Frodo@World Waternet: 1# The First 500 Days

Dimanche a Bamako

Starting with a ‘petit dejeuner’ at hotel Taxi Bamako gives me time to digest the trip from Amsterdam to Bamako – and my first footsteps in Mali. As it is my first professional travel after leaving Myanmar in 2019, I already notice some similarities on a personal and professional level to living/working abroad (in Mali). It is also a thin line between inspiration and complexity. It is the personal leadership and the drive to contribute to sustainable transformation, equity and impact. So before even having started this journey I am already enriched with valuable questions and reflections to bring further over the coming week.

 Visiting the SOMAGEP drinking water production plant with Thierno Sissoko

Enchante

Last year felt like a year with everyday something new and ‘the first time for everything’. After almost 500 days in my new position, it feels like this first travel was (not surprisingly) THE missing piece to complete the cycle and connect the dots. The adventure now finally awaits to personally meet our WOP partners in Mali and Burkina Faso, and to be precise I am looking forward to meet DG Mme. Ouma Djeneba (ANGESEM), DG Bakary Coulibaly (SOMAPEP), DG Dramane Coulibaly (SOMAGEP), and many more of their colleagues. Besides our passion for water, we have more in common, as we are all new into our position and therefore even more important to meet face-to-face.

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Diversity

As you can read on our website, we have a very diverse portfolio of projects and partnerships. This visit will provide me of more in-depth and personal insights of our partnerships.  It also strengthens my belief in the ‘power of diverse thinking’, and I can recommend the book ‘Rebel Ideas’ of Matthew Syed or listen to the podcast ‘How to Fail’ (). I feel inspired by exchanging perspectives with our WOP partners on their long-term vision, and tomorrow's challenges.

Meeting the team of l'Agence de l'Eau du Nakanbé (AEN)

Digital transformation and empowering local eco-systems

I am also a bit nervous to step into the reality of our recently published Business Plan 2021-2024, but from day one in Mali I am very proud how we managed to engage digitally with our WOP partnerships and colleagues working/living in our local WOP eco-systems. Local representation is crucial and so valuable. The digital learning curve was steep, and it wasn’t easy to continue the implementation of our projects, while working on our digital transformation; but I believe we are more connected and aligned than before Covid-19 started. This is one of the strategic benefits of our long-term commitments, to start from scratch is more challenging as building relationships (and trust) takes time. I am even more proud about the empowerment of our inspiring (young) colleagues working and living around our WOPs. 

Water stories and Leadership

People like to share stories, and it starts with sharing your own (personal) water story. I am inspired by learning more about the journeys of our partners and hopefully we can support them also in communicating and visualizing their story and strategic journeys better. I believe we can also improve our leadership and empathy in truly understanding our WOP teams. 

Problems are too complex for any one person to tackle alone. The willingness to share, to offer knowledge and creative ideas, pays huge dividends in a world of complexity. I feel the joint responsibility to challenge myself and question if ‘I am able to pool our insights and knowledge and build on each other’s solutions and to boost our collective intelligence?’…

500 days of learning by doing

Being on the ground for the first time - after more than 500 days - gives me a lot of excitement and energy. My French welcoming speech in Mali and Burkina Faso also feeling more and more natural… and they feel at least like they are appreciated. I would like to make an impact with World Waternet, and every trip should contribute to our mission/vision. 

I want to thank our partners and my colleagues for their time and dedication to transform the WOP water story into a more empowered, educated, and exciting one. This is only the beginning, and the best has yet to come as long as we are willing to unite our insights and knowledge, and build on each other’s experiences. 

To continue my personal learning curve, and to share more about our work, please find my first ever ‘behind the scenes’ VLOG.

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