I feel dead tired, but I just want to force myself to type this post so I can remember the way I feel today. 

As I'm sure you've noticed, I recently fell into the blogging abyss despite my promises to update more. I'm not even going to apologize. I was reading online that if you want to have a successful blog, you have to commit to posting at least two times per week. That will never happen. This blog may be mediocre at best!

Anyway, I've been eating, sleeping, and breathing a very important presentation for our company. We were shortlisted for a contract to provide biometric voters identification cards for the whole of Gambia through the Independent Electoral Commission in the country. Sounds great, huh? The only problem is that we were shortlisted along with the leading international producers of this technology. It was a true David and Goliath story. While we are very successful at what we do, we obviously are a small fry (for now) when compared to a company that has something that 700 million euros of revenue per annum. 

So, what did we do? PREPARE!

We did a full demonstration of our proposed techology: photograph, fingerprint scanning (in Africa? I know!), a customized database, electronic form scanning. We even created a wireless network to enable real-time projection of the database. Basically, we created the entire, customized system before we even saw a penny from it. And, we didn't stop there. My one-woman department stepped up to the plate in a way that it hadn't yet. We ran an advertisement insert in all the papers yesterday, created a testimonial video (I'll add the link once I get it on our website) for use in the presentation that kicked butt, created customized marketing collateral for all the attendees, spent hours on the powerpoint presentation (including having professional photography for use as graphics), and did so much research it made me feel like my head was going to explode.

We even went so far as to have custom-tailored outfits for our team (made by the wonderfully talented Mr. Modou Mbye) even though we decided not to use them at the last minute.

The presentation was this afternoon and I'm so happy that we did not have one single hiccup. There were about 50 people in attendance. I presented about our company profile and the CEO handled the technology solution. The Chairman of the task force making the decision told us during the question and answer period that our presentation was the best they've seen and there's only one more presentation left. 

Back at the office when our entire company was eating lunch together, our CEO told us that when he started the company seven years ago, he used to dream of the day that he would compete against leading international IT companies and be the best. I'm so proud that we were able to bring his dream to fruition together. 

Now, we still have a long way to go. There are many hurdles to climb and possibilities that the good ol' African corruption I'm coming to know more and more everyday might thwart our chances at success. But, I believe that the people making the decision will make the right one. If we get this contract, it could sustain and grow our company in so many ways. That is what I am realizing I want more a more. I want to create more job opportunities for Gambians. I want to help grow this company so that I am not even needed anymore as a skilled foreigner working there. I want to work for the company that is bringing biometric voting technology to the Gambia. When people line up to vote on election day, I want them to be proud that a Gambian company has given them one of the most advanced voting systems in Africa. No, make that the world.

But tonight I want to figure out what I'm going to have for dinner and then try to catch up on the sleep and time with my boyfriend that I've been sacrificing for the last month. I just wanted to record this happy moment and share it with whoever wants to read about it!

Miss you all!