Saturday, August 24, 2013
Malawi in August 2013
It was only a week ago that I experienced the “Nairobi nightmare.” I arrived at the Kilimanjaro airport with plenty of time and had double that before my SAA plane arrived for the trip to Nairobi. I knew as I boarded that I had missed the SAA connecting flight to Malawi. As you fly over NBO (Nairobi Airport), you see huge white tents which have replaced the fire-destroyed parts of the international terminal. Landing on the tarmac, buses take the transit passengers into chaos. There was no later flight so I requested a hotel room and meal vouchers which SAA provided. I collected my checked bags and off to EKA Hotel. What a delightful surprise! It is new; very close to the airport; designed for business travelers with work space and free internet; excellent restaurant.
After a great night of sleep, I was transported back to chaos. Fortunately, I have no problem expressing my intentions (as you all know) and I was on the plane to Malawi – one day late. Met at the airport by the wonderful CNFA staff and taken to Cluny Lodge, I was where I belonged.
The End of Program Hosts Conference was extremely well planned by the CNFA Malawi staff at Sunbird Lilongwe Hotel. My role was to assist in reviewing the PowerPoint presentations of two of the three presenting hosts (feed manufacturer and a cooking oil processor) on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I was the Conference Master of Ceremonies with the stated goal of managing the schedule. There were more than 50 participants; most had hosted CNFA volunteers over the last 5 years. The US Aid Agricultural Officer and another CNFA volunteer, Bill Nichols, were also present. Presentations went well; questions/answers were good; the schedule stayed intact!
The group took two “field trips” to visit former hosts: the feed manufacturer and a farm with CNFA greenhouses. Lunch was an excellent buffet with goat stew! Conference concluded at 5:30pm. Bill Nichols and I went to Noble China restaurant to share Chinese cabbage with port, celery with cashews, sesame chicken, and beef stir fry - Excellent.
On Thursday, Manford from CNFA collected me for our 4+ hour drive to Zomba. I stayed in Annie’s Lodge which I had only visited during my last trip to the area in August 2012. The hotel is a disappointment to me: expensive; broken light fixtures; a misbehaving toilet (flushing when IT wanted to!). Friday morning we drove to Domesi to visit the Cooperative that I had trained last year. 21 of the 165 members met us at the production facility where they make peanut butter and soya milk. In an earlier blog, I wrote about the “production” process. As there is no electricity, the soya beans and groundnuts (peanuts) must be ground by using a bicycle as the motor. Every member is scheduled! The most exciting news was that there is now a SACCOS of 50 members which is making small loans and the loans are being repaid!!
We then travelled to Blantyre where I was visiting two former hosts: Naturalsm (January 2010) and UMODZI Consulting (April 2013). Manford and I had a great lunch of grilled local chicken, green vegetables and rice at the Agricultural Fairgrounds. During the next weekend, it will be filled with Cooperatives displaying products. We then went to UMODZI Consulting to meet with the two Managing Directors: Tione Kaonga and Frank Mkumba. The firm continues to gain new clients and will be conducting some data collection for CNFA. Manford dropped me at Mama’s B&B where I have stayed several times.
I am spending the weekend on reports. I will meet with Towera Jalakasi on Sunday as she has a very full Monday. Her company Naturalsm processes the Baobab fruit into juice. She is building a new factory in the Lilongwe area which will be managed by her sister. As I blogged before, she has started TEECS (Tools for Enterprise and Education Consultants) – a consulting firm with her husband. The firm has two large contracts at the moment: The Gates Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture plus small assignments from a variety of clients.
We will drive back to Lilongwe on Monday morning. I fly home to San Diego beginning on Thursday the 29th after a month in Africa. I will not “labor” on Labor Day and wish all of you great bar b ques!
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