Luanda Part 2

What a wonderful day! This is a national holiday honoring the first President of Angola - Agostinho Neto MD. He was in office from 1975 - 1979. He died in Russia during a cancer operation. To the right is his burial monument.

I walked there today - more of an adventure that I expected - almost 2 hours round trip. The grounds were closed until the festivities honoring his birth date. The monument overlooks an extensive shanty town - cardboard and tin structures all of which have tv antennaes or tv dishes.

Luanda is deserted - only 1/20 of the traffic, cars or humans. Everyone has left for a 3 day holiday.

I have been invited to lunch with the family who own Soleme House. More on that later.

Reflections on Luanda - Part 1

I am now back in Luanda, the capital of Angola. I arrived with little fuss yesterday on TAAG, the Angolan airline. This was an accomplishment as TAAG is known for canceling or re-routing flights on the day of departure. TAAG has petitioned for a direct route from Houston TX to Luanda; hard to imagine those Texans understanding flights which do not go on time or ever!

To finish commenting on my assignment: at one of the Cooperatives the SOW (Scope of Work) was fully completed. This is a Coop which is extremely organized and has been mentored by a Portuguese NGO for several years. The other Coop is not as organized and the SOW was only 2/3 completed. I was unable to train the Treasurer on Excel spreadsheets due to a change in my time allocation by the President of the Coop. He invited other Coop Presidents to come for 3 days of Financial Management training. He is more political so this change was his agenda.

As I arrived early in Luanda on Friday morning from Huambo, I began walking in Luanda. It was a lovely day – not too hot or humid. Following are some of my reflections:

A dead man on the sidewalk. I passed him four times during the day. Finally on the last pass, the police (?) were zipping him into a body bag.

The Port is very industrial. However, at one time there was a pedestrian walkway (like the Strand in Shanghai). It is however in disrepair.

Buying a grilled half chicken for dinner. The supermarket is called EATS. Dozens of chickens are “butterflied” and put on holders over a charcoal grill. I ordered ½ with black beans. I was helped in this ordering by two young men – one was Portuguese and Zimbabwe. Perfect English and works in an import—export company. The other was Chinese; he is a laborer (building buildings) who has been here for 6 years. His English improved as we waited for our dinners.

Found Coke Zero in the supermarket!

Traffic is awful – compares to Vietnam. Motorcycles drive on the sidewalk. Traffic signals (signs and lights) are only suggestions, not requirements. Too many cars. Gasoline is subsidized by the Angolan government so no incentive to drive less or in smaller vehicles. Everyone has a big SUV.

Soleme Guest House is a wonderful oasis in Luanda. In the middle of the property is the family home with at least 4 generations in residence, so children are always around. The guest rooms are in buildings which form the boundaries. There is also an on site bakery which makes the typical bread – a long roll. My room this time is over the bakery so I awoke hungry to the smell of baking bread at 4:30am!

Sunday September 12th

A week as passed since my last blog. Most of the week was spent in Ecunha, a very small village 1 hour outside of Huambo. Coopechuna is a fairly new cooperative with a strong Portuguese NGO background. I worked with a relatively small group of Coop officers in March and am assisting the same on this trip.

The first activity has been difficult. I am requiring that the Coop officer in charge of a subsidiary helps me document the sources of revenue and the expenses. The difficulty is the Coop thinks only in terms of cash receipts and disbursements. If there was money spent two months ago, they do not make the connection with revenue received today. As with the first Coop, some of the subsidiaries spend more than they receive.

I have now created Profit and Loss Excel spreadsheets for both Cooperatives and their subsidiaries. These will be loaded onto the computers and appropriate individuals will be trained in basic Excel techniques. Hopefully, there will be continued training by a local consultant or bookkeeping firm.

Another volunteer has arrived – Dr. Jeffrey Engels. He is an American who just finished his doctorate in marketing at the University of Melbourne Australia. He and his wife Carla have lived there for several years after NGO stints around the world including Armenia and Peru. He is working with another Coop and developing marketing plans for various vegetables. It has been great to have someone to walk around the city with as well as share dinner. As some of you may recall, son Rob spent one semester of his undergraduate years at the University of Melbourne so it has been fun to hear about the changes that have taken place in that wonderful city.

We walked to the church I visited last Sunday in term to hear the choir as they left the sanctuary. What joyful singing and dancing with instruments! The church emptied and a hundred+ children ran inside! The noon service must be geared for the young ones. A group of girls wanted to speak English and were able to say “My name is..”. That is more than I can do in Portuguese so I feel very linguistically inadequate.

I am very grateful to CNFA Farmer to Farmer for the opportunity to volunteer again in southern Africa. This is one of the best NGOs that I have worked for in my 40+ year career. CNFA Farmer to Farmer is committed to capacity building; enabling individuals’ success by providing agricultural and financial skills. This strategy leaves people able to provide for themselves and their children.

