So... first things first. Who, or what is CNFA? CNFA is an NGO (non-governmental organization) that is working to promote the presence and success of agro-dealers in Malawi. An agro-dealer is a business person who sells seeds, fertilizer, and herbicides (in any combination) to rural farmers. The idea behind the project is that the use of hybrid seeds (rather than locally produced, and often recycled seeds), fertilizer, and herbicides will boost the yields of the rural farmer and make them food secure. In fact, last year the government subsidized fertilizer for all farmers in Malawi and the country had a food surplus for the first time in many years. CNFA's work in this area is key because agro-dealers provide the link between big commercial suppliers and rural farmers.
(small disclaimer: CNFA stands for Citizen's Network for Foreign Affairs but no one here ever uses the full name so I won't either.)
What am I doing at CNFA? Glad you asked! My official title is Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) coordinator. I'm working with two other people on M&E. Our current job is to review the current system and suggest areas for improvement. The new M&E system will be used both to feed information back to the project donors and to help improve decision making within CNFA. One of my co-workers is also new to the project and specializes in GIS (geographic information systems). Part of the new system will be to generate a map of all of the locations of the agro-dealers. This map will be used to improve market knowledge and get more information to the input supply companies. Already, I've been up to all sorts of exciting activities with CNFA... but I'll save that goodness for the next post.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Senga Bay
Last weekend I spent a rather magnificent few days with 18 other EWB volunteers in Senga Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi. I left a little later than everyone else so that I could spend a little more time at work (I was rather new in the job at that point - 3 days in - as compared to my current mature status of 6 days whole days).
The journey began with an hour waiting for my minibus to fill up, and then a slow climb into the hills near the lake. The sun was just beginning to set when we approached the town of Salima, where I needed to transfer to some form of transportation in order to get to Senga Bay. My minibus was painfully slow at climbing each hill, moving almost at walking pace as we approached the crest of each hill and then accelerating unchecked to the beginning of the next hill. Just after dusk, we pulled into the little town of Salima. When I got off the bus I was surrounded by people trying to fill their pick-up trucks with people for the ride to Senga Bay. Problem of how to get to Senga Bay - solved. I jumped into the back of the pick-up truck and we sped off into the night. The short journey to Senga Bay was entrancing: the evening was warm, the breeze from sitting in the bed of the truck was just the right amount of cool, the company was intriguing (no one seemed to speak English), and the sky was once again full of lightening. As we were nearing the guesthouse where I was going to be staying our pick-up truck was stopped by two vans that were repairing the overhead electricity cables that provided power to a village along the road, and to my guesthouse. Getting out to investigate I was told the guesthouse was only "300m" further on, so I paid off my pick-up and started out. I was accompanied by the guy who been stopped in the car in front of us. He joined me for what I'm guessing was about a kilometer and a half walk, and on the way I learned he was a Malawian solider who'd trained with the U.S. Marines, and served in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. A pretty good escort I think!
The retreat itself was wonderful. I got to meet all of the other volunteers working in Malawi and Zambia. I learned a little more about what everyone else was doing and how everybody's projects are related. I ate some delicious food (we had some great cooks). I got to sit in some really interesting workshops, workshops that were so interesting that we had monkeys peering in the windows trying to get in on the learning. I swam in Lake Malawi and played a little beach volleyball at the end of a hard day's learning. I'm already looking forward to the next retreat and I hope you enjoy the pictures that I took.
Thanks for reading!
The journey began with an hour waiting for my minibus to fill up, and then a slow climb into the hills near the lake. The sun was just beginning to set when we approached the town of Salima, where I needed to transfer to some form of transportation in order to get to Senga Bay. My minibus was painfully slow at climbing each hill, moving almost at walking pace as we approached the crest of each hill and then accelerating unchecked to the beginning of the next hill. Just after dusk, we pulled into the little town of Salima. When I got off the bus I was surrounded by people trying to fill their pick-up trucks with people for the ride to Senga Bay. Problem of how to get to Senga Bay - solved. I jumped into the back of the pick-up truck and we sped off into the night. The short journey to Senga Bay was entrancing: the evening was warm, the breeze from sitting in the bed of the truck was just the right amount of cool, the company was intriguing (no one seemed to speak English), and the sky was once again full of lightening. As we were nearing the guesthouse where I was going to be staying our pick-up truck was stopped by two vans that were repairing the overhead electricity cables that provided power to a village along the road, and to my guesthouse. Getting out to investigate I was told the guesthouse was only "300m" further on, so I paid off my pick-up and started out. I was accompanied by the guy who been stopped in the car in front of us. He joined me for what I'm guessing was about a kilometer and a half walk, and on the way I learned he was a Malawian solider who'd trained with the U.S. Marines, and served in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. A pretty good escort I think!
