Rotary District 9600 GSE Team 2008 - Africa

Ryan's Thanks!

2008-06-04T16:40:00.000+10:00

So it turns out this whole blogging process is not as tough as I thought (that is of course if this blog entry actually works).
The existing entries have covered the events of our exchange really well, but I just wanted to say a big thank you to all of you who have helped make the 2008 Group Study Exchange between Rotary Districts 9600 and 9210 a success.
Firstly, thank you very much to everyone in Southern Africa – Rotary District 9210 GSE organisers and all D9210 Rotarians, especially those that hosted us along the way!! Also, South Africans, Andy and Jenny and Johannesburg Rotarians.
Thanks also to the District 9600 GSE organisers and especially the Rotary Club of Caloundra for sponsoring me.
Lastly, many thanks to my family, work and of course our GSE team, Chris, Fran, Jodie and Greg. In particular, a huge thank you to the Team Leader, Chris T.L. Goninon who's prior Rotary and GSE experience, enthusiastic attitude, thorough preparation and leadership skills were a huge part in making this exchange run smoothly.
I personally didn't anticipate the workload the GSE program required of me, but I can confidently say now it was all worth it, as the value of the program's rewarding, once-in-a-lifetime experiences far exceeded my expectations!!

Chris' Blog - The End

2008-06-04T11:09:00.003+10:00

As Jodie and Greg have covered the end of our experience so well, I'm not going to add anything about Livingstone, beyond Ryan's big vocational experience (pic attached) and to direct anyone to the pics on Jodie and Gregs Blogs.

We did meet with one more RC - the RC of Bedfordview - who missed out on our presenation due to a broken piece of plastic on our plane. They still hosted us and gave us a very quick tour of J'burg. To them thanks and think that they saved the Rotary Foundation at least $500.

And so home. (and a pic with all of our supporters.

Jodie has covered a lot of the thank yous, so just ot add to them, thanks to everyone (sponsors) that gave us things to give away, most of these have ended up with people who need them in hospitals, schools or orphanages. Also thanks to the Rotary Foundation and the district management teams (both D9600 and D9210)that were involved in the organisation of thie exchange. I'd alos like to thank TA my wife, for acting as the blog updater while I was in Africa, and for doing a lot of follow up bits and pieces for the team while we were away.

And finally as team leader - Thanks to my team - Fran, Greg, Jodie and Ryan a great team that really made this exchange the success that it was. They showed themselves to be a true credit to our country Australia, Rotary, their professions and to themselves. WELL DONE!!

This exchange had its hard moments, things such as 12+ hour road trips, nearly 7 weeks away from loved ones, sights that were heart breaking, processes that are frustrating, and conditions that are not what we are all used to. Yet we all survivied and have grown from the experience and have made a great group of new friends and professional contacts.

So from me, Cheers and thanks for sharing our experiences.

Chris 'TL' Goninon

Back home on leave, awaiting demobilisation.

2008-06-04T11:02:00.001+10:00

Today is the first day since leaving Australia that I have driven on a road - there were no pedestrians on the side of the road except for one jogger, and instead of spotting Impala, Kudu or Buffalo I was admiring the beef cattle, the flooded gums and the iron barks. That and the rain.

It was an odd feeling not having Fran yell at me "Smile, damn it! Keep frowning at the camera like that and you'll crack the lens!"

My time waiting at the Oliver R. Tambo Airport (Johannesburg) was rewarded with the purchase of 4 locally printed books regarding southern Africa which I am unlikely to find in Australia - I would like to thank the hosts who allowed me to rummage through their libraries and quiz them incessantly about what were and weren't good books worth my reading. Many things are cheaper in southern Africa than in Australia, and some things are more expensive. Books are one of the things that are more expensive, and with a low rate of literacy there is a low market, coupled with a low average income, which is a vicious circle coming against the spreading of literacy, education and an informed society.

Against this backdrop the Rotarians of Bedfordview, Johannesburg, are distributing superceeded textbooks from America free of charge to underprivileged schools in South Africa. With the extra distances and hold ups the cost would be significantly more for them to get these same books (which we wouldn't doubt would be very much needed in many of the schools we've visited on our exchange). South Africa also has its own problems in education: we were told by one of the Rotarians that 12 teachers died per day of AIDS in S.A. Although the parts of Johannesburg our hosts showed us through was very beautiful and well kept, they acknowledged there was a high rate of violent crime in the city (higher than anywhere on our exchange) and as a result many residential areas are now enclosed behind gates and fences.

Also whilst in Johannesburg we were able to gain extra insight into the violence against Zimbabwean and other African immigrants; on arrival at my host's house we waited for his wife to come home from a meeting at their church which was helping to coordinate a relief effort. The fine line which had to be walked was that they didn't at the same time neglect poor South Africans who were also inn need and thus provoke further resentment against the immigrants. There are problems of unemployment in South Africa among those who compete for low-paying work, and in places like Johannesburg this is exacerbated by an additional 1-4 million illegal immigrants - South Africa could nearly cope with its own unemployed, I was told, but to add so many from neighbouring countries makes a solution to the problem so much harder. There is also then the issue of people who used to cross freely the borders that now exist that were set up by Europeans.

These issues not only dog security and the economy but also the ability to provide free public health care.

Something to think about.

Greg.

Livingstone, Johannesburg, Singapore and HOME!!

2008-06-04T11:01:00.001+10:00

Livingstone - The last part of our GSE adventure was spent in Livingstone - home of the Victoria Falls. We had sent through a number of recreational activity requests to the Rotary Club of Livingstone, and the club was very accommodating! On Saturday we headed across the border to Botswana to a game park in Chombe. This was an amazing day for the team. We crossed the Zambia / Botswana border in a small boat before jumping into an open jeep for our game-spotting adventure. In the morning we were on the water, where we saw herds or elephants playing, eating and drinking along the river bank. As well as pods of hippos and a number of crocodiles that were all to close to the boat for my liking! We saw one croc enjoying his breakfast of impala (small deer), which the other crocs were eyeing off jealously...
In the afternoon we went through the game park in the jeep and saw a number of other animals, including giraffe, baboons, more impala, mongoose, and a number of native birds. We went along the river bank and were within a few metres of the elephants.

The next day saw us take flight over Victoria Falls. Chris. Ryan and myself opted to travel in a microlight - a small two seater plane without any walls with an engine that sounds like a lawn mower (and yes - we waited until we landed safely to tell our families exactly what this adventure entailed). Greg and Fran opted for the safety of the helicopter - with equally stunning views of the falls. We then headed for an Elephant Walk. This involved 'boarding' the elephant via a platform and touring around the park for an hour. They do not move fast at all, and we were well protected as the leader of the tour carried a rather large rifle in the event we come across any wildlife that may disturb our elephant friends... After the walk we were able to feed our elephants, as well as the two baby elephants. This was great, until the baby elephant got an itch in his trunk and sneezed all over my pants...

In the afternoon (yes, our tourist day continues!) we went to Vic Falls and the sound and the spray was amazing! Although we'd been warned about just how wet you would get, our raincoats provided little protection from the almighty spray that the falls produces. The photos we took will not do the falls justice, as they were taken through the safety of a plastic snap-lock bag!

Our final tourist destination was the Livingstone Museum. We were there close to closing time and had a quick look around the displays on Zambian wildlife, cultural traditions and also the stories of explorers in the area, particularly David Livingstone.

We did manage to squeeze in some visits to Rotary Projects on our last full day in Livingstone. We visited St Joseph's Hospice, an Orphanage, an Old People's home and a home for sexually abused girls. The amazing thing about these Rotary projects is the clubs focus on the sustainability of the projects and empowering the organisations to become as self-sufficient as possible. We then attended a fundraising lunch boat cruise down the Zambezi River.

The afternoon provided us with the opportunity to wander through the market stalls for some last minute shopping. The locals are interested in bartering for the goods you carry in your backpack, and also the clothes and accessories you are wearing (including hairbands and bobby pins).

In the evening we were treated to our last bbq - which doubled as Greg's Birthday Party. Our hosts for the evening, Sue and Mike, provided us with great food, fabulous music and a few quiet beverages the celebrate the end of our GSE journey.

On Tuesday we left Livingstone for a brief stopover in Johannesburg (made even shorter due to our flight being delayed 4 hours) before heading home via Singapore on Wednesday.

We arrived home at around 8pm last night. There was a few tears at the airport as our families came to greet us and take us home to warm showers, flushing toilets and familiar foods!

Thanks to everyone who has supported our GSE Exchange. Particularly to our sponsoring Rotary Clubs (Albany Creek, Brisbane Mid-City, Buderim, Caloundra, and Murgon), the families and Rotary Clubs that hosted us in Disctrict 9210, our employers, and our families and friends who have followed our adventure!

