Tanzania October-November 2014

Leaving Tanzania again – this was an interesting and different assignment. I was asked by CRS Farmer-2-Farmer to write a Business Plan for TAHA (Tanzania Horticulture Association) which is an Apex organization for the horticulture value chain – vegetables and fruits. TAHA is receiving 4 “farmers’ containment centers” - 1 from a Finnish NGO and 3 from the Tanzanian governments. Two of these will be “cold” and two will be “warm”. Each will buy produce from local farmers and re-sell it in regional markets or export. In addition, there will be storage for rent as well as training and processing areas. I saw friends, Anthony Kissinga and Sebastian Assenga; was given beautiful material which the local seamstress used to create 3 new dresses! I have stayed in the New Safari Hotel in Arusha the entire time as well as several times before. It is a nice, moderate hotel; staff is excellent; breakfast to order; and the chef as created dinner just the way I want!

Home for Turkey Day! Hong Kong on December 1st. Then to New Zealand to see brother Jim and sister-in-law Kaye in Taranga.

Moishi Friends

Hello Life - Good bye Columbus

My last trip to Columbus OH began with a stop in GA on Tybee Island to see friends, Jenny and Rob Klosterman. They live in a great house (a duplex) on a charming island that has 3,000 inhabitants in the winter and 10 times that in the summer! Wonderful visit with good food, a tour of the local Civil War fort and excellent conversation. Off to Columbus for my final appearance at the Ohio Bankers’ League Management School (Ora “Andy” Anderson created in 1955). Joined Bill Campbell (friend and colleague for more than 20 years), Susan Poling (OB) and 22 bankers. At graduation, I received a diploma from Mike Adelman, CEO of OBL! Then off to Hanover IN and

friends, Sue and Mike DeWine. Sue is retiring as President of Hanover College in June. Home of San Diego with a 5 hour delay. Washing clothes and repacking for Tanzania in 3 days!!

Seven weeks in Uganda

Flights were fine but the arrival time in Entebbe is very late! Another volunteer was on the flight – Ellen Frazenberg from Iowa. Back to the Fairway Hotel; unfortunately construction in the Annex. Off to CRS in the am to meet with Maria Nakayiza (Program Coordinator) and George Ntibarikure (Program Manager) for the Farmer to Farmer activities. My shoes and mosquito spray were there! Said hello to all of the other CRS staff – especially Liz Pfeiffer, Country Director. I brought her a bottle of Tanzanian Red Gold Chili sauce! Off to Lira – 6 hours to the north. The Margaritha Hotel is 4 stories; I asked for a room on the ground floor and facing the inside courtyard. Asked for all the items to be fixed: toilet, lights, and removal of the closet door! Breakfast was 1 egg scrambled with no butter or milk on a piece of toast. My other meal was rice, beans and green veggies…..and a beer. Uganda has several local beers which are excellent. Margaritha Hotel is on the outskirts of Lira Town - a short 20 minute walk. Very quiet here. I walk in the am when it is still dark as the roads are paved around the hotel My client was Acwec Omio Cooperative with >3,500 members. The Chair and founder is Eddy Okello who started with ~20 women less than 10 years ago. The Cooperative is comprised of 10 Cluster groups with smaller units at the village level. There are 10 cash crops: maize, rice, sorghum, ground nuts, sim sim (sesame), millet among others. A large warehouse and equipment are also owned. I conducted training at 10 sites on for more than 250 farmers. I returned to Kampala for a night; other CRS volunteers: Robert Cooperrider and Dave and Flo Wagner were also at the Fairways Hotel so enjoyed a brief visit. The second client was Twezimbe Area Cooperative Enterprise in Kiboga. My training is essentially the same as Acwec Omio: Cooperative principles and leadership/management. There were again 10 groups in various locations: some in schools; some in churches; some under trees. In both I also conducted a TOT for selected members to continue the training with other farmers. My lodging in Kiboga was Precious Hotel. It was basic and very noisy as the staff lived in rooms around the courtyard with children, chickens and goats. I walked every morning with school children going at 6am to various private institutions. All spoke English and wanted to know a about America. Kiboga is a very small town; but it had a Muzungu Lodge (means white person). Back to Kampala and the Fairway Hotel. I left on October 1st for my gorilla adventure as described in the brochure. Mountain pictured. DAY 1: Drive from Kampala south-west across the Equator. The trip takes you through savannah grasslands, banana plantations and through herds of Ankole cattle with their incredible long curving horns. Ascend into the Kigezi highlands, known as the “Switzerland of Africa” with terraced farming and mountain scenery, and drive through to Buhoma. Dinner and overnight at Silverback Lodge. DAY 2: Enter the sanctuary at dawn and enjoy the beauty and freshness of the forest, home of the mountain gorillas. After a short briefing by the guides, proceed through dense bush to trek for these endangered animals. Other primates also live in the forest including the black and white Colobus monkey, red-tailed monkey and chimpanzee. Enjoy a packed lunch enroute and time permitting, visit the cultural village of the Batwa pygmies. Interact with their traditional healers, see how they make a local “brew” out of bananas and watch their traditional dance. Return to Silverback Lodge for dinner and overnight. DAY 3: Return to Kampala after breakfast. My experience was very different: 7 hours of climbing up and down a mountain. Very difficult and never to be repeated. Flights home were full (as usual); luggage was delayed in Atlanta due to a late arrival of my AMS to ATL. Washing clothes to repack for my trip to Savannah (friends), Columbus OH (work) and Hanover IN (friends). Then Tanzania! I have a well travel

ed suitcase.