The retreat itself was wonderful. I got to meet all of the other volunteers working in Malawi and Zambia. I learned a little more about what everyone else was doing and how everybody's projects are related. I ate some delicious food (we had some great cooks). I got to sit in some really interesting workshops, workshops that were so interesting that we had monkeys peering in the windows trying to get in on the learning. I swam in Lake Malawi and played a little beach volleyball at the end of a hard day's learning. I'm already looking forward to the next retreat and I hope you enjoy the pictures that I took.Thanks for reading!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Arrival
Hello All!
So, I’ve been in Africa for two weeks (to the day today) and I haven’t managed to post on my beautiful new blog. Terribly antisocial behaviour I know... some people have even been asking after a blog update... admittedly a very small number of people. Anyhow, let the update begin!
I’ve had the good fortune to visit both Malawi and Zambia in the last two weeks. My first week was spent at Mabuya Camp (a hostel) in Lilongwe. The week was the ‘drop you in the deep end’ type of training that is a particular favourite of EWB. My co-trainee and I were sent out on various challenges that took us into the local markets and into the villages surrounding Lilongwe. I’ll try and write about some of the people that I met in later posts.
Then, it was off on a 13 hour odyssey to Lusaka, Zambia. I made the journey by myself, which added a small excitement factor... but everything went quite smoothly (or at least as smoothly as things go here). In Lusaka, I was met by Hans another EWB volunteer. I spent the week with him learning about what his organization (PROFIT) does. PROFIT’s project is very similar to the project that I will be working with and Hans does almost the same job that I will be doing. All in all I learned a lot and I met a lot of great people. Plus, Hans taught me how to ride a motorbike! I have video... so I might try to upload that at some later date when I have a better internet connection.
Yesterday, Thulasy (another EWB volunteer) and I made the great trek back to Lilongwe. The day before, we bought tickets for the direct bus that was scheduled to leave at 9am. Eventually, the bus left just after noon. This meant that we were still driving through Zambia after dark. Lightening storms are far more frequent here, and they last for hours. Rural Zambia has no electricity. The lightening was fantastic. Night clouds, trees, and a gently rolling landscape appeared every few seconds and then fell back into blackness.
Today, I am collecting myself and resting at Mabuya in Lilongwe. Tomorrow I start work. Soon after that I will have to find myself a place to live... and then perhaps life will find some normalcy.
So, I’ve been in Africa for two weeks (to the day today) and I haven’t managed to post on my beautiful new blog. Terribly antisocial behaviour I know... some people have even been asking after a blog update... admittedly a very small number of people. Anyhow, let the update begin!
I’ve had the good fortune to visit both Malawi and Zambia in the last two weeks. My first week was spent at Mabuya Camp (a hostel) in Lilongwe. The week was the ‘drop you in the deep end’ type of training that is a particular favourite of EWB. My co-trainee and I were sent out on various challenges that took us into the local markets and into the villages surrounding Lilongwe. I’ll try and write about some of the people that I met in later posts.
Then, it was off on a 13 hour odyssey to Lusaka, Zambia. I made the journey by myself, which added a small excitement factor... but everything went quite smoothly (or at least as smoothly as things go here). In Lusaka, I was met by Hans another EWB volunteer. I spent the week with him learning about what his organization (PROFIT) does. PROFIT’s project is very similar to the project that I will be working with and Hans does almost the same job that I will be doing. All in all I learned a lot and I met a lot of great people. Plus, Hans taught me how to ride a motorbike! I have video... so I might try to upload that at some later date when I have a better internet connection.Yesterday, Thulasy (another EWB volunteer) and I made the great trek back to Lilongwe. The day before, we bought tickets for the direct bus that was scheduled to leave at 9am. Eventually, the bus left just after noon. This meant that we were still driving through Zambia after dark. Lightening storms are far more frequent here, and they last for hours. Rural Zambia has no electricity. The lightening was fantastic. Night clouds, trees, and a gently rolling landscape appeared every few seconds and then fell back into blackness.
Today, I am collecting myself and resting at Mabuya in Lilongwe. Tomorrow I start work. Soon after that I will have to find myself a place to live... and then perhaps life will find some normalcy.
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