Take care, Jodie : )

Chris' Blog 23 May

2008-06-04T10:42:00.006+10:00

Luska

Today Fran had her most exciting vocational expereince in at the Ministry of Health. The team (minus Greg) met with with and was able to gain some very interesting facts, figures and stats about the number of health workers (and an idea of the size of the shortages) across Zambia. We also were able to learn about some of the (few) incentives that health workers have to work in rural areas. A quick summary of how they get staff there is - MD's - must do some of their internship in rural areas, if they accept a role in a rural area they are entitled to a car and the more remote it becomes the greater the financial / housing incentives are. For other staff there are also similar (although not at the same pay scales) incentives. The scaring thing is the shortage of health and allied health staff in the country, but at least they have an idea of how many they have, where they are needed and how many more they need. Thanks to the Minstry of Health.

We then revisited the Gem shop and some purchases were made (two happy ladies in the team and one happy TL's wife when we get back)

In the mean time Greg visited a research farm that grew (wait for it) lucerne. I'll leave it to Greg to expand on this.

The rest of the day for the rest of us was spent travelling to Livingstone. Unfortunaly we were sent on two flights, with Fran Ryan and I arriving in the ealth afternoon, and Greg and Jodie about half an hour after our presentation to the RC of Livingstone.

Yes, our final presenation was delivered by the three of us. I delivered both my presenation and subed for Greg, Fran played Jodie and herself and Rayn had the luxuray of being just himself (but then had to run heads and tails). Overall the presenation went very well and the club (and over 25 visitors which included a group of Rotarians for the US and the youth exchange members from the US (Hannah) and Canada (Jolene) (who become our honourary GSE little sisters) . Jsut sad that this our final presenation in D9210 (and it ended up being our final presenation) was missing 40% of the team.

Chris' Blog 22 May – The Trip

2008-06-04T10:26:00.002+10:00

Lusaka – This morning we broke into two groups. Greg and Ryan went off to look at some construction sites, While Fran, Jodie and I went to the University Medical Hospital. We started off with a meeting with the CEO / Chief director of the facility who was able to answer a lot of our questions, and when he didn’t know he told us he didn’t know, but at least gave us some suggestions where to find it, (and who). Following this we met with one of only 4 OT’s that are in Zambia (1 of these being Jodie). Jodie has covered her meeting the OT well in her blog of 23 May (Jodie I added a picture I hope that is ok!!).

While Jodie met with the OT Fran and I busied ourselves trying to find some info about medical programs at the hospital, and then how long they are. But we did (We hope). The difficulty in understanding this was they have both Postgrad and Undergrad (U/G) entry, + for the U/G you can enter directly, or with an extra year undertaking O levels, or after completing 2 years of another program.

Our next visit is to the Paper Mache project, where the staff (all who have some phycial disability) make items that can be used to assist other with disabilites. These items include tables, chairs and items to assist people to stand up. The items also include straps to assist people to stand or stil in place, with then can address other issues such as bed sores, and the proper development of joints, muscels etc. (This is really Jodie's specialist area so sorry for using very basic layman terms).

Following this we visited a wheel chair + building facility run by staff with mobility difficulties, where they build wheel chairs (predominatly using bike parts) used in rough terrain and make changes to other wheel chairs (such as the foundation wheel chairs) so that they can be used in villages. (Basically they remove the existing front wheels and replace them with wider wheels. The other recent development that has is an ambulance bike trailer that can be towed behind a bicycle. A great development.

We then all gathered for what ended up being our final presentation as a full group at the RC of Lusaka Central. This was also attended by DG Nickole, which was great as he had missed our presentation at the conference. The afternoon saw us again spilt into our two groups, with Greg and Ryan visiting Zesco (the electricity producer) and Fran, Jodie and I learning about gem stones and then visiting the Ministry of Health to try to get some info about rural health (unsuccessfully that afternoon, but wait till the blog tomorrow). The evening saw us get together with members of both clubs, and for most of us a fantastic seafood meal.

Chris’ Blog – 21 May

2008-06-01T23:27:00.000+10:00

Our travel today is to Lusaka via “Public Luxury Coach”. The coach is in comparable to our coaches, except it has opening windows, no air con, and the seating arrangements are two across, the aisle and then three. The bus is scheduled to leave somewhere between 9 and 10am, depending on when it fills up. As you can imagine, after we have been in the bus awhile everyone starts to close their windows and it warms up and becomes very stuffy. At every stop there are many street vendors trying to sell us food, drinks, cd’s DVDs and other “interesting goods”.

We are joined on the bus by Jolene, the Canadian youth exchange student, who is also on route to Lusaka and then on to Livingstone. As we drive to Lusaka we see (incredibly) some hay bales (interesting for Greg) and arrive at one of the maddest bus stations I have ever seen. We are then driven to our hosts, and enjoy an evening home with our hosts. (Fran, Ryan and I are all hosts by Arnie and Emily and so stay up to watch Man U beat Chelsea in the Champions League match)

Chris’ Blog – 20 May

2008-06-01T23:07:00.001+10:00

Today we moved on to Luanshya, a short trip in a mini bus. On arrival we split into two groups. The boys visit the local water treatment plant and the girls to a local School. The water treatment plant, like a lot of activities in the copper belt, are based on equipment built for the mines, or as is the case, equipment that could be used for the mines. In this case this resulted in a wonderful lake that is used of recreation, and a settling pond for water drawn from the river. With our lack of water in SE Qld, it is amazing to know that if the river runs dry in Luanshya, they would run out of water in a couple of days, there is no significant water holding facility.

In the afternoon we had a rest opportunity, and later in the evening we make our presentation at IPDG Patrick Coleman’s home with the club.

Chris’ thoughts NGO’s (Non Government Organisations)

2008-06-01T22:46:00.000+10:00

While we have traveled in D9210 we saw a lot of activities of both large and small NGO’s. The large NGO’s make themselves very obvious by the purchase of new white 4x4’s for most of their staff and shop fronts and offices. On seeing these many of us wondered how they are able to afford these, so after some question asking, to staff of these organisations, government departments, and other people, we were very disappointed to hear that many of the large organisations have a very poor success rate of spending a large percentage of their funds on the people they are meant to be assisting. So please next time you think of supporting any of the large NGO’s with a financial donation, ask them what percentage of their funding actually goes to the people they are trying to assist, after admin charge in the country where the donation has been made, and on staff, administration and other costs in the country where they are assisting people.

If they are honest you may be surprised (and very disappointed).

It says a lot about the strength of donations to the smaller NGO’s and community organisations, who are often are the ones that local governments look to for real support.

Chris' Blog - 19 May

2008-06-01T22:23:00.002+10:00

All I think we could all say about today was wow. The reason, we went 350m underground into a copper wine. What an experience. The tunnels were only slightly wider than the large trucks that travel underground to bring out the rock and ore. Where this plant is very similar to those in Australia is that the waste product is used to fill in the tunnels once the ore is extracted. This results in a much safer and stable mine site, and reduced need of space above ground. TI was also interesting to see how they ensure there is enough oxygen underground, and how the miners work in such a hot, dark and cramped environment. It is also worth noting, that the copper at this stage is only 3-4% of the ore, so there is a lot of work after extraction before the ore becomes copper as we know it.

After an exhausting morning down the mine, we all travel back to Kitwe where we split, with Greg visiting a farm, Jodie a company clinic and Fran, Ryan and I visiting the Ipusukio Community School.

The school is a community school that has 3 taverns on its boundaries, all with music so loud that the speakers are distorting. The school itself is made up of eight class rooms for over 1,200 students. The entire plot is only about 500m2. Four rooms are brick, (one with a door caving in, the second with the roof propped up with wooden poles) the others are wooden and are similar to 18th century country barns in Australia, dirt floors, huge gaps, and using maize sacks to stop the wind. How the students and staff can study in these conditions is amazing, yet the students of the school have over a 90% success rate at passing the year 8 entrance examinations. The Rotary club is involved in building a new school about 1.5kms away, to get away from the noise and poor learning conditions. A worthwhile project.

The evening we spend with members of both clubs with a quiet get together, we then all get home at about 11.30pm.

Chris' Blog - 18 May

2008-06-01T11:55:00.003+10:00

Sunday. Sunday Morning with spent with our hosts. For three of us we went to church, with Fran and I (both with the RC of Kalulushi) at the local United Church (Similar to the uniting church in Australia). We both had a meeting with the minister before attending the service. There were at least 3 choirs, so there with lots of singing in the 2 hour service. After a quick lunch, we spent the afternoon visiting a deaf school, the local public hospital including the morgue (we were all glad that we knew Mwangala and could go private), and St Josephs Hospital. (A catholic hospital). Interesting to note that in this hospital there were the normal health advisory posters, including promotion of the use of condoms to prevent aids…. All I can say is that this is modern Catholicism!!

That night we made our presentation to a join meeting of the two clubs at the Sherbourne Guest Lodges, with local cuisine, including the staple Shima (Maize), beetles, local game + some of the more traditional foods.

Chris' Blog 16-17/5/2008

2008-06-01T11:50:00.002+10:00

The Trip 16-17/5/2008 – 35- 36 /47

This morning started with us visiting Copperbelt University. It started with a visit to the Registrar’s office with the Vice Chancellor joining in the discussions during the hour meeting. After the meeting with undertook a quick visit of the Campus and then split into two groups with Jodie and Fran visiting a school and Ryan, Greg and I holding discussions with the Dean of Engineering.

