Happy Families

As I got back to the office from the AXA coach station, I saw lots of very proud young people walking out from the Polytechnic having received their degrees from the President.  They were all wearing the traditional academic gowns and mortar boards, and looked great.  I said "congratulations" to each one I saw, which seemed to go down quite well.

The downside was the the presence of the President (or more "importantly" the police on the roads), causing enormous traffic jams, so I had to leave the office particularly early to get to my next meeting in town.  No matter.  It gave the chance to go to a shop I'd been advised to visit to get hold of a good album of Malawi gospel music, so I'm looking forward to listening to that.

Delighted Families

I popped in to Ryalls for a quick drink late afternoon, and it was wonderful to see all the very nicely dressed families out in the hotel restaurant to celebrate their children's graduation.  The Malawis love academic success.

I went over to a family who were just leaving to say how nice it had been to see all the smiling faces around the place, and to ask if I could take a photo, thinking that the two young men who had graduated would stand together and have a shot taken.  Instead, I was encouraged to follow them to an outside spot of the hotel to take a family photo - well, actually a load of photos, including additional ones when the father turned up late.

Nice flowers, too

I've promised to email the pictures to the families this evening. Unfortunately, looking at the photos when I got back to the house, it seems that the centre of my lens was misted up, so there's something of a soft focus look to them. Oops.

Today has been a bit discombobulated.....

So today I had a meeting with a client booked for mid-morning in Blantyre, so stayed at home instead of going to the office so that I could stroll up into town, and then pop in to the Malawi Sun hotel to order a cake for Friday, my last day in the office.  Unfortunately, the meeting was postponed half an hour before it was scheduled, so I just went to the Malawi Sun.  I ordered the cake to pick up at 07.30-ish on Friday morning, and then called Arthur to come and pick me up in Daisy.  I had a coffee in the food hall whilst I was waiting.  He wasn't very long at all, so I left the (average) coffee unfinished and we drove back to Business Consult Africa.

I no longer have a desk in the office due there not being enough space right now, so I perch on the edge of other peoples' desks as best I can.  At lunchtime, I get some cash from Peter and walk along the Chipembere Highway to buy my coach ticket for Monday morning from the AXA Coach booking office.  There was a very loud religious/church event taking place on some land next to the national stadium, with marquees and big crowds.  Turns out it was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of a particular church in Blantyre, and it was quite apparent from the noise that everyone was enjoying themselves.

I walked on to the Chichiri Shopping Centre to get something to eat, but didn't find anything that took my fancy, so just walked back to the office.

Education mode

This morning I ran an hour-long seminar for Youth Business Malawi (YBM) clients on the importance of knowing your customers. Sadly there weren't many of them there (around 8-9), but they seemed to find it quite interesting, although getting them to interact was a bit like blood from a stone at first, but eventually they opened up.

There were two guys there who ran a clothing and textile design business, and they were wearing some examples of their products, which looked really good, so I've got their address and will be visiting them to see if I can pick up a nice item or two for David back home. They are also musicians, and so I've promised to pick up a copy of their CD to take home with me.

Then this afternoon, I ran a tutorial for the whole team on how to develop a basic website on Blogger. This was in response to interest generated when we did a proposal for the Government's Business Growth Scheme (BUGS) to design a template and instruction "manual" that Malawi small businesses could use to get an online presence without paying 30k-40k kwacha to web design companies (a complete rip-off).

The feedback on the tutorial was pretty good. They've all now got to get their own sites designed, built and up and running by Friday morning, when I'll judge the winner and award a prize (although what the prize will be, God alone knows).

Over to Mustang Sally

Rob (left) - owner of Mustang Sally Club

This afternoon, with the others out for the day, I decided to take advantage of the warm sunshine and stroll over to Mustang Sally's to have one of Rob's excellent value Rib Eye steaks from the braai (served with potato salad and salad for just 600 Kwacha (£2.50-ish).

The usual crowd were in there, so we all sat out in the garden area, had a few beers, ate the food, and enjoyed a good chat.  A fun afternoon and early evening.

Got to get the shopping done

Basket Stalls in the Market

This weekend I decided I had to finally sort out what I'm going to be taking home for people, so I wandered out of the house in the morning, prepared to put in a great deal of foot-slogging around Blantyre.

I first went for a mooch about Blantyre Market, which is quite big, and contains all manner of stalls selling everything from 1970s English school textbooks through to second-hand clothes and shoes, to furniture and food.

It's bustling, quite dirty in some areas, but great fun at the same time.

The "Photographer"!

I didn't buy anything, but the highlight for me was one young guy who let me take his picture, and then offered to use my camera to take a picture of me. Thankfully I saw that one coming, and politely declined (otherwise I had a totally unjustified vision that he'd have been off with it faster than Linford Christie).

