Leaving Angola on November 2nd

I have had a very intense but satisfying two weeks in Angola. Arriving in Huambo, I was again at the Sistec Hotel #12. It is a large room with no windows so extremely quiet. The hotel as I have mentioned before is VERY safe, has hot water and electricity and exceptional staff. None speak English but we manage to communicate! Luciano Silva from CNFA is my excellent “Program Manager” and I had a new interpreter, Jose. He is a young man who works on the oil rigs off of Benguela/Lobito area of Angola. His schedule is 28 days on and 28 days off. “On” literally means on the rig where he does written translations and interpretation. He is married with a 3 month old baby. The three Cooperatives were located in Longonjo, a small town which is about 1 hour drive from Huambo. One, Mbunge has 222 members and 40 hectares and it newly registered. When asked about the large number of members, the President told me that only a member could receive free fertilizer from the Angolan government. The other two, Conusse and Chimbili, each have 40 members and about the same in hectares of Cooperative land. The class was limited to 5 members from each; the President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Communication (gets the word out when meetings will occur) and one other. In a training situation, having 3 groups makes the process much slower. Each group had to process and then respond to various topics: Mission and Vision Statements; Project Proposal; Financial Statements (create a Balance Sheet and Income Statement) as well as understand concepts such as cash flow and dealing with the bank. The training participants were excellent and worked hard to accomplish every task. For these farmers, the numbers of the language of finance are as foreign as farming techniques would be for me! I was introduced to several officials in the town as well as interviewed by Angola Press. This is an on-line newspaper in 4 languages – Portuguese, English, Spanish and French – which is emailed all over the world to Angolan ex-pats. I also met two representatives from Standard Bank; this is a South African bank which now has almost 10 offices in Angola. Another very interesting person was Carleton Palmer, a CNFA volunteer from Florida. He is a soy beans expert! Weather was wild! Rain, really hard rain every day with thunder and lightning – just like the Midwest. I thought of the east coast of the US and hope that all is recovering. I am now off to Tanzania. I will be back in Babati with two groups that I have previously worked with – Gende and Osomama. I also get a chance to see my CNFA friend, Kissinga! Love to all. I voted by mail before I left. Remember to be part of the process.