazing
environment conservationists do a yearly beach cleanup protecting the
ocean front and have a great interest in sharing the historical
significance of the islands and also taking us through a guided tour of
the place), DOT team, our mentors and all of the CAN1 team. (There were
plenty of occasions that we kept remembering our friend who couldn’t
join us due to her visa not coming on time yet and just wished for a
miracle and hopeful she joins us ASAP)
1:
30-2:00 PM Looking at the Halifax’s amazing natural beauty of the
Ocean, the skyline and lighthouses, the harbour, the Cruise Ships,
Yachts, Rowing boats and wonderful people, made us fall in love with the
place very naturally
2:00-5
P.M The historical tour to McNab Islands visiting the places of
significance and the fort and the great cannons that stand as a
testimony to the place that once which was at the peak of active
participation in border security of the land
7.30
PM-10 PM DOT team hosted a ‘Welcome Dinner’ at the local ‘The Local’
and we had great time bonding with the team, eating some good local food
and good music from a Nova Scotian fiddler.The Local was just few
meters away from the hotel and gave us a fair idea of the neighbourhood
to our home in Halifax for the next 4 weeks.
Amazing start to the most incredible journey of the #CSCCAN1 team.