Then on to Mandala House where there's a crafts and gifts shop called La Galleria. I picked up a few little items here, before pausing for a coffee at La Caverna, a lovely cafe with seating on the verandah of the house overlooking the gardens.

La Galleria, Mandala Houe

Refreshed, I headed back into town, and roamed about, popping into various shops. There's another little Africana shop opposite the Metro supermarket, and I went in there to buy a few bangles. I asked the owner, a very nice young Malawi lady, if she knew where I could buy some Malawi music CDs, and she gave me the email address of a friend who is a musician (I've emailed him and am now waiting to hear back from him when and where I can meet him. She also pointed me towards an electronics shop across the road from the Mount Soche Hotel, and I next went there and bought 4 CDs for 3050 Kwacha (that's about £10) - and they're all good stuff.

By this time, it was the middle of the afternoon, and I'd been on my feet all day, and had developed a large blister on my right foot, so I hobbled back towards the house, and to pause at the Alem Ethiopian restaurant on Victoria Avenue for a quick bite to eat.  I had Zigin Wot (a very spicy beef dish served with injera - a yeast-risen flat bread made of teff flour, with a slightly spongy texture that is the staple bread of Ethiopia).

Then back to the house for a bit of work and a lie down.

Fab evening

Late afternoon I walked to a shop that sells Africana, to check out bits and pieces that I can take home for presents.  I've now got lots of good ideas - some I'll pick up here in Blantyre, and others I'll get when I'm in Lilongwe.

Jay expounding at the Blue Elephant

Then a short walk to the Blue Elephant for a beer (well, it is quite warm for a change). Gillian Boyle, a nice Irish girl who works for an organisation providing nutritionly-enriched food to schools throughout the region, turned up (I've met her at various places around Blantyre during my time here). I also met the owner of the Blue Elephant (which is currently having a facelift), and Jay Joshi, the Country Manager for DHL.  Jay is a really nice guy, and he offered me a lift home.  En route he got a call from his wife saying that she had been followed home by a car containing at least two guys, and that they were currently parked outside their house.  So we drove directly there, and spotted the car.  Jay drove right up to their car (I thought he was going to ram it!) and they quickly disappeared. We then went to Jay's house, where I met his wife and two lovely sons.  Such nice people.

The Joshi family debating what to eat

I was then asked if I'd like something to eat, and in the end we went off to the Casino to grab a bite. The two boys couldn't come in to the building (being under 18).  Whilst waiting for the grub, I got talking to a friend of Jay's at the bar.

Overall, a thoroughly good night out.  I'm going to meet up with Jay next week to talk about a couple of opportunities for marketing, so I'm looking forward to that.

Very Sad

Scene of the Mulanje Accident, Wednesday 18/8/10

One piece of sad news today was that a good friend of Arthur (he's our driver and gopher at the office, and a truly nice guy) was killed yesterday in a minibus accident near Mulanje. Apparently there were five people who lost their lives in the incident. Arthur was taking the afternoon off to go to the funeral, so I offered to drive him to Limbe where he could get a minibus (would you believe). En route, we talked about the minibus situation in Malawi. Before coming out here I read in the guidebooks that these were the great value, interesting way to get around. I now know that I'm never ever going to get in one in my life. 

A Typical Minibus

To explain, there are literally thousands of these things around Malawi. I guess in one sense they do provide a way for most Malawians to get around. The vehicles are universally old Japanese people carriers, but once in the hands of the minibus drivers, bad things happen. Firstly, they are not maintained. At all. You see them broken down all over the place. They are always packed way beyond their capacity, and if they break down, everyone has to get out and find another minibus to complete their journeys. Then because they aren't maintained, the majority of them belch enormous clouds of black smoke from their exhaust pipe. Their tyres are often as bald as me. The drivers pay little heed to the rules of the road (such as they are), and will pull out, pull in, or turn without any warning or indication. I'm told that many of the drivers are drunk.  

The thing that really freaks me out is that they are scared witless that their fuel will be syphoned off, so they run with practically no fuel in the tank all the time, carrying plastic containers of petrol inside the minibus to trickle fuel into the tank when the engine stops. So what happens? The heat or a spark will ignite the petrol, and quite often you'll see the burnt-out remains of a minibus at the side of the road. In the case of the tragic Mulanje accident, the minibus rolled over after bursting a tyre. The driver was one of those killed, but the reports said that the minibus was licenced to carry 14, but was in fact carrying 17 people. Even 14 is way too many.

What I can't get my head around is why the police let them get away with it (although one newspaper article I read did suggest a reason). Given the number of roadblocks around the place, you'd think there would be very few left, but no. One of the national papers here gave full force to a torrent of abuse against the minibus drivers after another accident that happened just up the road from the office when there were two fatalities.  

It's a sad, sad scandal that young lives are being lost because these menaces are driving on the Malawi roads.