It was very interesting as Copperbelt has in place a number of policy and plans in place to address government funding shortfalls. We also worked out why most degrees a year longer than in Australia. First year is basically an O level year with students undertaking the similarly content to Australian Degrees after that. We then undertook a quick visit to the Kitwe Stalls before joining the Rotary Club of Kitwe North for their meeting.

After that we visited the Kitwe Hospital and following that Ryan and I visited a road reconstruction site.

The evening with finished off with a presentation at PDG William’s house along with a great buffet style dinner.

17/5 Started with Greg and I joining my host Moss with short round of golf. Like Fran a week earlier, Greg showed himself to be quite good with the golf clubs for a first timer. We then joined our new hosts, RC’s of Kitwe and Kalulushi. I was hosted by GSE team Leader Mwangala, and to try to address a couple of short falls in our program, we spent the morning trying to arrange vocational visits for later in the week, both with Kitwe and Kalulushi, and later in Lusaka and Livingstone. After some work, and across the next couple of days, Vocational visits and trips were arranged.

The afternoon and night were spent at a Braai with the clubs, and then later with the individual host club members in the towns that we were being hosted by. The location of the Braai was amazing as there was a resident crocodile that enjoys both bread and t bone steak bones. It was also at this stage that I started to realize how important titles were in the copperbelt and Zambia in general. Basically I should have been introducing myself and PAG (Past assistant governor) rather than as TL (Team Leader) and PP (Past President). You live and learn.

DG’s Banquet.

2008-06-01T11:41:00.001+10:00

Just some pics of us on our way to the DG’s banquet. Sorry it has taken so long, but we only had one camera at the event and this is the first opportunity I have had to get it onto the site.

Cheers

Chris

Some catching up

2008-06-01T11:38:00.001+10:00

Hi all,

Yes I got behind!! It was not on purpose, it was more lack of easy internet access and lack of time (and sleep). So I'll finish off my daily messages over the next couple of days, and then repost Jodie and Greg's messages as they deserve to be at the end.

Cheers

Chris

Jackpot - A Real OT in Zambia!

2008-05-23T19:56:00.003+10:00

Hi Everyone,
Well, we have reached Lusaka in one piece after catching a bus from Luanshya (on the Copperbelt) on Wednesday. The bus was scheduled to leave around 8 am, but they had to wait for it to fill up and we finally left at around 10am (we're getting used to Zambia time!).

Yesterday, we visited the University Teaching Hospital (UTH to the locals) and as we walked into the building Fran spotted a sign that said "Occupational Therapy". I could not believe my eyes!

UTH is the largest hospital in Zambia and caters for around 800 inpatients and sees 1400 outpatients a day. We briefly met with the managing director, and when I asked about the Occupational Therapy Department he started telling me about Physiotherapists who then do some occupational therapy training. My heart sank... my spirits were quickly lifted as our Rotary host, Peter, told me he knew an Occupational Therapist who worked in the hospital.

So we went on a mission to track her down.... Her name is Julie and she's from Holland. She's been in Africa for 12 years, and Zambia for four. Her role at the university is in the Department of Medical Education Development. She's trying to improve the standard of teaching of the Universitie's medical courses (she also has a Masters in Public Health and Medical Education - hence she can take on this role). She has very little to do with the 'occupational therapy' department, as it is not run by Occupational therapists, but by people who have had some basic training in rehabilitation. She is able to subsidise her wage from the university by working as an OT at one of the international schools, assisiting with children with ADD and Aspergers, and also educating the staff about these conditions. We had a rather candid discussion about the organisations and facilities I've seen whilst we've been away, and she was able to fill in the gaps from a cultural point of view. She is keen to get Australian Occupational Therapy students to do project placements in Community Based Rehabilitation in Zambia and is willing to supervise these students too (I have no idea how she'll fit it in - she's so busy already!)

After meeting Julie, we visited Apters and Disacare. Apters is an organisation run by people with disabilities that produces paper mache equipment for children with diasbilities - they make corner chairs, standing frames, and supportive seating and charge a very minimal fee. The structure is started with dense cardboard and then the paper mache is applied to give the stability. They are painted brightly and varnished for durability.

Disacare is also run by people with disabilities. They make wheelchairs and do wheelchair modifcations to suit village life. We'll include some pictures of their work when we have more time. Their latest invention is a tricycle ambulance - a tricycle with a trailer on the back in the form of a stretcher to carry people out of the village and to the nearest health clinic. Amazing stuff!!

That's all for now. We're off to Livingstone today to see the mighty Victoria Falls!

Take care, Jodie : )

Jodie's next vocational update...

2008-05-21T00:41:00.003+10:00

Since the district conference we have been enjoying the hospitality of the Rotarians on the Coperbelt - Northern Zambia where, ironically, they mine a lot of copper (amongst other things, but you should check with the guys about that..)

In Ndola we visited the National Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, which is a residential facility for adults with disabilities to train in a variety of vocations. Unfortunately, there have been no students since February as there was supposed to be a strike by the staff, so the students were sent back to their homes. However, the strike didn't eventuate, and the staff have been there without any clients since. Regina, the Physiotherapist, has been seeing some clients privately to make some money for the centre. Hopefully the students will return soon. When the students are around, they have courses such as business and accountancy, agriculture, and home economics. The orthopaedic department is able to produce prosthetics for those who require it - the limbs are somewhat different to those you'd see in Australia, but they are doing a great job with the minimal resources and equipment they have.

The following day we visited Authur Davidson Children's Hospital, which is a 250 bed hospital - the only Children's hospital in the District, and one of only two (I think..) in the country. The main illnesses they see are TB, malaria, cholera, and infectious diseases such as chicken pox and the measles. The children with those infectious diseases are kept in hospital to keep the measles or chicken pox from spreading through the village. They have a physiotherapy department - located on the third floor, but without an elevator - which is staffed by two physios.

In Kitwe we visited the Valley View Basic School, which has a hearing impaired unit for around 22 students. The students are involved in a number of programs, and are taught with in the unit, as well as with the rest of the students. The students were curious to know a bit about Australia, and their teacher was able to interpret for us as their sign language is different to the signing we use in Australia.

Yesterday we visited Kalalushi Mining Hospital, where I spoke to the Physiotherapist who deals with the mining accidents, in particular Lower Back Pain injuries. They tend to use a lot of machines as opposed to hands-on physiotherapy. The clients are seen between 2 - 5 times a week. The physiotherapist is not involved in any training to prevent to incidence of injuries in the mines. This is taught by the First Aide Officers. We discussed the role therapists in Australia play when they are trying to prevent such workplace injuries, and the Consultant Surgeon said they may discuss it in the current review of the first aide training.

In the afternoon I visited Company Clinic, which is a private facility offering Physiotherapy amongst other medical facilities. Although they treat mainly adults, they run a clinic on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at the local church where children from the local area can come and receive treatment for a minimal fee. There is also an Occupational Therapist (!) working amongst the local villages as a missionary providing some group treatment to those in more remote areas. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to meet her.

Today we arrived in Luanshya and Fran and I visited the Dagama School for Children with Physical Disabilies. This is a Catholic run school and has just over 170 students from Grade 1 - Grade 12. Due to the decreasing incidence in Polio, this school now caters for students with intellectual impairment as well. Around 40 of their students do not have disabilities, but are considered 'vulnerable' children, either being single (one parent has passed away) or double (both parents have passed away) orphans. These children do not board at the school like the other children, but come from their homes in the local area for school. The school has a physiotherapist and a pool (but this can only be used in the warmer months as there it is not heated).

That't about all from me for now - just to clarify I haven't defected to becoming a Physiotherapist, I'm still an Occupational Therapist, trying to spread the word of the importance of my profession to hospital executives in Zambia!

Take care, Jodie : )

Chris' Blog - 14-15th May

2008-05-20T16:40:00.003+10:00

The Trip – 14/15 May – 33-34/47

Wednesday saw us with a scheduled ‘Free time”, however we were all kept busy. I visited Raman’s factory – Wood Industry Processing. The plant takes pine trees from a stage where they have been cut down, through to timber, molding and different products such as doors and flooring. Importantly now piece of wood is wasted, including the sawdust and bark.

The reminder of the team visited the Zambian flying air doctor.

Lunch was a combined meeting of the Ndola clubs, with Matilda from the team that visited D9600 the guest speaker. And then the sad part as we left on our way to our next hosts at Kitwe. All of the team, with the exception of myself are staying with PDG William, while I am with a different host, Moss.

The evening was an evening with our hosts, so while I went out for dinner, the rest of the team had an evening in.

