Africa Calling

Its 5:45am, the dawn is breaking outside and we are in the office doing our last minute checks. In 2 hours Warid Congo will open its doors in a new country and become part of the commercial operations running in Pakistan, Bangladesh & Uganda.

There are many times when I thought that we will never get here just like many other times when I thought we were so close that I could reach out and touch it. I guess even with one's best efforts one has to count on a lot of faith and hope to get through life.

This also marks a change for me as what started as "my project" is now "my operation". And I am looking forward to working with the other members of the management team to make a difference.

UPDATE: 4pm

WOW! What a response! We are overwhelmed - both in Brazzaville & Pointe Noire. The business centres opened at 8am and within 30 minutes we had a queue of people wanting to come in to buy the SIMs. And even now the queue is there. Moreover, its like the whole company has come together for one purpose - to delight the customer. We have people from IT, Engineering, HR working on crowed control and helping people to fill forms. Inside the business centres the sales, customer services and finance teams are running around to serve the customer. Sweets baskets are being filled, fizzy drinks are bring served to the people who have been queuing in the heat and you see lots of smiles all around. And to make my day... the numbers are looking great! Alhumdullah!

See for yourself:







Let's pray that this is the beginning of something great.. Ameen!

Labels: bangladesh, congo, launch, pakistan, uganda, warid

As mentioned in my previous post, an Independence Day(s) party was held in Brazzaville. It was a blast (by Brazzaville standards) and both Pakistanis and Congolese had a lot of fun. The cake cutting ceremonies were patriotic and displayed a unique intersection of two nations which probably had never crossed paths before we came to Congo.

You can see more pictures of the Independence Day Party.

Labels: brazzaville, congo, independence day, pakistan

The cheesy line of the title is taken from the movie Independence Day. In a Survey conducted for Warburton in 2000, it has been rated as the 7^th most cheesiest movie line of all times.

Today is Pakistan is celebrating 60 years of independence. Since, the only Pakistanis in Congo are the ones who work in Warid Congo, we decided to get together at one of our guesthoues at midnight. As the clock struck 12, ten of us started singing the national anthem Pak sar zamin shadbad (Blessed be the sacred Land) at the top of our voices. Unfortunately, we are not very good at it; not only we sang out of tune, but also forgot lines. The performance can be view on YouTube video below:

For those who are neither Pakistani nor Congolese, the national anthems are as follows:

Pakistan

Pak sar-Zamin shadbad
Blessed be the sacred Land
Kishwar-e-haseen shadbad
Happy be the bounteous realm
Too nishan-e-azm-e-aalishan
Symbol of high resolve
Arz-e-Pakistan
Land of Pakistan
Markaz-e-yaqeen shadbad
Blessed be thou citadel of faith

Pak sar-Zamin ka nizam
The order of this sacred land
Quwat-e-Ukhuwat-e-Awam
Is the might of the brotherhood of the People
Qoum, Mulk, Saltanat
May the nation, the country, and the state
Painda tabinda bad
Shine in glory everlasting
Shadbad manzal-e-murad
Blessed be the goal of our ambition

Parcham-e-Sitara-o-Hilal
This Flag of the Crescent and Star
Rehbar-e-taraqqi-o-kamaal
Leads the way to progress and perfection
Tarjaman-e-Mazi, Shan-e-hal
Interpreter of our past, glory of our present
Jan-e-istaqbal
Inspiration of our future
Saya-e-Khuda-e-zuljalal
Symbol of Almighty's protection

Written & Adopted in 1952.

En ce jour le soleil se lève
On this day the sun rises
Et notre Congo resplendit.
And our Congo stands resplendent.
Une longue nuit s'achève,
A long night is ended,
Un grand bonheur a surgi.
a great happiness has come.
Chantons tous avec ivresse
Let us all, with wild joyfulness, sing
le chant de la liberté.
The song of freedom.

Congolais, debout fièrement partout,
Arise, Congolese, proud every man,
Proclamons l'union de notre nation,
Proclaim the unity of our nation.
Oublions ce qui nous divise,
Let us forget what divides us
soyons plus unis que jamais,
And become more united than ever.

Vivons pour notre devise:
Let us live our motto:
Unité, travail, progrès!
Unity, work, progress.
Vivons pour notre devise:
Let us live our motto:
Unité, travail, progrès!
Unity, work, progress.

Des forêts jusqu'à la savanne,
From the forest to the bush,
Des savannes jusqu'à la mer,
From the bush to the ocean,
Un seul peuple, une seule âme,
One people, one soul,
Un seul coer, ardent et fier,
One heart, ardent and proud.
Luttons tous, tant que nous sommes,
Let us all fight, every one of us,
Pour notre vieux pays noir.
For our black country.

CHORUS:

Et s'il nous faut mourir, en somme
And if we have to die,
Qu'importe puisque nos enfants,
What does it really matter? Our children
Partout, pourront dire comme
Everywhere will be able to say how
On triomphe en combattant,
Triumph comes through battle,
Et dans le moindre village
And in the smallest village
Chantent sous nos trois couleurs
Sing beneath our three colours.

Written & Adopted: 1959, replaced 1969, restored 1991

Labels: congo, independence day, pakistan