In training mode

Thursday, and the rest of the team is beavering away on the seminar for the hospitality sector, visiting potential venues, and calling up prospective attendees to encourage them to sign up.

Corporate Social Responsibility

I, on the other hand, spent the day largely working on putting the final touches to the piece of training I'm doing for the junior consultants on Friday.  The subject is Corporate Social Responsibility, which I'm very much in favour of.  I'm quite pleased with both the structure and content of the lecture/seminar/workshop (I'm not revealing how it's going to work until the day itself).  Whilst CSR isn't part of the core curriculum of the Chartered Management Institute qualification that they are studying for, it does bring together several aspects from the core elements that they have already completed, so it will be interesting to see how much of the training and experience they have already had they can bring to bear on Friday.

Yet another different new face..

Julie Balch arrived this morning on the AXA coach from Lilongwe (welcome Julie), and Natasa and I went off in the van to pick  her up from the bus stop.  Julie lives in a part of the world I know well - Kelsall is a village in Cheshire where I lived in a property called Poplar Cottage, which was a real roses round the door type of country cottage.  This was quite some time ago (I've got a photo a home of me in my pram outside the house). Julie is the hospitality sector expert that the team has been setting up the seminar for, and it's looking very positive.

The internet in the office was playing up, just for a change, and I had some important emails to send and receive, so we drove back to the house, and showed Julie around.  Natasa drove Daisy back to the office and I stayed and worked.  Julie got herself settled in and then went for a walk into town (she got back safely!).

I had a Skype call with "Eoghan the boss" in Edinburgh about various things, and made some progress on setting up meetings in Lilongwe for my final couple of days in Malawi, looking to assess the possibilities of additional projects there for CBE.  Those days are starting to look increasingly busy.  In very many ways I'm sad that I'm not going to be able to take some time off to go exploring more of this wonderful country, but on the other hand I'm glad that I'm going to be fully-occupied until my flight leaves.

Oh No!!!

Disaster, sort of.  Late last night I started to feel a bit unwell, which in turn developed into stomach cramps in the small hours.  The upshot was that I didn't get much sleep, and felt decidedly dodgy this morning.  I've no idea what brought this on - I'd assume it must have been something I ate, but I didn't have anything that other people didn't eat, so it's a bit of a mystery.  Suffice to say that I thought it better to stay at home rather than risk infecting the entire office, so I sat at the computer table all morning.

By lunchtime I was feeling a bit better and so decided to risk it and take a stroll into town for some fresh air.  Thankfully there were no problems, and I returned safely to the house to get back to the computer.  By the time the two girls got back, I was well on the mend, courtesy of my travelling medicine cabinet.

One thing I did get done was to set up the tutorial I've been asked to give the team on building a basic website using an application like Blogger.  With the relatively high price of computers and internet access here, the internet is an underused resource for Malawi business.  There's an organisation here called BUGS (Business Growth Scheme) which sits within the Ministry of Industry and Finance.  It is a fund that refunds 50% of consultancy fees to approved projects, and many of our clients make use of it.  The idea is to accelerate the  take-up of capacity-building consultancy services by Malawi companies.  I met with the manager of BUGS in Blantyre a couple of weeks ago, and he mentioned the prices being demanded for basic static website development.  His concern is that BUGS then is asked to pay 50% of a relatively inflated sum.  So I suggested that we could develop a template for Blogger or Wordpress that would in principle give these small companies a route to a free or low-cost web presence.  The proposal was well received, but alas we couldn't go ahead due to issues related to existing contractual relationships.  A shame, but I'm sure the opportunity will come up again.

In any event, all this web-related stuff prompted the junior consultants in the office to ask me to give them some training in how to build a basic website.  So I took advantage of my day in the house to develop a structure, which will be based on a 90 minute walk-through of Blogger, together with some key pointers that they will need to be aware of (e.g. copyright, usability, focusing on the target audience, etc.), after which they'll be asked to go away and build a Blogger site, using one of their client companies as the "customer" for the site.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how they get on.  When their mini projects are complete, I'll post links on this blog.

And another week begins

The week started nicely today, with the sun shining, and a real warmth in the air.  I, for one, feel much chirpier when the sky is clear and all is well with the world.

I had to do a bit more work on the Business Plan for the project I was in Lilongwe for earlier in the month, although the final elements are being handled now back in the UK.  I also had some work to do for a couple of my UK clients, which is always nice as it keeps me in touch with my "other" reality.

In the afternoon I met with Tione, one of the Malawi Junior Consultants, to make some progress on the marketing strategy document which is aimed at putting in place the right processes and goals to undertake a proportion of our work for larger companies.  We're pulling together the output from last week's brainstorming, so there are plenty of ideas, and the trick will be to focus on the most promising.  I've got to make sure that the plan is in a finished form by the time I leave Blantyre.