A pause to reflect yesterday – the ninth anniversary of 9/11. I was in Italy with Mother and her friend, Sally Dempsey. As we were walking thru Bellagio, people came out with tears and hugs – devastated by the disaster. This day in Angola, was just another Saturday to the population which has experience multiple bombings over the decades. Every building bears the scars..

The smells of Angola defy description – nothing compares in the USA that I have experienced.

A small bout of GI distress is now over; the weather has been excellent – blue sky, sunshine, and 80’s but very low humidity and all is right with the world. Off for another walk.

Sunday September 5th

Hello to all! College football is underway.

It is my custom to attend church services throughout the world. The hotel directed me to the nearest (only 8 blocks) – Se Cathedral, a Catholic church. Services were 6am, 8am and 10am. I walked over for the last service and found it was packed with several hundred participants outside, sitting on stools. Everyone was very dressed up – much more than my casual pants and shirt. I stayed outside, listening to the joyful choir. There is also a large percentage of Seventh Day Adventists in Huambo who celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday. I walked by that church as it is preparing for a wedding today.

I have changed rooms in the hotel: it is smaller (good), a working toilet (good); hot water in the shower (good); and two windows that open (excellent). It is also cheaper (logical?).

Last night dinner was local pizza – the crust is so thin that it is very difficult to pick up! The pizza was cheese, tomatoes, green olives, and small pieces of “bacon”. I gave ½ to a young man from Rwanda who asked if he could talk with me. Back to protein bars today.

I am walking the town this entire weekend. All of the buildings retain the scars of the Civil War – bullet and mortar holes. I am ignorant about the conflict; my breakfast companion Thomas (born in Angola of Belgian parents) said there were 3 rebel groups fighting; the one with Portuguese arms won. In his opinion, the Portuguese are still in control. At another breakfast, a Portuguese Angolan Victor joined me. He has lived in South Africa for 30+ years but is now conducting an irrigation business in Angola. His son, a banker from Standard Charter, will be arriving soon to talk about financing.

The project with Chipipa has been different. It is like walking in quick sand as it is never clear on a daily basis as to what is expected of me from the Coop. We have not been given the data/ information from the President/Executive Committee to create the Excel Spreadsheets. The President asked me to repeat the Financial Management classes to new Cooperative members; that objective was completed Friday. On several occasions in the last week, the President has requested a meeting with Luciano and me – but then has not shown up.

The CNFA office has a permanent Angolan Country Director – Chipilika Barbosa. When I was here in February, Dr. Nelson Jacobs was an interim director. The two Project Coordinators, Luciano and Angelino are still extremely effective; the Office Manager, Victoria is out on medical leave so I am able to use her office and internet connection but I miss her.

The weather has been excellent – blue sky, sunshine, and 80’s but very low humidity. Off for another walk.

As always, Angola is an adventure!

September 1st

I am at the same hotel in Huambo but a different room. Spent the first afternoon with the staff correcting some of the challenges: non flushing toilet,broken bedside lamp, no electrical outlet adaptor, air conditioner did not work, one TV channel set to English! They also brought back to me the hot water kettle I had during my last trip. So I have now “feathered” my nest as Mother would say! I will be in this room for 8 nights – then off to the bush!

Dinner last night was next door – a very local grilled chicken joint. As before, the chicken was excellent and the local beer tasted wonderful. Breakfast is in the hotel is good coffee with cooked eggs. There is also cereal (like Cocoa Puffs), bread (fresh with a crisp crust but not sourdough), juice, some mystery bologna (not for me), and cheese. Lunch is an energy bar and apple. I am currently sipping some Scotch (in a water bottle from home), watching CSI with Portuguese subtitles and getting ready for Cup of Soup. Can life be any better?

The Chipipa Cooperative has 39 Associations with >1,200 farmers. In the 6 months since I was here, the Cooperative building has been completed, the shed where I taught is now storage, the yard is cleaned up, and operations are in full swing. Crops are harvested and I saw: maize, cassava (a root crop that I first saw in Mozambique which is ground for flour), and “Irish” potatoes (neither our Russet nor red – in between). There is lumber from the Coop’s mill stored in another area, and several piece of rolling stock (tractors and trucks) were utilized. The building has several offices- along with some storage. An issue is no lighting but there are outlets in the room that I am using.

Today there were almost 20 people in the session – many more than we expected! Only 4 had been in the February training, so the President asked me to conduct the Financial Management training for the new association members. I will start tomorrow and for the next 3 mornings will talk about Business Plans, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and talking with a Banker. In the past, the government provided fertilizer and seeds to farmers but that is not the case now. It is my understanding that the farmers are purchasing individually but will verify. I have asked all of the new Association Presidents to bring statistics with them tomorrow as we will create Business Plans. Other than Chipipa, none of the Associations have any computers. Chipipa has kept its records in Word format; so I will explore the conversion of that information to Excel which gives them significantly more functionality. Tomorrow we will meet the young man who is to be the accountant/bookkeeper. We will work with him individually each afternoon.

Well, the power strip has just frizzed so off to get a new one! Power like clean water can be a scarce commodity.