Thursday, July 10, 2014
Day 2: 5/2/2014
On the next day, as obedient as I have always been, I
reported at the Polo house GDC (Geothermal Development Company) office at 8am, ready with my PPE’s. I got to
know my other attachees apart from my classmate, there was Patrick, Nashilobe
and Njoroge….hence the short forms Pato, Nash and Njoro. We were then referred
to Generation House that housed the Drilling Operations department. There we
met Mr. Stephen Kangogo, the Chief Drilling Engineer and yes am always amazed
by this simple kind man, not just because he also did his Engineering at JKUAT
like me, but also due to his understanding approach to issues.
He welcomed us for a cup of tea as he planned for some
logistics to ensure our learning process was in place. As we finished our cup
of tea, we caught a first glimpse of drilling operations at GDC (Geothermal Development Company) through a
management meeting that was just organized int the same room we took our tea
just as we were leaving the room. There were a few presentations set up and
though we could not understand much at that time, we saw something to do with
well progress….anyway, not important for this context.
To our disappointment, Mr. Kangogo called us back to his
office and humbly requested us to come on the next day as the logistics were
not yet complete for our integration into the field. So we left with our “new”
friends and decide that since we were new in town we would walk around till we
were tired and then take a nap to prepare for the next day because just as we
were leaving, we met Mr. Koloi who really talked to us in detail about how good
life was at GDC (Geothermal Development Company) and emphasized on how much work there was especially in the
field at Menengai.
This meant that it was one of our free days in Nakuru so we
really went out and had fun so that when we start going to Menengai we would
not regret it….consolation my friend.
Till Day 1 : Reporting on 4/2/2014 and how it goes.
Five of us were picked from two universities, two from
Mechatronic Engineering department at JKUAT (including myself), and three from
Mechanical Engineering department of Kimathi University. We were called on
phone on 30th January 2014 by the HR Mrs Moraa and told to give our
email address that had to be used to send us our offer letters.
So I gave my email address via text and the offer letter was
sent. The main emphasis in it was the PPE’s that were required. Otherwise, the
HR officer told us to report at Polo house in Nakuru on Monday 3rd
February 2014. I and my friend Justus went to Nakuru that Monday and were
welcomed well and told to sit in the waiting room till we are called because
there was another ongoing interview. Of course we did interact with the
mechanic interviewees in the waiting room as they did their final preparations
before they got into the interview room.
What I learnt from here was that GDC (Geothermal Development Company) has a good community
policy that ensures some jobs are given to locals in a rotational contract
manner so that the cake is at least equitably shared among the youth. I always
laugh about it when I remember how tensed some of them were in the waiting room
compared to how lively they were in the field because I got to meet some of
them later in the field at Menengai and they are simply different.
Later in the afternoon, we were called by the HR officer who
confirmed our PPE’s were in order then told us to come on the next day so that
she could hand us over to the drilling department as stated in our offer
letters.
I cannot skip this 4pm moment when I felt really new in a
town I had never stayed other than just seeing it on my way from Lugari to
Nairobi. By good luck and a bit of thanks to my kind approaches I met a cleaner
who lived around and explained to him that I was new to Nakuru and could not
know where I could find accommodation.
So he accepted to take me around and show me some of the
good hostel where I could find accommodation and so down we walked from Polo
center towards MKU, past Evans Hospital and finally I found myself asking for a
room at Norraine Paradise hostels. I found the rates a bit favorable, meals and
accommodation for 5500/= per month, not a bad deal. I talked to my very
supportive parents and the accommodation issue was sorted once and for all. I
proceeded to my room and was set up for the internship, a visit to the
supermarket that evening to get a few basic items and I was settled.
Something I found strange about the hostel was the “Panga
bell” that rung just as I coming from the supermarket and it sounded weird
because it gave me that Maseno School impression….and the thought that I would
have to put up with this for a whole three months? Ha ha ha.
The Preamble
 |
| I and Patrick at GDC |
It’s on our industrial trip at Sameer Africa on June 26th, 2014 and I still stand out with my “very old” overall that I kept after my
attachment at GDC (Geothermal Development Company) just to reminding me of my beautiful moments at the company. My
friend Justus with whom we were with on attachment at GDC (Geothermal Development Company) had thrown away his
overall which really shows how bad of a state it was. I am always proud telling
others am the more experienced student engineer just because the overall tells
it all…..like being through the ringer, something close to that and I liked
it….just proud. I still stand up for my statement that GDC (Geothermal Development Company) is the best Drilling
Company in Africa, not because I was there for my final attachment but because
of the organized operations I was part of for those three months.
Which sane person stays on unpaid attachment for three
months? This is one of the rude claims I could make before I joined the company
for attachment in February 2014. I thought like,”Since this attachment is
unpaid, I will stay for three months just to fulfill my department requirements
and then I will be gone!” Ha ha….What happened? This is the journey I will be
taking you through this blog “The memoirs of a GDC (Geothermal Development Company) intern”.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)