After work, Nishi and Natasa decided for some strange reason to walk home from the office, so we loaded up their bags in Daisy, and I drove back.  Well, someone had to get the car home!

Kevin & Rob's Party + Sunshine

Last night there was a party at Kevin & Rob's house just along the way from our place.

Carlsberg Green

The usual suspects were there, and a good time was had by one and all.  I met a couple of really nice guys who are Malawi musicians (plus their manager) and it was neat to hear about what they were up to. They'll be getting me some of their music which I'm sure to treasure.

I had a few bottles of Green, and so slept very well, waking up at around 9am this morning. Nishi and I drove up to the bakery at the Malawi Sun hotel to get some comestibles, and Nishi popped in to the Blantyre Sports Club to pick up some information about the facilities there.

Pouring Rain All Week

The two girls then headed off towards Mulanje whilst I stayed at home to do some work and bask in some glorious sunshine.

Yes - it's SUNNY and WARM today. Brilliant (literally). I've been able to watch the monkeys playing in the garden, and even make a belated start on the tan so that people at home will believe I've been in Africa for three months.

Sun Through The Palm Tree

It's so nice to get a bit of warmth on your back and be able to relax without having to wear every bit of warm clothing you've brought with you (which frankly wasn't much in my case!).

I've definitely learned lessons on this trip.

Veg Delight Night

Dosa at Veg Delight

So come Friday evening we set off to Veg Delight.  It's a vegetarian indian restaurant in the centre of Blantyre and the food is pretty good and reasonably priced.  I had a dosa, but a different one to the one I had last time, and it was really good.

After that, Nataša and Nishi wanted to go for a drink somewhere they hadn't been before, so we drove to the Blue Elephant.  At lunchtime, Rob at Mustang Sally had been a bit disparaging about the place, saying that it was a bit rough - I hadn't been aware of any problems there before, and I've been there with a mixed group, so clearly Rob was being a bit unfair.

So what happens when we walk through the door, but both Nataša and Nishi are approached straight away by a youngish Malawi male (a bit the worse for wear) who looked as though he was about to make an improper suggestion.  The next thing was that several unaccompanied young ladies came into the bar clearly looking for business.  Just goes to show how aware of things I am!  We finished our drinks and left.

Back to the office

This morning I went in to the offfice, and what a pleasure it was to have the network up and running again.  It was great to see everyone after my few days working elsewhere.

We had our usual Consultants/Apprentices meeting, where we review the week, and discuss any and all issues that the group has had over the previous five days (from now on I'm going to refer to them as junior consultants [JCs], because they have made great strides since they first started, and I don't particularly like the term "apprentice" in this context).   It's a useful opportunity to pick up early any concerns that they have so that they can be readily dealt.  Overall, this week has been a good one for them, because they're working on a project to organise a seminar for the hospitality sector.  A new consultant, Julie Stuart, is coming out from the UK this week, and she's an expert in the hospitality sector, so the seminar is being arranged as a marketing device to raise interest from hotels, lodges, bars, tourist locations and others.  It will also allow the sector to get some European insights into how to boost revenues and profits going into the future.

The JCs seem to have really enjoyed themselves on this project, because they've had to work hard to produce good ideas for the seminar, as well as learning about how to develop and market an event of this sort.  Nataša is the "owner" of the project, and my contribution has focused on helping the JCs with understanding the marketing aspects, especially with things like brochure design.  It has also been a good exercise for them in working together as a team, and as such has been a very useful activity.

Alas, I'll be gone by the time the seminar actually takes place, but I'm sure it will prove to be a success.

Nataša and I went to renew our visas this morning - quite a moment for me because it's my last visa renewal in Malawi.  Time seems to be flying by so fast right now as my stay in Malawi comes towards its end.  Every day something happens that brings it home to me that I'll be leaving soon, and that just gives me a whole heap of mixed emotions.  I desperately want to see Jan and David again as soon as possible, but at the same time I know I'm going to miss all the friends I've met here.  I know in a couple of weeks time I'm going to be an emotional mess!

Mustang Sally Club

Still, when the office closed at lunchtime, Nataša, Nishi and I repaired to Mustang Sally's for a quick libation. Rob was desperately keen that we should come back in the evening as well, but we are planning to head off to Veg Delight for dinner, so probably won't.

Global Freezing

You can forget this global warming stuff.  It's really cold here.  Really cold.  Very cold indeed.  And I don't want to hear how hot it is in the UK, thank you very much.

Last night the wind got up, and it started to rain heavily in the early hours.  It carried on raining just about all day.  It stayed cold all day. What is more, my cold/flu/man-flu has worsened significantly.  So both Nataša and I stayed at home all day whilst Nishi took herself off to the office.