We spent Thursday with the Rotary Club of Mufulira, about a 45 minute drive from Kitwe. While with Mufulira we visited a farm set up by one of the mining companies for retired and out of work miners as a way to teach them skills to look after them selves when they stop working in the mines. Yes in retirement they are planning to farm!!! The farm started in 2004, and has a manager (paid by the mines), with the rest of the group in a cooperative. To date they are growing Bananas, assorted vegetables, maize (of course) and a piggery. They have further plans, including a dam. Interestingly there is no need to liaise with people down stream, they can just block it up.

After the farm, it was off to the golf course for a super fast lunch (1 hour from ordering to delivery), and then a visit to a local health clinic / hospital in a squatters camp, and then on to a school building and water pump that have been installed by the local Rotary club. One thing you have to say about Rotary here (D9210), they are making a difference to the many disadvantaged and struggling people. It is hard to understand even while we are looking at people from our 4x4’s how much difference a bore hole and water pump improve life for these people. Something to think about next time we turn on our hot water taps and have a shower. Well done all here for these projects.

We then take in a short tour of the town, and then join the Mufulira club for a meeting. We arrive back with our hosts in Kitwe at about 10pm for dinner. (For the rest of the team they enjoy a meal prepared by chef Jodie).

Chris' Blog - 12-13th May

2008-05-20T16:31:00.003+10:00

12 & 13 May 31-32/47

What a couple of busy days. One thing that can be said for the Ndola Rotarians they really looked after us and met our Vocational needs. The next couple of paragraphs will not do justice to the efforts they made, but we were all so busy, that I’ve got behind in my diary, so my apologies.

On Monday we did visits to the Major of Ndola (Greg’s host) which included another newspaper interview, a community school (not funded by the government), the crash site of Hammarsk Joold (former UN Secretary General), National Vocational Rehab centre (Jodie had an extra visit later in the day with the physiotherapist), a new orphanage / school complex under development and Northrise University (a new private University). Overall there is a definite rise in standards in Zambia compared to our previous countries, and notably a bit more planning and some maintenance with some things. A pleasant change!

In the evening we presented to both Ndola clubs. While we did well, as a team we all agreed it was probably one of our worst while we have been away.

Tuesday was up and at them again. No rest for the wicked. We started the day at Fran and Jodie’s host (Don) farm, where we has a piggery, grows banana’s and chickens for both laying and meat, as well as a couple of other things. We then traveled to the Ndola museum which explained some of the many traditions of the local people, ranging from cooking, traditional roles to importantly and solving illnesses. Quite interesting. After lunch at the Rotary centre, Northern Technical College, where they teach automotive, mechanical engineering and IT. IT was then a quick visit to the Arthur Davidson Children’s hospital, where Jodie was able to see the Physio department equipment and then to the artificial limb factory. An exhausting day, followed by dinner with our hosts and team at and Indian restaurant.

Chris' Blog - 11th May

2008-05-20T16:30:00.001+10:00

11 May 30/47

An 8.15am flight to Ndola meant leaving the Executive Lodges at 6.45am. Not a mean feat when we had got to bed after 1am following the night before. To top it off, Greg had a swollen ankle following a dancing incident the night before. George, form Lusaka who was looking after us while we were there did a spectacular job looking after us and getting us to the airport for the 45 minute flight. After a delay, we finally arrive at Ndola at about 10am. We are collected at the airport, (with Greg off in a chauffer driven merc (the mayor’s – his host)) to the Golf course. Yes we got to play golf. However we before we teed off, we had two media interviews – for a newspaper and a local radio station. Great game, and a first for Fran. (She has some real golf talent for a first timer).

We then had lunch with a local Rotarian, and had fresh pasta along with the chance to watch the Grad Prix on TV. At about five, after some Sallowship (a term used for fellowship with some drinks at at lot of clubs here we then headed off to our hosts. Greg and Ryan visited a village and Fran, Jodie and I enjoyed a fantastic Indian dinner.

Chris' Blog - 10th May

2008-05-20T16:28:00.001+10:00

10 May 29/47.

The Presentation. We were the third GSE team, following the inbound team from Canada, the outbound from Canada, us and then the out bound team to D9600. And the result!!! Rather than using my own words I will quote from people that spoke to us afterwards.

“Best presentation at the conference”, “Most professional GSE presentation every delivered at a D9210 conference”, “Not only do we know about you, we know about your country as well – something not many teams have been able to do”. etc. And we even gave them “Heads and Tails” 300+ people in one game. So much so that I as team leader spent the next 2 hours talking to Rotarians about how to prepare, and present, people asking for copies of the presentation. D9600 – you would have been proud of your team, and the magnificent members that your clubs have nominated.

The afternoon was spent on a tour of Lusaka. We then prepared for the Governors Dinner. After a mix up with the bus, we arrived 2 hours late, but really got into the festivities. The night doubled as the DG’s change over and awards night. A fun evening was had by all, although it was quite sad at the end when we had to say good bye to our friends and hosts from the clubs that had hosted us during the past 3+ weeks. After a later return, we all hit the sack dead tired.

Chris' Blog - 9th May

2008-05-20T16:22:00.003+10:00

The Trip – 9 May 28 /47

This morning we went to the conference and after trying to miss the district business session (which went 1.5 hours over time), we enjoyed a number of sessions about different projects in the district (some of which we had seen or will be seeing). Lunch was at the conference centre and after that we and the Canadian team took the opportunity, while the conference again worked through district business, to visit the shopping centre across the road from the conference centre. One of the highlights was for us to play ten pin bowling. Jodie was the victor, although some of us were late so had fill in bowlers until we joined them.

After this we returned to our lodge, and prepared for the carnival, (really it was just a bit outside BBQ / Broil). However after much eating, including our favorite maize and Impala, (which we saw at the conference centre every morning, we participated in some auctions (I ended up with a Rotary shirt for 100,000 ZK), we danced the night away, with Aussies dancing with Canadian’s USA’s, Malawi’s, Mozambique’s, Zimbabweans and of course Zambians. (Greg even danced with the DG’s Ann (wife).

After the Carnival we hit the sack as Saturday was our big day!!

Smallholders

2008-05-10T21:11:00.004+10:00

As I look at the planning an direction of agriculture in Malawi and (to a lesser extent) Mozambique I've gotten to see the two different models of farm operation - the smallholder (maybe 2 acres) and the commercial farmer (50 acres and above). Most government programmes in Malawi tend to focus on the smallholder, as he grows the staple maize and cassava crops to feed himself and those around him. One problem, however is that where a commercial farmer may grow (with the right variety selection, fertilizer application and weed control) 8T/Ha, a smallholder will often average about 0.8T/Ha. Malawi has put in place a scheme to subsidise fertilizer prices for smallholders, but this will be difficult to continue to the same extent with rising fert prices. It must be said in relation to maize production that Malawi exported maize to Zimbabwe last year, when 10 years ago it was very much the other way around.

As people say to me, the smallholder is happy if he has enough to feed his family - if you don't know the things you don't have, then you don't miss them. I guess it depends to what extend people want to change the way they live. In manyways agriculture is like that of Britain and Ireland 200 years ago, and I hope the people here don't experience the same heartbreak that some of my ancestors experienced as things change.

Still, even if someone has a job, often they will have a patch of maize somewhere in town.

Til later, God bless,

Greg.

P.S. - Happy Mothers day to the mothers in my family.

From Fran and Jodie

2008-05-10T21:01:00.003+10:00

Hi again everybody!

As you are aware now, we have arrived in Lusaka after another epic bus ride - with the great company of the Canadians! A few observations of Zambia so far - the roads are slightly better than Malawi and much better than Mozambique!

Similar systems run in the town, such as the privately run mini bus companies (like our Maxi taxis) but you need to negotiate a rate prior to getting on board. Fortunately, we have had all of our transport arranged so we haven't had this experience yet.

Lusaka appears a lot more developed than the other cities we have visited - there are shopping centres!!! They are a popular place to hang out for the young people - at the moment there is a hip hop show happening outside the internet cafe in the Arcades shopping centre. The area around the main parts of town in Lusaka seem a little different to Lilongwe in that there are not any villages close to the town centre and the security is high! Lots of people (not sure if they're security, military, police or otherwise) with rather large guns wandering around the shopping complex.

We have also seen a movie theatre and we went ten pin bowling yesterday afternoon with our Canadian friends! I'm not sure of the movies that are out at home at the moment, but I'm guessing these flicks are a little behind the times!

Today (Saturday 10th May) is the last day of the District 9210 Conference that we have been attending in Lusaka.
It has been interesting to see a conference run at this level and meet and greet some important people in Rotary International. We have learnt a lot about individual club projects, Rotary International, and District level issues and been privy to some interesting discussions. As a non-rotarian it has been helpful understanding a little more about the overarching District governance and even though it will be slightly different back in Australia, the basic model is the same.

It has especially been a wonderful way to catch up with some host families and rotarians that we have met along the road so far!! We have also met many of our hosts that will be taking care of us in our final 2 weeks in Zambia.

