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!

Another day, another road trip

After breakfast, Lawrence picked me up and we set off en route to the Lake.  He was insistent that I needed to see it, and who am I to argue?  It was great just to drive through the countryside and see the different sights along the way.

Apologies if the pics are a bit blurred due to the motion of the car.

The roads are "interesting" from a driving viewpoint - the quality of the surface is good, but the obstacles along the way are something to behold - cattle, goats, people, ramshackle mini-buses, overladen lorries, and more all contributing to the experience always being an interesting one.  It's not like Sawbridgeworth, that's for sure.

Anyway, we eventually arrived at the Sunbird Livingstonia Hotel on the lake.  Wow.  The lake was so beautiful, with extraordinarily clear water, a nice sandy beach, and breathtaking views across the water towards Mozambique.

In the end it was all too much for me, so I had to sit down on the terrace by the pool and drink a cold beer!

We then headed back towards Lilongwe so I could catch my flight south to Blantyre.

Alas along the way, a young goat decided to commit heavy-duty suicide by leaping out in front of the car.  This apparently happens quite a lot, but unfortunately it damaged the car so that we had to complete the journey slowly - stopping at every opportunity to replenish the water in the radiator.  Never a dull moment.

In the end I caught the flight without any problems, and am now ensconced in my new home for the next 3 months having enjoyed  an excellent roast chicken dinner, courtesy of Abraham the cook. I also found out that I will be attending a meeting in the morning with a client about a project that I'll be taking over from Rick, who will be returning to the UK next week.  So it's hitting the ground running for me, but I suspect there aren't too many people feeling all that sorry for me right now.  So it's off to bed and ready to be up bright and breezy in the morning.

For those of you interested in where I'm staying, it's very nice, but I'll be doing a post on the house and area tomorrow, all being well.

Oh yes, and I'm so chuffed that Jan got Skype working at home, so we had a lovely chat this evening.

By the way, a full set of pictures from the day are available on Flickr - select "Show Info" to see what each image is depicting.

Thanks

It's worth noting that my enthusiasm for getting more involved with the charity sector and volunteering was first stimulated by my good lady wife, Jan, who has spent many a long year gently nagging me to do more in the wider community.

And secondly, I got a huge benefit from the excellent programmes developed and offered by the Foundation for Social Improvement who do a great job supporting small charities across the UK.  Here's a plea - if you work in a small charity in the UK and want to build your knowledge and skills, get in touch with the FSI.

And thirdly a big thanks to Integration Support Services, the charity that I've only recently joined as a Trustee for letting me do this project.  I'm working on a new website for them, and the pressure is on to get it done before I go.

How Brilliant Is This?

So what's this Malawi thing all about?

It started for me at the end of April, when Jan (my wife) came back from a meeting in London with a copy of the Metro newspaper.  In it was an advert from Challenges Worldwide (CWW) asking for volunteers to join a project team based in Blantyre, Malawi.  

The project is funded by the Scottish Government, and aims to build an indigenous consultancy capacity in the country through UK consultants working on live projects for micro, small and medium-sized organisations, and also training and mentoring local apprentice consultants.

It struck me as a well-defined and sustainable approach and one that seemed extremely worthwhile, so I called CWW up and received a load of information.  There was a need for a new consultant to get out to Malawi urgently to work on a new client requirement, so on 17 May I had an interview, was offered the position, and my e-tickets to Lilongwe with Kenya Airways arrived in my inbox this afternoon (18 May).

It's now all a question of rushing about to get all my stuff together ready for the off.  I can't wait.