Nataša confined herself to bed with her computer and phone, surfacing from time to time for some tea and lemon.  I sat in the lounge on the computer desk, with pills and tissues never far from my side.  You may have gathered I am now officially feeling sorry for myself!  Still, I got a lot of work done again, and there are indications that the office comms situation may now be resolved.  I'll wait for confirmation of this in the morning before I actually venture in, but fingers crossed.

The Flames

It was apparently very busy in the Chichiri area (where our office is), because we are close neighbours with the national football stadium, and Malawi played Botswana this afternoon in a qualifier for the 2012 African Cup of Nations (Malawi are known as the Flames).  Sitting here with the sniffles, wearing the thickest clothes I've got, I felt a pang of sympathy with the football fans sitting in an uncovered stand as the rain bucketed down.

The match, I gather, ended in a 1:1 draw, but I gather that many of the Malawi supporters were less than pleased with the result.  The other teams in Malawi's group are Chad and Tunisia.  Alas there isn't another game before I leave, so I won't get to see the Flames play.

This evening I'm "looking forward" to watching the England v Hungary match, and just hoping that there's an improvement in the performance from the rubbish served up in the World Cup.  At least it can't get much worse (..... or can it?).

Happy Birthday to Clem and Jen

Due to problems with the office network and internet connection, I worked from home today.  It's not ideal to be away from the office, but as my big project is finishing this week, I can't afford to be out of email communication with the project team, some of whom are in the UK.  So until it's sorted, I'll have to sit it out in the house.  On the upside, I managed to get loads of work done today, and made good progress, including getting another consultancy proposal out.

Towards the end of the day, Arthur came out to the house to pick me up as I had to get some kwacha, because I was rapidly running out. Nataša, Nishi and I then popped up to the supermarket to reprovision the house with water, and for Nataša to pick up something from the pharmacy to help with her developing flu symptoms.  I have a great deal of sympathy with her because I'm feeling a little under the weather as well (sigh).

But there was no time for self-pity, because at 5.30pm I went round to Clem and Jen's house for a sun-downer get-together to celebrate their birthdays. They'd prepared various nibbles and dips, and there was plenty to drink as well.  They've got two dogs that were so well behaved - didn't even try to take a sniff of the food, and just wandered around looking for people to stroke them.

A good crowd turned up and we chatted outside (while the wind started to get up).  A number of people there had gone to Mulanje last weekend and walked up, staying overnight in a hut at the top.  Apparently a fine time was had by all, except for the porter who got to carry Kevin's bag (the one with all the booze in it).

Doogles

Eventually we moved on to Doogles for another beer, and then homewards.

Good news too that Kevin invited me to his party on Saturday night, so that's the weekend sorted!

Is winter coming to an end?

Today was the warmest day since I've been in Malawi.  Absolutely lovely.  I had a very nice stroll into town to pick up something for my lunch, and it was so nice to feel the warmth of sun.  I'm told that we're likely to see some unsettled weather for the next couple of days, but I'm assured that it will then start to warm up again (hopefully in time for me to have a bit of sun before I depart.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart

24th one of these - the girl deserves a medal and an OBE.

Two Lovely People

I've just finished a Skype call with Jan.  She'd had a really nice day with lots of phone calls with friends, and then was invited round to neighbours Bob & Barbara - I gather there was a delicious steak & kidney pie on offer, so I'm now really jealous.  I've been so pleased that all our friends have taken the time to look out for Jan, so thanks to one and all.  Cheers Bob & Barbara.  I'll be round for my slice of pie in a month's time!

Happy Birthday, Bro

It's my brother's birthday today - Happy Birthday, Rob.

Another new face arrives....

This morning I went up to the Malawi Sun hotel in Blantyre to pick up a couple of scones for breakfast from the really good bakery in the hotel's food court.  Then back to the house for a spot of work.

At around 11:15 I headed off in Daisy to the Blantyre Lodge to pick up Nishi who has arrived to start her time here on the project, having got a call from Lilongwe to confirm that she was on the 7am AXA coach.

I've no idea what the ladies are doing wrong, but just as with Nataša, Nishi's luggage didn't arrive in Lilongwe with her flight.  They say that the bag should arrive in Lilongwe today, so hopefully we'll get a call to go and get it from the airport tomorrow.

In the meantime, Nishi is now getting some rest, and the three of us will head off for a bite to eat later on this evening.

Top of the World

Natasa in Zomba market

Today, Nataša and I headed off to Zomba and the plateau.  It's an enormous chunk of rock that has stupendous views out across the plains towards Mozambique. Alas, the weather wasn't too good today, so the views were less than ideal, but we could still see a long way.

Beans and Pulses

We stopped off in Zomba itself to visit the market.  It was a vibrant and busy place, with all sorts of goods and food for sale.  We took quite a few photos, but it was the fish merchants who seemed to take exception to this, asking for money in exchange for the right to take photos. We politely declined and moved on.