All GSE teams had their presentations this morning!! The inbound teams to Southern Africa - Canada and Australia; and the two teams that were outbound from Africa . I like to think that we all gave insightful and interesting presentations and from what I have heard...the Rotarians agree! We presented to a crowd of about 90 rotarians and I was extremely nervous! There were some technical problems which meant we couldn't present in our usual (and now very comfortable) format. But it all went well and it sparked another wave of Rotarians coming over to say hello and discuss certain issues in our presentations that struck a chord with them.

We have hopefully now converted 90 Rotarians from Marmite to Vegimite as we had samples to try!!

As Chris mentioned, we have travelled to Lusaka with our fellow inbound GSE team from Canada. We all get along very well and it has been great chatting with them and learning about their lives back home. We leave them tomorrow as we head to the north and they head south but I would like to thank them for their good company and laughs and also thank them in advance for the future hosting of members of our team when we visit Canada!
The fun should continue tonight at the conference formal dinner.... Jodie and I can finally wear the dresses that we have been carting around just for this occasion!

Tomorrow (Sunday 11th May) we head to Ndola in the Copperbelt region in Northern Zambia. I feel that this conference weekend, having been a break from Vocational visits, has been a time for refreshing our minds and preparing for the final part of our journey. For me, I have been able to consolidate my learning so far and think about all the questions I need to ask to fill the gaps in my understanding of rural health education and practice!

Also tomorrow it is Mothers Day in Australia and I would like to wish all our mothers a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY from all of us!! We are thinking of you and wish we could be there to give you a hug!!

Take Care, Fran and Jodie : )

Chris' Blog 8th May

2008-05-10T20:06:00.001+10:00

The Trip – 8 May 27/47

After our long day, we were given most of the morning off. It was great to recharge the batteries after such a long trip the day before and also to get to know the Canadian Team. Lunch was at the conference venue followed by the opening ceremony. It is interesting to note, that like any district conferences, it was late before it started, and a number of the speakers went overtime, or at least took up their allotted time.

The conference was opened by a government Minster, and addressed by the RI rep Thomas Branun. He had some interesting thoughts. With a mini break, with both dancers and a local band, the keynote speaker Prof Oliver Saasa who talked about development in Africa.

Other items at the conference included, membership, new clubs, and the younger sections. Interestingly the club with the largest growth in the district was Zimbabwe!!!

In the evening we were all hosted at five different functions run by the five clubs in Lusaka. It was well organized and promoted fellowship.

Chris' Blog - 7th May

2008-05-10T20:05:00.000+10:00

The Trip 7 May 26/47

After most of the team climbed aboard the bus at 7.50am, I was collected at about 8.05am. A mini bus with two GSE team, ours and the Canadians (D7010). We all got on well and started off our international bus trip.

After stopping at the boarder, Greg, Fran, Jodie and I were all taken to a meeting room to discuss why we had over stayed our visit in Malawi, and advised that we could either stay and explain our situation in court, or be banned from visiting Malawi without prior approval from the government. If it hadn’t been so serious it would have been funny. Hutch (one of the Rotarians), talked our way through it. (our approval was for 7 days and we were there for eight!!)

Then to the next border checkpoint, and they had run out of forms (one short). So I didn’t fill out a form. Guess what, I got asked if I could explain why I hadn’t, etc. What a time!

So off we go. After being told we would arrive in Lusaka at 2-3pm, then 4pm, then 6pm, we arrive at 8.30pm. Lloyd (the Canadian team leader) and I then have to follow up the bags that were carried by other Rotarians, so we both arrive at our accommodation at 9.20pm, and dinner is finally on at 10pm. We all survived. WELL DONE TEAMS!!!

Chris' Blog - 6th May

2008-05-10T20:03:00.001+10:00

The Trip - 6 May 25/47

Today was a much more relaxing day with a trip to a pottery factory – about an hour and a half from Lilongwe. The quality was all very good, and in fact this was probably one of the most “touristy” places that we visited. We enjoyed lunch along with the highly efficient service (Fast food here is an hour minimum. After that is was back to our semi base at cross roads, to be collected to prepare for our presentation to the Bawila club.

Our presentation went well (even with a black out in the middle of it). After the meeting some of the club, along with Fran, Greg and I visited the local for a couple of drinks and to say farewell to Malawi.

And to say farewell Tim (my host) and I saw a Hyena run across the road in front of us while driving home.

Chris' Blog 5th May

2008-05-06T21:12:00.002+10:00

The Trip 5 May - 24/47 (Half way)

Today started early with travel from my host’s huts (Tim) to the city. We catch up with the others and arrive at the Lilongwe Tobacco Auction Centre. We are shown the operation which is interesting, the entire collection and distribution. They process over 13,000 bales of tobacco a day, with an auction of each bale. It is interesting watching the auction process, as the auctioneer and the buyers walk past each bale (not stopping), and bids are made on the sign of a wink or movement of a hand. We couldn’t tell what he was saying, so were all surprised to find out it was in English.

After that we visited the Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company. While we had previously been through a factory, it was interesting to revisit one that was much larger, and be given some deeper insight into not only the production and processing process, but to see the logistical side of it as well. During the process we met the CEO, logistic manager and were lead around by a long serving engineer.

After lunch at cross roads, (becoming a favorite haunt) we went to the local Maize silos. Admittedly we all through “so what” but after viewing the entire process, including walking on the roof on top of the West tower, (over 100 meters), and then across on standard industrial grates about 90 meters in the air (and being able to look down and see the ground between our feet) to the east tower, we were very impressed.

Dinner was then with the group and some members of the RC of Bwaila, at a local Chinese restaurant, which was similar to western Chinese, but had some of the spice of Asian Chinese. Home at 9.45pm after a 6.45am departure this morning.

Chris

Chris' Blog 3rd May

2008-05-06T21:11:00.000+10:00

3 May

Today is our hotel day. We decide to go for a walk to the craft markets and do some shopping. After trying to arrange a taxi (they don’t really exist) and trying to hail a mini bus, we decide to walk (about 1 hour 15 minutes) Very warm. We spend over an hour looking and bartering with local “craftsmen” (yes I was the big spender and now have the bulging bags to so for it) we are kindly given a lift to the “Crossroads” shopping centre, (thanks to Ash who found us and gave us a lift) for a great lunch. After that most of us spend some time on the internet e-mailing home. We then walk back to our hotel (1 hour) and spend the evening in each others company playing cards.

Chris' Blog - 2nd May

2008-05-06T21:09:00.002+10:00

The Trip 2 May – Chris’s log – 21/47

Today is our last day with the RC of Lilongwe. We start the day with Fran and Jodie going to the SOS school (Nursery through to secondary education + options for the disabled) and Greg, Ryan and Chris visiting the University of Malawi’s Bunda College (Agricultural College). It is interesting for us all, Greg talk to the people in the crop dept, Ryan in the Ag engineering dept and me to the Assistant Registrar after we all spoke to the Vice principal.

When you consider the method that education and the economy is working, they have progressed a long way in the 2000’s. There are many similar issues, ranging from reducing income from the government (currently they are nearly 100% funded by them) recruiting staff and community welfare issues. So far, I have seen that a lot of institution rely on donations from international organisations, whether new or hand me downs. I am also surprised by the huge student to staff numbers. 700 students to 300 staff. This is based off the equivalent of $200 income per student from the government for each student per annum. They have introduced full fee places which are about $1,000 per annum. To put this into perspective, the gardeners are paid about $10 a week, and the Registrar and senior staff about $2000 a month.

The facilities are aging, but fairly good. The systems are predominantly electronic, however they are college (campus) based rather than across the entire institution. (Enrolment across the University of Malawi is somewhere between 5,000 to 6,000). It is interesting that the major issues that the Bunda campus is that it is 30km out of town, which means that staff either have to travel, or live on campus. Staff complain about having to attend meetings on other campuses (Reminds me of the issues I had when working at Gatton).

They have plans to improve efficiency, however it is difficult in a social sense as the logical way is to reduce staff numbers. In an environment where there is high unemployment in the area, this will have a massive effect in the local area, with no government safety net.

After a lovely home cooked lunch we went to the Natural Resources College. This college offers study up to what we would know as Associate Diploma or Associate Bachelor programs. It is more applied. The difference is that this institution only offers full fee programs. As a result it is significantly more business focused, with it offering its facilities as a conference centre, an operational farm (that makes a profit) and a number of other small money makers. It has 1300 students and 100 staff (with some services outsourced)

The college was originally built by the Canadian government, and was built with Canadian’s overseeing the work. To be honest, it is one of the best public buildings that I have seen, and they are all over 20 years old.

We view both the animal area (but not the piggery as we could cause disease) and the irrigation fields. After this visit we are moved to the hotel. I have enjoyed my time at Lincoln and Evelyn’s house, and from the little time learn a lot about and understand a lot better business operations in Malawi.