Mkasu Tanzania

A somewhat delayed posting of my CRS Tanzania trip. My United flights were great but the Swiss Air from Zurich to Dar es Salaam was awful. Swiss Air is “proud” of its 3-class plane but what that means is Coach is very crowded. 1+ hour to get my visa and CTA (Certificate of Temporary Activity) at the airport; collected my two bags and off to Slipway Hotel. This is a lovely place on the water which was great as I immediately became ill with a URI (upper respiratory infection). CRS and I decided to delay my departure for the “country” until Sunday to give me an extra day of R&R. Worked! Made flip charts and drank lots of fluids. The drive was 8 hours; picked up Sebastian Assenga my friend and interpreter from the last 5 years. He has now retired from the Ministry so is available for CRS assignments. We arrived and went to the first lodging – no toilets! Was not acceptable for a 2+ week assignment so went to Twiga Hotel. It is owned by the Tanzanian National Parks; room had a toilet! The host is a rice growing and milling association. As it is the harvest season, we agreed to meet in the primary school room from 2 to 5 pm daily except Sunday. Topic is agribusiness 101. Every day - 30+ members learning a new “language”. I also taught the "Hokey Pokey" to the school kids.

I walked every morning around the hotel which is surrounded by two national parks. Sebastian and I ate lunch at Twiga Hotel every day – rice, beans and green vegetables with the famous Red Gold Chili Sauce (only in Tanzania). Went to the small village nearby Mkasu looking for Kleenex but was not available. Paper napkins were the substitute. Class went well every day with one exception: On one day, some participants were at a water crisis. One farmer diverted the canal to his property; not legal. A Village meeting was held to discuss the infraction – local government at its best. Sebastian gave a wonderful lecture on SRI is “system of rice intensification” - raising rice with minimal flooding; 15 day old seedlings are planted rather than broadcasting seeds (birds carry off).

Back to Dar and the Slipway Hotel. Had great tacos (!) with Tim Bergstrom, formerly with CNFA and now DAI. Packing and debriefing and then to the awful Swiss Air plane. Fortunately, United from Zurich to EWR to SAN.

Kuwait for only 2 days BUT worth it!

Leaving Beirut I fly directly to Kuwait City Kuwait on MEA, the Lebanese airline. I was met by my friend, Haitham Farouk. He was in my class a decade ago in Cairo at the Egyptian Banking Institute; hired me to work with his bank in Qatar; and now is with the largest bank in Kuwait. It was 40 centigrade so very hot! However we enjoyed air conditioning at various restaurants and museums. His wife Dahlia and Cheyenne are still in Cairo - Dahlia is a professor and Cheyenne is finishing her schooling. All will be together in late June/early July. I have posted pictures of his flat and the views! Fabulous! My United flight to IAD left at midnight 30 but was not full. Connection in Washington was ok and on to San Diego.

Beirut May 2014

FSVC/IESC jointly sponsored my assignment in May 2014. The SOW was both training and consulting. Arriving from FRA, I went to the Holiday Inn Beirut! My home for the next 2+ weeks. Another volunteer was there and she would be consulting with some MFI (Micro Finance Institutions) while I was conducting the class. It was delightful to have someone with me for meals! The class was held in the hotel’s conference facility – so electricity and PowerPoint! Modules were Risks, Credit Risk, Credit Scoring, and ALM (Asset Liability Management). A great group of 30+ MFI executives. Class was all day with lunch in the hotel buffet. Marvelous. My other days were spent with 4 individual MFI clients. Each was unique and required different skills: in one case, an analysis of the loan covenants; another was creation of a Risk Committee. It was challenging to spend several days with the client; write the paper; and go to the next. Beirut is a marvelous city; lots of construction which is changing the face of the downtown. I was able to take one day and visit 3 other cities with a marvelous car/driver – to see Byblos, Jeito Grotto and Charissa. All were fabulous!

Off to Kuwait to visit my wonderful Egyptian "son" Haitam. Will blog on those days separately.