Sunbird Ku Chawe Inn, Zomba

Thereafter, we drove up to the Ku Chawe Inn, situated up on the mountain.  It's a large hotel, in a fantastic location, but sadly the weather reduced the views somewhat.  But we could still see across towards Chilwe Lake, and we were able to enjoy the views whilst we enjoyed our liquid refreshment (that's tea for Nataša, and coffee for me!).

We then headed off to see Williams Falls, a waterfall on the mountain, along a track that was a bit bumpy - Daisy took it all in her stride, of course.

Williams Falls

The waterfall was really nice, with clear clean water rushing down the mountain across large boulder-like rocks. In the rainy season I think that the scene would be rather more violent than this.

After that we drove back down, pausing near the Mulunguzi dam for a couple of photos of some of the local monkeys, before we were asked to pay to take photos by the guard at the entrance to the dam, even though we hadn't gone into the fenced-in area.

Monkey at Mulunguzi Dam, Zomba

We quietly returned to Daisy and carried on down the mountain, and onwards to Blantyre.

WW1 Memorial for Kings African Rifles

On the way out of Zomba, just outside an army barracks and the central prison, there's a Malawi national monument that commemorates the soldiers of the Kings African Rifles (KAR) who died during the First World War. It was very moving to read the brass plaques listing the names of the relatively small number of (British) officers and NCOs, and the large number of (Malawi) soldiers who died. The most striking thing about the details on the memorial was the large proportion of deaths caused by disease rather than military action. It was quite an emotional experience.

Down to Thyolo

Macadamia bushes in Thyolo

Thyolo (pronounced "Cholo") is a tea-growing region around XX kms south-east of Blantyre.  On Friday I travelled with a couple of the project team to visit a macadamia factory so that we could see how a modern, well-equipped export-quality food processing plant is designed and run.

Dressed up for the visit

We had an extremely informative tour of the plant, seeing the end-to-end path of the nuts from delivery by truck through to the shipping of boxed nuts at the other end of the plant.  The guys from the Thyolo Nut Company were very courteous, helpful, and welcoming.  My clients saw the implications of HACCP certification in terms of the processes and facilities that need to be put in place to meet the food security standards required by European, American and South African customers.

Looking at the sorting belts

Having worked in a commercial kitchen as a qualified chef, I'm up to speed with HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) and the importance of record-keeping to ensure that all risks are appropriately monitored and recorded to minimise the risks of contamination in the end product.  Of course, we all had to dress in white coats, shoes, and head covers.  The factory wasn't operating as this isn't the right time of the year, but we got a good picture of the process.

Shell-fuelled boiler

It was also interesting to see that the macadamia shells and low-quality kernels are used to fuel the boiler that powers the plant - a truly environmentally-efficient element to the factory's operations.

Reminding me of ....

I know it's the middle of winter here, but this weekend has been more like winter in the North of England than in Sub-Saharan Africa - it's been cold and very wet.  I seem to be coming down with a cold, with sneezing, sniffles and general malaise, so I stayed in the house at the weekend to do a bit of work and watch the cricket and GP, whilst trying to stay warm.

Peter and Natasa went off for a trip down to Mulanje on Saturday, but when they got back they said that the cloud cover was too low to allow them to see the beautiful views out over the valley.

Exterior

On Sunday we went to view the new house that will be home to the UK consultants from the end of August.

Located in an area known as the Catholic Institute, it's a very large property on three floors, and lots of room.  The layout of the house is "different" - unlike anything I've seen before.  The house has floor tiles throughout, so with no furniture in it, it was like walking through an echo chamber.  But the landlord will be furnishing it over the next couple of weeks, so I'm looking forward to seeing (and hearing) the difference.

Kitchen #1

There are two full-sized kitchens in totally different styles directly adjacent to each other.

There is one bedroom that looks as if someone thought it would be a good idea to put a circular bed onto the deck of the Starship Enterprise (see picture), and a host of other "unique" features.

Peter has designated this the Guest Room!

The location is OK.  It's not as nice as where we are in Sunnyside, but then again, it's not every house in Blantyre that overlooks the golf course and is a 5 min walk to the city centre, so it isn't fair to judge on that basis.  The consolation is that the new house is a mere stone's throw from Mustang Sally's!

Garden

The debate is flagging

Not the new dawn any more?

A hot discussion topic in the country this year has been the plan by the Government to change the design of the national flag, replacing the one that has been in use since independence in 1964.

The two designs are shown on the right (current version at the top).  The Flag Bill passed in Parliament this month, in part because of a series of opposition boycotts and walk-outs during the last Parliamentary session after the budget and some other bills were allegedly rushed through.

The Government's argument, as reported in the press, is that the original depiction of a rising sun was fine for its time (reflecting the exciting new dawn for the country), but Malawi has moved on since then and so a full sun would be more appropriate.