Greg's dispach

2008-05-03T23:27:00.002+10:00

I've spent just over two weeks in Malawi and Mozambique and have had the opportunity to observe farms both big and small ( in relative terms) both from passing by along our road travels and from farm visits. I can say it is truelly amazing the variety of crops that can be grown side by side in this part of the world. In many respects such as rainy and dry season much of Malawi reminds me of northern Australia, but one farm I visited near Blantyre had much the sam plants - and weeds - that yoyu would expect to see back home along Petrie Creek on the Sunshine Coast. Despite the availability of suitable irrigation water during the dry season not just from the ability to make dams but also from having the 3rd largest freshwater lake on the world on their doorstep, Malawi has not developed to any significant extent its irrigation potential. Illovo Sugar in the south of the country is one notable exception, and I have been encouraged but the smaller irrigation activities I've seen on other farms - when there isn't a local pump house or neighbours who run their own irrigation setups that you can look at over the fence to get some ideas it has to leave you at a distinct disadvantage. The lack of government funding and to some extent planning has also been a dampener on irrigation expansion, and also the lack of capital that small farmers can access.
Credit is one other significant disincentive to businesses of all sectors - in both countries farmers and businesspeople say they cannot get local finance at less that 22%. The lack of infrastructure is also a problem, as is the knowledge and expertise to service farms and businesses in this part of the world. The two Australian farmers in Mozambique had to get parts regularly from South Africa or even from Australia. Malawi experiences problems with its produce because it is a landlocked nation.
In all this I can say that there is great potential for the expansion of sustainable agriculture in Malawi and Mozambique - so many crops can be grow nearly side by side from the likes of rice, mangoes and bananas to having nearby maize, soyabeans and sweet potatoes. The problems aren't with growing crops but in what you do with them after they come of the paddock and how you go about making money from them.
I can say also that I've been greatly heartened by the attiude of the local rotarians wherever we've gone - not just in their hospitality towards us but in their desire to improve their communities through both expanding trade and the local economy and also directly helping those who through circumstances such as disability or being orphaned are unable to help themselves. May God bless you all.

Greg.

Fran's Blog 3rd May

2008-05-03T23:17:00.003+10:00

Well as you can see we have all been so busy on this GSE exchange! There is so much to absorb and to remember and I find it so interesting to learn not only about rural health issues in Africa but also about the areas of expertise of the other GSE team members.

In Malawi there is an organization called the Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM – like Australia, there are also many acronyms in health here). Briefly, they consist of a network of health facilities that operate in parallel with the public system (Ministry of Health). The facilities drill down to a rural village level where there may be two health professionals working at the equivalent of an enrolled nurse and diploma in health level. The distribution is quite vast across the country however there are problems with local communities being able to afford the health services. Like Australia, there may be transport problems with large amounts of time to travel to a health facility for more complicated needs however here there is only feet and bikes as the main mode of transport. Or you could wait for a mini-bus to come once a week (or month) past a rural village.

Retention of health professionals in the country is difficult with the absence of electricity, water, telecommunications, and education for doctors children combined with the attraction of overseas salary that pulls health professionals away from the country as well as away from rural villages. problems with professional isolation and no communication is also an issue here.

The basic issues in rural health workforce retention and attraction are similar to Australia but the issues to be overcome are much more exaggerated than Oz. Such as poverty, lack of electricity and clean running water, and lack of communication at the basic level. There is a long road to walk but there are many organizations here (NGO’s) that provide help at different levels.

Like Australia, politics and lack of research into the reality of the situation hinder the effective provision of quality health care to rural communities. It is too much to explain here but red tape, human resource turnover at the Ministry level, lack of communication between all players in the system etc all play a part. There are overlaps of serves provided as well as gaps elsewhere.

There are very heartwarming stories though and some excellent roads that are starting to build. Jodie’s blog will explain some of this and you can read about some of our activities in the other entries, I don’t want to double up!

I am having a fabulous time and learning a lot and I can’t believe we are halfway already!!

I will be back with more at the next chance I get!

Fran

Vocational Update...

2008-05-03T22:54:00.000+10:00

So it seems Chris has kept everyone up to date on our whereabouts, so I thought I'd just put a few points in from the Vocational Visits I have been fortunate enough to have had in the past 2 weeks...

Open Arms Orphanage - this was in Blantyre (Malawi). It is run beautifully by an English guy, Neville. They have an infants and a toddlers section in the main orpahange, and then a 'transition hut' where they bring family members in from the village to begin to transition the children back to their village families, once the families are able to care for them. They re-learn to sllep on a floor mat and eat village food that is cooked outside on the wood burners. The goal of the orphanage is to place the children back in their village with the support of their family. They provide the familiy with some food and farming items to assist the sustainability of the child's return. They also provide an outreach service where they go and check on the child's health and safety once they are back in the community.

For the children who are unable to be placed back in the village, they now have two house run by 'house mothers' and these children attend a private school in the area near the orphanage. It was a fabulous organisation to visit, and all the staff and volunteers appeared to be enjoying their work.

MACAHO - Fran and I visited this place in Blantyre where adults with vision, hearing and physical impairments are employed to make local handicrafts such as rugs, hammocks, clothing, embroidery, and placemats. They were doing some wonderful work, and the people who were working there were able to do tasks that suited their skills and abilities.

Delivering Wheelchairs in Salima - the RC of Lilongwe is involved with a project where they are dlivering wheelchairs to people with mobility issues in the villages of Malawi. My host, Hetherwick, also was delivering a wheelchair to the daughter of his cook at his lake house in Salima, so we went to do this before meeting the group for the bigger distribution.

Zione is the cooks daughter. She is 20 and has cerebral palsy, and until we too kthe wheelchair out, her family were carrying her around. We fitted her in the wheelchair and advised the family to provide some postural support using the sarongs that they carry their babies with over here. She seemed very excited about her new chair, and was smiling from ear to ear!! Her parents were very grateful.

We then went to the Madnaga area, a village in Salima, to the Clinic there where we met with the Tribal Authority (Chief Madanga - a lady!!) to deliver 18 wheelchairs to people with physical disabilities. Unfortunately, there were more children who required a wheelchair, and there weren't enough small chairs with appropriate supports for these kids. The wheelchairs we were able to fit were greatly appreciated. Our team worked together to unpack and put the wheelchairs together, while we tried to fit the appropriate sized wheelchair for the individuals who were present. A little different to wheelchair precription in Australia, I must admit, but I did more wheelchair adjustments and consultations in those few hours than I have in my whole career!! Fortunately, the family I was staying with had a daughter my age who is a doctor and she was able to interpret into the local language (Chechewa) for me. We tried to advise the guardians about the importance of providing some postural supports in the form of sarongs and pillows, as this is all they have access to. It was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad we were able to help out the Rotary Club in this project, as they have been so kind and generous to us. I've asked that next time they deliver wheelchairs they aim to take a physiotherapist from the local hospital (I'd say take an OT - but there are no OTs working in Lilongwe!!).

SOS Children's Village - Well, this was just a perfect place for me to visit! There was a rehabilitation hospital for childre aged 0 - 18 years, a special education unit, a kindergarden, a primary and high school, and also a Health Clinic servicing the local villages.

The Rehabilitation Program is serviced by Rehabtechnicians who have Diplomas in OT/PT, but are not 'officially' either. They run morning and afternoon programs for children with disabilities (primarily cerebral palsy) within a 25 km radius. The children come 2 x a week with their parent or guardian and do a 2 1/2 hour program involving aspects of OT, physio and speech therapy. The guy who runs the more 'OT' focussed programs supports the children and families with things such as mealtime management, play, fine motor skills, school readiness, and socialisation. The children are categorised according to their level of mobility.

Once they are ready to transtion to school, they may attend the special education unit and this is usually supervised by the rehab tech staff. The children may then transition into the main school - but the transition is not part time, they are required to attend mainstream school full time, with the support of Learning Support in the main school. This occurs in both Primary and secondary school.

The interesting thing is that the centre is able to make and supply equipment to the children and their families to take home - unlike Australia where we are unable to do this now due to the risk of litigation! They have large stocks of corner chairs, standing frames, wheelchairs and walkers - which is a fantastic resource for the children.

I was able to assist the rehab tech make a splint for a toddler - he was far from impressed with the situation though!! I was also able to leave them with some information and handouts from my memory stick, which they were incredibly grateful of, as they do not have internet access and the resources they have are more than 20 years old.

We also had a look around the Health Centre. The most interting part was the clinic HTC - HIV testing and counselling. The people who come to be tested are counselled by the nurse prior to being tested. Then, the have a blood sample analysed on a swab of paper which gives them a result in 10 - 15 minutes, and counselling is provided afterwards regarding disclosure to partners and family, as well as information on transmission risks and safe sex etc.. It seemed like a comprhensive service, given that they have had 1200 clients since January.

Sorry, this was meant to be a summary, but there have been so many fabulous experiences along the way!

We'll keep you updated as we head towards Zambia mid next week for the District Conference! We're looking forward to catching up with the 9210 team who visited our district before we left.

Take care, Jodie

Chris' Thoughts on "Cheap Labour"

2008-05-03T22:47:00.002+10:00

Chris’s thoughts on "Cheap Labor"

One of the many things that we are aware of is the cheap price of labor, particularly house staff. While we have been here we have all lived in homes that have house staff, some who are paid $2 a pay (or even less). Sounds like a good deal, but is it fair. What you don’t always realize is that there is often a lot more behind it.