Malawi - 6th trip April 2014

Delta flight 200 to JNB was full as always; overnight in City Lodge at the airport. Arrived safely to Lilongwe and stayed with Marinus and Bev Taale at Cluny Lodge. Quite full with other ex-pats on assignments. Off to Zomba and Annie’s Lodge Room 7 as requested. It is a corner with full porch on both sides. When I worked outside, the monkeys were close at hand. I went inside when the baboon appeared. Sakata is trying to become a legal cooperative. I am following another CNFA volunteer, David Daines, who had worked with the group on organizational and registration issues. I was to follow up with financial and bookkeeping. We met in a room provided by WORLEC which is a female-oriented NGO with strong leadership. It receives funding from OXFAM. Class was my Agribusiness Finance. Sakata was considering the purchase (gift?) of a machine to press ground nuts into oil. Financial analysis was not positive. In addition, a professional colleague from Blantyre (Towera Jalakasi) was commissioned by the Ministry to write a paper on the viability of such a project; she also felt it would not be in the best interests of this group. Suggested that the group consider renting a storage facility for ground nuts. We looked at several which are vacant in the village. Met with several government officials – especially helpful was Noel Joseph Shema District Trade Officer from Ministry of Trade. He said that he would work with the group to get certified; it is expensive; WORLEC will ask OXFAM to cover the costs of this special (required) governmental training. OXFAM executives came on the last day of class and were impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm of the participants. A wonderful group of 26 women and 5 men.

Back to Lilongwe. Unfortunately no time to visit my friends/former colleagues in Blantyre. Home to San Diego and unpack/repack for my trip to Beirut.

Leaving Ghana on June 21st

This has been a great assignment with AFAP (African Fertilizer Agro-dealer Program). I was able to train more than 60 agro-dealers in two locations as well consult directly with the HUB agents(Wholesale/Distributors) that sell to those dealers. All went superbly as AFAP had organized all of the logistics and the participants were invited by the HUB. I stayed in several locations which had electricity most of the time; good beds; and hot water. The only glitch was when USA beat Ghana at the World Cup as everyone had stayed up to the very end (1 am) and were sad. Ghana will face Germany on Saturday. I will write more after I meet tomorrow with my friend/driver from my last project in Ghana - January/March/May 2001! Major Tony Bentil and I traveled up and down visiting the village-based rural banks. His wife and children became part of my life while I was here. Unfortunately, the only email I had for him was not working. BUT through the kindness of the chief driver at Novotel, Lawrence, Tony received a message to call me. Major Tony and I just shared a wonderful Chinese food (his favorite) and it was like no time had passed. His wife is still at the Ministry; his 3 daughters and 1 son are all through University and are bankers, accountants, and professionals. It was wonderful to catch up if only briefly. I hope to see him again when I return to Ghana.

Leaving Uganda

I am leaving Kampala on KLM at 11:30pm bound for Amsterdam; then Delta to Atlanta and again to San Diego. Uganda has been a wonderful assignment. I was part of the US Aid Farmer to Farmer (F2F) contract which is now under Catholic Relief Services (CRS). CRS has been in Uganda since 1965 but primarily in relief and health issues. This is the first contract for CRS under the F2F. I met with the Country Director, Liz Pfifer, the F2F Coordinators, George Ntibarikure and Emmanuel Mukama, and the other CRS staff who work on different projects. I spent most of my time outside of Kampala in Iganga which is near Jinja. Jinja is considered one of the sources of the Nile and I am told that a boat ride will show the visitor the “spouting of the water”. Iganga is a municipal town of ~40,000 and serves as the commercial/government hub for the region. I stayed in Mum Resort Hotel. As with many African guest houses, there is new construction along with the old building so “deferred maintenance” takes a back seat to the new project. I was finally able to have a functioning bathroom! The staff is very nice though not promptly responsible (except when my sink faucet did not turn off!) I was working with a large cooperative - Namungalwe Area Cooperative Enterprise (NACE) which has 6 RPOs (Rural Producers Organization) and more than 500 members. The NACE is managed by a very competent business man, Badru and has computer facilities which produce excellent reports. Badru also acted at times as my interpreter when Peter (a university student) was in class. Both were great. The Board of Directors of NACE set the agenda for the training: I would travel every day to a new RPO and present a one-day Business of Farming class. On 2 days, I met with the RPO members in a school room but the other 4 days I was outside under a tree. Farm animals became part of the program with a Tom Turkey very angry that 30+ humans were in his space. Over the 6 days, I met with 160+ members. The second part of the assignment was to conduct a Training of Trainers (TOT). Each RPO “volunteered” 3 to 4 members who agreed to conduct future training. I developed 10 short (30-60 minutes) training modules. For 3 days, the 24 “Trainers” met with me and learned how to train the material. I am confident that each RPO has at least one or two people who can continue the training. Each RPO made a commitment to begin ASAP and will report these efforts to the NACE and CRS. My hotels have ranged from just ok (Mum Resort in Iganga) to great (Apricot Hotel and Fairway Hotel Kampala). The people are wonderful and eager to learn/change/proper. I write this on St. Patrick’s Day so Erin go bragh!