The opposition says that this is not a sensible use of resources when the economic situation is not strong, and so many Malawians are living on less than US$1 per day.

The impact, hassle and cost of the change will be significant.  Time alone will tell when the debate and argument will die down.

Headin' South....

Pacific Hotel, Lilongwe: 06:15hrs

Back to Blantyre today.  The coach was supposed to leave Lilongwe at 6.30 this morning from the Pacific Hotel quite near the house, before going on to the “coach station” in the old town for 7am, and then south.  So I set my alarm for 5am to make sure that I could pack up and have a coffee before leaving.  Lawrence got me to the right spot in plenty of time, and we sat in the car to wait.  6.10 came and went.  6.20 came and went.  Some other people arrived for the coach, but sadly the coach didn’t.  

Departure time: 06:30hrs; no people, no bus

6.30 came and went, and so it was decision time.  Do I wait there on the  assumption that the coach would turn up eventually, or should we head over the the old town in case they’d decided not to leave from the first stop for whatever reason.  I tried calling the phone numbers on the ticket wallet, but neither of them worked.  In the end we drove over to the old town, and caught sight of the bus going towards the first stop after all – it was just running quite late for some reason.  In any event, I got on it when it eventually arrived.

I’d thought there’d be a free for all, but it turned out the seats were pre-allocated.  My heart semi-stopped when I was told that my seat number was #13!  The coach was OK – they have a “bus hostess” who serves you a little tray containing a vegetable samosa and a small muffin, and a soft drink of your choice.  They also have a music player and a video machine, so once we were well underway she played The Matrix.  But I’ve never seen such a huge crack in a windscreen as there was right in front of the driver’s eyline.

The coach in Blantyre

Thankfully I’d got my IPOD and so was able to listen to my own stuff in peace with my eyes shut.  About an hour from Blantyre we had to stop at a police roadblock and everyone had to get out while the bus was checked over.  I’ve no idea what they were looking for, but it happens every time there, I’m told.  The local villagers even have barbeques set up roasting sweetcorn to sell to the coach travellers – I didn’t partake myself.  In the end I got to Blantyre at around 11:30.  I got off the bus having spoken to Peter who offered to pick me up in Daisy, but stupidly I'd got off at a different stop to the one I was supposed to, so Peter had to drive over to get me.

I'll get the hang of this one day.

This evening, Natasa, Peter and I went out for a curry at a place opposite Ryalls Hotel.  A nice chicken dish for me - medium-hot with jeera rice and a plain paratha, all washed down with a Carlsberg Green.  Very pleasant.

Spreading The Word

On Monday afternoon and evening I had to plan and prepare a 60 minute presentation on marketing for a small business Forum at the Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe that had been organised by Henry, the MD of Business Consult Africa.

Crossroads Hotel, Lilongwe

Despite a few technical glitches (e.g. the quite new, modern,  business-oriented hotel decided that the screen for our projector should be a white, unironed sheet hung up on the wall, and that the p.a. system should have a mind of its own), the presentation went fine.  We aren't necessarily looking to do too much business in Lilongwe (unless there's another substantial opportunity) due to the significant incremental costs involved, but it was a useful chance to support our host organisation in Malawi (BCA), and to spread the marketing gospel.

Back in Lilongwe

Doreen

After the fascinating visit to Zambia at the weekend, it's back to Lilongwe to press on with work on the Business Plan.

Doreen Chanje who has been working on the supply side of the document (she's an expert in food security and quality issues) returned for a review session.  She, Richard and I went out for lunch at the Sanctuary Lodge.  Doreen's section is just about completed now, so that's great.

Towards the end of the week, other members of the Business Plan team had to disappear off to a variety of parts of the world, so I'm more or less left in Lilongwe to get the draft into shape.  To help focus the mind, I've decided to go to the lake over the weekend for some peace and quiet, and settled on the Livingstonia Beach hotel, which I'd visited on my second day in Malawi.

Room at the Livingstonia Beach

Lawrence the driver took me over to Senga Bay, and I checked in to my very nice room, on 3 levels, with a door and patio situated right on the lake shore.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to fully enjoy the experience, partly because I was there to work (and spent the vast majority of my time on the computer), but also because being the middle of winter, it was just my luck that the weather took a turn for the worse - the wind got up and the lake got rough, to the extent that the noise of the waves breaking on the beach gave me something of a broken night's sleep.  I suspect that there aren't too many people reading this that feel too much sympathy, though.

View from my patio!

So I couldn't swim in the lake, and just kept my head down and worked.  But at least I managed to get the job done so I could send out the next draft Plan document on Monday.