There is no social security in Malawi, so a job is a valuable thing. To add to it often staff are provided housing with their employment in the house allotment (often a separate structure). Further some employers then pay for the schooling of the children of their staff member, and in one case this has continued to cover University fees as a doctor none the less. If you multiply this by 5 or 10 staff (house maid, gardener, driver, two guards etc) the costs can add up. And importantly these people are not living the subsistence life style and are not on the poverty line, and the employer is building capacity in the family and the country. Food for thought.

Costs of some items

300ml bottle of coke – 40MK (35cents)
Loaf of bread – 99MK (90cents)
Litre of petrol – 200.1 MK ( $1.50)

Chris' blog 1st May

2008-05-03T22:46:00.001+10:00

The Trip – 1 May 20/47

Today was a public holiday in Malawi. However the Rotary Club put us to good use. In the afternoon we participated in their wheelchair project in the Saleima area (about 125km away). The RC of Lilongwe has a plan to provide every person that needs a wheelchair with one. They (through a matching grant with a club in the UK) have arranged for two cartons (580 chairs). Next year they have a grant with a club in the US. And the other clubs in Malawi will be following through with the program.

Prior to the Greg Ryan and I visited Lincoln’s farm. Here he is growing different fruits, (oranges, lemons, tangerines, mangoes and cross breeding goats to produce greater quantities of milk. IN Australia these types of activities with occur in conjunction with some researchers (maybe PhD or Masters Students), by here as no such opportunities are around, so he is just doing it himself.

Chris

Chris' Blog 30th April

2008-05-01T21:16:00.001+10:00

The Trip - 30 April

After a hectic day yesterday, we are working off what we are told, as we don’t have a program. We start off at a facility that the RC of Lilongwe built with finance through 3H, and opened by none other that PRIP president Clem. The Rotarian’s are very proud about that, and the fact that some of us know him!!!!!

Great facility and well maintained. It was handed over to the government a couple of years after being opened, but the club maintains an active interest in it and have pledged to build new living quarters. They teach the disable different skills including agriculture, computing, manual arts, sewing and Home Economics. This prepares them for future work.

After that Jodie, Fran, Ryan and I visit the Animal refuge. Well run and with a plan to return animals that have been injured, or not too tamed by humans to the wild. Others that were formerly pets (and I use that term loosely) will spend the rest of their lives here as they could not survive in the wild. We see 3 types of Monkeys, a Leopard, snakes and a Hyena. In the evening we participate in the 1st birthday celebration of the RC of Bwaila.

Chris' Blog 28th & 29th April

2008-05-01T21:13:00.001+10:00

The trip 28 – 29 April – Chris

Monday was one of the busiest days we have had. We start the day off after a hearty breakfast, at eh local provincial Nursery school. It is an orphanage that is supported by the local club. While we are there we plant some orange trees. The school is teaching the orphans skills that they will be able to use, which in this case is agriculture. At the school they grow Maize, mangos and other fruit and vegetables. The produce is then used to supplement the food that is purchased or donated to the school.

We then visit the sleeping quarters and some of the facilities. The nun that runs it has some plans to expand what they produce to fish.

Following this it is off to a project that the club started off with a micro credit loan (to initially purchase a sewing machine and materials. This group (10 at the moment) in Mabassa make shoes (thongs / flip flops depending where you are from) from old car tyres and old leather clothes. Between the 10 of them they make and distribute 17 pairs a day which they sell for about US$2.50 each. Production costs are US$1.25, so half of every pair are the proceeds that can be distributed. The production group are now all going to school, and with their determination have set up small class for the local children to learn, which stops them causing mischief and being open to predators). The most interesting thing with this group is that many of the production group does not have legs… For me to date this is one of the best programs that I have seen. All for an initial cast of about US$15, which has been paid back!!!!

After this we visit the local medial college. It prepares people for careers as nurses, and other roles in hospitals and clinics with a 2 year program. If any of the students decide to go on to become doctors it is another 7 years!!

We then visit the local Agriculture Poly (ISPM) where we make our presentation to the club and about 100 students. After an initial quiet spot when we open to questions we are over run and take up a good 70-80 minutes with the students. After that it is off to another village school to look at some of the architecture built by the villages. The village has built the buildings, however due to some lack of expertise, it is expected that the buildings here will need to be rebuilt in 10 years.

We then fly home for lunch (3.30pm) and then the team goes for a walk and some shopping. On our return we have a farewell dinner with the club and some of the members of the Rotoract club.

Tuesday

Up and left Chimoio by 5.30am (in the mini bus). Transfer the Tete members at 10am at Changara. Tete at 11.30am, Lunch in the Car and off to our border crossing at 3pm. After waiting in No man’s land for an hour, we cross the border after meeting the GSE team from D7010 Canada. Then of to Lilongwe, where we arrive at 5.30pm, home to our hosts and we present to the RC of Lilongwe at a meeting at 7pm. Top effort team!!! 700+km across some shocking roads.

Chris' Blog - 26th & 27th April

2008-04-29T11:16:00.001+10:00

The Trip – 26-27 April

After a small meeting (and a long night) of wonderful fellowship and food, with the Rotarians at Tete the night before we bid farewell to Tete and off to Chimoio. The Rotarians form Tete dropped us off at the provincial boarder (about 130km) at a town called Changara and we met our new hosts. It was then off into a tight fit in a van with Nela and the president of the club. With another 300+ kms to travel, we discovered why Mozambiquen's say the roads are bad. Over 4.5 hours later we arrive in Chimoio.

We are all being hosted by Nela and Joao in their house and guest house. We then share dinner with a get together of members and friends.

Sunday starts with Greg, Fran, Jodie and I going to church. While it is Catholic, and it is all conduced in Portuguese, it is a fantastic experience, with the beautiful singing and the service. At one stage, following the collection, members of the congregation brought in foodstuffs, including eggs, bananas, fruit, other items and a live chicken. Amazing.

After that we visit some of the projects of the local club, including furniture building (tables, chairs and beds) a donation a living kit to a pair of teenage orphans that have their own hut. (Their parents left them with two functional huts and one that needed work. The one needing work has been cleaned up inside and had a new roof attached (a piece of plastic with straw over the top). With the other two huts they have the other filled with other relatives that are orphans and the third rented to pay for some of the fees of another brother who is a uni. (the rent a grand total of 100 met a month (about $4)).

For lunch we visit a local orphanage that is run by the Catholic Church and supported by the local interact club. This is one of the best orphanages that I have seen in my travels in developing countries. The grow food to sell, have a well equipped (by Mozambiquen standards) school. (with Celron computers!!). Most of these facilities have been donated through links with the church or Rotary. They are about to expand from 22 residents to 128 with their new facilities. Unfortunately, some of the food aid they have been receiving through food aid is about to be cut. I think it is a case that the place is going too well. So much for supporting those that help themselves.

After that we go off to a farm (about 50km+ away). The farmers are two Australians!! And a former Zimbabwe farmer, and is about 20km form the Zim border. It is interesting to see the number of zim plated cars, and English signs increasing. But no we turn off before the border.

Peter, one of the farmers is from WA and he and his partners have tried grow a range of crops, tea, tobacco etc. Their latest try is Banana’s for the SA market. It is interesting hearing about their difficulties and support (or lack of at times) from the government.

After this, it is a long drive back (and driving on Mozambiquen roads at night is interesting) to dinner at a restaurant with members of the club. A great day.

Cheers Chris

Chris' Blog - 25th April

2008-04-28T17:00:00.002+10:00

The Trip – 25 April

After a big day yesterday, today was a lot less hectic, with a trip to the water treatment plant. All was built before 1973. (the significance is that 1975 was the year of the coup). While it is old, it seems to work well and the water supply here, based on the different lab reports, is well in excess of the requirements for fresh drinking water. However we are all sticking to bottled water and carbonated drinks.

This afternoon we had some free time so most of us enjoyed an Italian lunch and a look around the town on foot. Tonight we present to the RC of Tete and then off for a 400km drive tomorrow.

Chris' Blog - 24th April

2008-04-25T20:45:00.001+10:00

The Trip – 24 April

Today started with a visit to the Major of Tete. We learnt a bit about the political system of Mozambique and the difficulties of running a city. Then it was off to the local Tobacco processing factory. Very interesting the way they can ensure particular content requirements (% of moisture, density etc). The factory employs 1,000 staff and has 1,900 farmers supplying product, so it is very good for the local economy. We then visited Vincent’s house that is being built and were very interested in the different building methods utilised, myself having only just completed our new home in the past year, and Ryan as the Civil engineer.

After lunch with our hosts we visited the local public hospital. What a challenge for the staff! The hospital is expanding (three new buildings under construction). At this time of year there is less demand on the facility and matters such as Malaria and Cholera are much lower. However there is still the HIV affected patients, which were in a fairly full building (some on mattresses on the floor). It’s a bit difficult to describe this, so I’m not going to.