Another Weekend - Another Country

On Saturday, Richard and I went to Zambia.  This was work, mind you.  We were driven to the border, and were picked up on the other side by a guy who works for a client of Richard's.  The idea was to spend the day visiting a couple of warehouses, before going off into the bush to visit a village and see produce being picked and  stored.

This picture shows Richard in the newly-acquired warehouse that will store up to 350 tonnes of produce when it arrives from the villages.  The harvest is due within the next month.

We then went out into the bush - a long way out.  We visited a village called Makowa.

At first it seemed to be deserted, but we found a family busy shelling groundnuts (peanuts).  It turned out the the majority of the villagers were out in the fields picking nuts, so we headed off to take a look.

It turned out that the crop had been planted a bit later than it should have been, so to make sure that everything was ready for the date when the buyers would be collecting the produce, all the village had turned out to help bring in the harvest.

We were shown round by Thomas, the Chief of the village (on the left in the picture), who was sporting a fine orange shirt with a depiction of Barack Obama on the back.  I asked permission to take some photos, and when I showed them the photos on the screen of my camera, it caused a great deal of hilarity.

We overnighted at a Lodge called Mama Rula in Chipata.  My room was excellent, with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, and with a distinctly African feel to the decor (see picture).

I had an excellent T-Bone steak for dinner, before we went to the bar for a quick drink before retiring.  There was a small fire in a stone hearth outside the bar which was very pleasant to sit by to counter the slight chill in the night air.

Mama Rula's son is a big South African rugby fan, and so the bar is extensively decorated with flags and paraphernalia from the Super 14 competition.

By the way, the Lodge is currently on the market, so if you've got a spare $1 million, you may want to contact the vendors!

Site Visit

The project I'm working is for the development of a business plan for the creation of a new business to process a particular type of agricultural produce.  If the plan works, then it could have a significant impact on the livelihoods of Malawi smallholders, as well as contributing to improving the country's balance of payments.

Work has already started on the facility where the processing will take place, and we headed over there today to see how things are progressing.  At the moment, it is just a steel shell, but it will be very different in a month's time.

We were joined by Ian, the South African who is designing and supplying the plant and equipment (mostly sourced from China), so that he could measure up the size of the available area.  The aim is to have a processing facility that is flexible enough to be able to switch outputs according to the prevailing market conditions, and so to optimise the revenues into the business.

We also visited the premises of a prospective customer, which produces a wonder-product that has a fantastic impact on the treatment of malnutrition, and also can improve the effectiveness of the anti-retrovirals used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

There are so many positive impacts from this project that it's hard not to feel totally excited to be a small part of it.

First Day In The Office In Lilongwe

So Day 1 at work in Lilongwe - no time for Monday morning blues as its straight into meetings and discussions with client staff.  

This picture shows the office I'm working at - it's centrally located in the city centre, and we are using a table in the office of the General Manager of the client organisation.  I've got access to the internet for emails, and so far things are going well.

The apprentice consultant who is working with me on the project arrived on Sunday and he is now ensconced with the client's finance team to get to grips with the business plan's financial model, and will eventually be undertaking some sensitivity analysis on the numbers.

We take a few minutes out at lunchtime to grab something to eat from a Lebanese-owned petrol station and mini-market.  I have a chicken somosa and a ham & salad roll (it is now striking me that all I ever talk about in these blog posts is food - I'll make more effort to vary the diet [oh, dammit]).

First full day in Lilongwe for the project.  Sun is shining, and it's much warmer here than in Blantyre.

Amusing start to the day, as over breakfast, one of the clients (Richard) who is staying in the house reported that he'd had a slight problem with his bed overnight.

It transpired that in the small hours his bed had a catastrophic failure, which merited a quick photo.  He decided then to move rooms for his own peace of mind.

Being Sunday, it's an opportunity to get acclimatised to the new location, explore the house, and meet the staff - Hastings is the cook.  The house is pretty nice - it will benefit from the additional furniture that will be arriving next week, but the garden is very pleasant.  My room isn't in the main building, but is one of two bedrooms located in the garden.  The bed is comfortable, and there is plenty of space.

We met Malcolm, a lawyer from Scotland who is here to help set up the Capacity Building for Justice project that will have lawyers coming out from the UK to work with legal departments within the Malawi Government, providing advice and mentoring.

We went to Buchanan's for a late lunch.  It's situated in the Four Seasons, which is basically a lovely landscaped area with lush planting, the restaurant, a nightclub, and a variety of speciality shops selling gifts, furniture and art.  The food is very good, and there is usually a band of some sort playing in the evenings.  It also has the advantage that it is fairly close to the house.  We ate at this table, which is right next to the large pond containing some of the brightly-coloured fish (cichlids) found in Lake Malawi.

On returning to the house, I met my new room-mate, who was making himself comfortable on my bedroom door.  He hasn't told me his name yet - I think he's a bit shy, but I'm sure we'll get on really well.