Jodie was able to visit the Physio dept ( a room).

After that we visited the local radio station, which broadcasts in 4 languages across the province of Tete.

We finished off the night with a Mozambique BBQ, with Tandori, Portuguese and curry chicken, bread rolls and our addition cooked marshmallows, + the odd Vino or Chervasia. (Wine and beer)

Sorry for any spelling errors. Chris

Chris' Blog - 23rd April

2008-04-25T20:44:00.001+10:00

The Trip – 23 April

Today we farewell Malawi and move to Mozambique. After some sad farewells to hosts, we travel an hour to the boarder and spend an hour waiting for visa’s etc, and then off for another hour and a half to Tete. I think we all notice the way the buildings are made have changed slightly, and the roads have a lot more pot holes.

After a puncture, we all meet our new hosts and have a quick rest before we visit one of the local club’s projects, an “orfanato” or orphanage. This one has been in operation since 1985 and has 84 children. We are all touched by the hard work of the helpers, and the delightful children. Most children have been left here by aunts, uncles or less direct relatives due to the passing away of parents due to HIV. Also a number of the older children there have been orphaned due to the previous war. This orphanage is proud of a number of children who have progressed through to high school on scholarships and in some cases through University. The only disappointment is that like most Rotary projects, there are no signs saying that Rotary is doing such good work. Jodie is an absolute legend working with the kids. Qld Ed are very luck to have someone like her working with them which her skills.

Chris' Blog - 22nd April

2008-04-25T20:43:00.002+10:00

The Trip - 22 April

Today Lillian (Chris’s host) takes the boys (Greg, Ryan and Chris) are off to the Nyala Lodge. I find out that the boys are staying together and Fran and Jodie have separate hosts.

The trip to the lodge is interesting in that we descend into the valley where the water from Lake Malawi empties. (nearly 1,000m lower that Blantyre). The trip takes the best part of 2 hours.

At the lodge we go on a walking safari, along with a gun bearing guide. We see a number of impressive animals including buffalo, impala, warthog’s soldier ants and monkeys. After a hearty lunch, we view the museum and visitors shop that Lillian and Menno have been developing. We then go on a very quick tour and discussion about the local sugar plantation and then back for our first presentation to a joint meeting of the RCs of Blantrye and Limbe. All goes well.

Cure International Hospital

2008-04-22T05:45:00.002+10:00

Today was our first day of vocational visits. My host family organised for me to visit a local hospital called Cure International Hospital. This hospital provides services to children with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, club foot, and spina bifida. There are also Private patients in the hospital, which help to fund the running of the hospital. Private outpatient appointments from the physiotherapist also help to fund the hospital.

They have around 50 beds in the children's ward. Each child has a guardian who stays with them 24 /7 - this could be a parent or a guardian from their orphanage. There is no Occupational Therapist working there. However, they have a 'Rehabilitation Technician' - these people are trained by OTs and physiotherapists. The Rehab technician at the hospital trained at the Rehabilitation hospital next door to CURE.

The children are seen for 'physio' treatment on the ward - there is not therapy space or room to take them. The children seem so happyand well cared for, in spite of the fact they have had major orthopaedic surgery.

I also had the opportunity to go to the Public Rehab hospital next door. Again, there were several Rehab technicians working, but there were OTs and physios also. Most of the OTs were employed as part of the school that teaches the Diploma of Rehabilitation Technology. The facilities are different to those in Australia, but the staff do a great job with the resources they have.

Today was also my first indulgence in the local maize meal - provided by the hospital kitchen. Nsima - which is kind of maize porridge (similar in consistency to that horrible Deb mashed potato you take camping) with a beef stew and a cabbage pickle concoction on the side. It didn't taste too bad, though left a lining of starch on the roof of my mouth that required copious amounts of water and some serious chewing gum to remove!!

The family I am staying with are wonderful! They have two children, who are 8 and 4, so I have been having a ball! We went for a picnic with the extended family to Zomba Plateau on Sunday, which was similar to Kondalilla Falls in Montville, with a little stream and waterfalls. The difference being we had our picnic at a trout farm and were hassled on the way up the mountain by lots of vendours trying to sell berries, guavas, bananas and other fruits. The kids have introduced me to Nintendo Wii - and I'm pretty awful at it - they both put me to shame! But, I have been enjoying the maths and spelling homework! I've been asked by Shaan (the older boy) to stay until his birthday on May 18th - so if I don't come home, you'll know where I am!

Tomorrow Fran and I are going to a local Orphanage called Open Arms - and we will do our first presentation tomorrow night at the Rotary Club of Limbe.

That's all for now - sending best wishes from Blantyre : )

The First Week

2008-04-21T20:40:00.004+10:00

Sunday 13/4

Plane left on time 11.45pm Boeing 777. Brisbane to Singapore – Go team. Fare welled by families and GSE chair Darryl.

Monday 14/4

Arrive at Singapore Airport. We are all very tired and most of us did not sleep well. After dumping our hand luggage with the “left baggage” desk (s$12), off we go into the centre of Singapore on the MRT (rail system). It is packed (by Australian standards) but clean and very fast. On arrival we all have a little walk around and something to eat (I am sooo the unhealthy eater, I have toast with cheese and a coke, most others have yoghurt and tea or similar). We visit the world’s largest fountain and arrange some day tours. While it is not extremely hot, it is humid.

First tour is the Heritage tour. The bus is opened topped so we all take the opportunity to enjoy some fresh? Singapore air. We jump off at little India and I went on my mission to find a Sari for my daughter Annabelle. We all note the difference between the Indian part and Singapore proper. How can they let their buildings determinate when Singapore is moving ahead in leaps and bounds? After some success finding a Sari we rejoin the tour running past many of the major cultural areas in Singapore including the cultural centre, mosks, temples, china town and a lot of new tall and impressive buildings. IT is a shame we were all so tired as we are really not able to make the most of the chance to look at everything proper, but we all try to make the most of it. Jodie falls asleep and most of us have a little nod.

After this tour we stop for lunch, with most of us enjoying different Asian culinary delights (which all smell and look good. I’m felling off colour I so miss out on lunch at that stage (which I had later) and take a nap while the rest of the team go an enjoy a second tour.

After the second tour The City Tour, the team (with me a lot a fresher after an hours rest), get together to enjoy a drink coffee etc and a relax. While we know there is so much more to do there, we decide that the exchange is with Africa, so we will have to leave Asia for later. So back to the air port. While we get there very early (over 8 hours) for our flight, we all enjoy the many facilities at the airport, the gym (Jodie and Ryan), the free movies (Chris) and the comfortable??? Seats in the waiting lounges (Fran and Greg) at the departure lounges.

After this, we all enjoy a shower S$8 (separately of course) and enjoy our last Asian dinner (all very chilly hot. (All except Jodie who after taking some malaria medication too early is feeling sick). After dinner we all try (successfully) to get some shut eye around the terminal (Fran and I both set alarms, after trying to stay awake, so that we don’t miss our flights).

Tuesday 15/4

Leave Singapore at 2.20am Boeing 777. All sleep a lot better on the plane after Ryan and I scoot into some other spare seats on the plane, and everyone enjoys having a spare seat to stretch out on. A very long flight, but with longer stretches of sleep the flight feels some what shorter) Across the two flights we all have enjoyed some of the on flight entertainment (I ended up seeing I am Legend, National Treasure II, and all bar the last 15 minutes of American Gangster)

On arrival in J’burg we finally reestablish contact we out baggage (over a day an half since we last saw it), to basically shove it on another plane (1time) We enjoy a US$2 porter fee just because we are not thinking about the whole tip thing. We enjoy a good breakfast and then off to our flight. Our flight to Durban is on a McDonnell Douglas 80 – didn’t think I ever ride on one of these again. It leaves late because we are waiting for a plane tug on the ground and a huge line up on the tarmac. (I don’t think they are run as efficiently as Brisbane because from what I can see the planes are only leaving every 10 minutes or so (and they have 2 runways).

We arrive in Durban and meet a man (arranged by Jenny) who we borrow a car from. It is a mixture of a corolla station wagon top that sits a lot higher with a Yaris engine. Seems to work well on the 120km + speeds on the N2 that we drive along (150km form the airport) to get to Andy and Jenny’s farm (Friends of Chris’s family) who we are staying with for two nights. When we get there we are all very warmly welcomed, and allocated our rooms Fran and Jodie in one, Ryan and Greg a second and Chris the final room. While it is late afternoon, we take the opportunity to have a short tour of the local town ship around the farm and the house hold. We then all take the opportunity to have a shower, some of us snooze and just hang out until “suppertime”. We are then joined by Mike and Penny form the local Rotary club, and sit around a Boma (a open fire outside), and then dinner and a fairly long chat.

With all of the team very sleepy we are off to bed at 10am.

Wednesday 16/4

Up at 5am – Leave at 5.30am. Off to the Game Park. After an Hour and a half drive we arrive with hopes of knocking off some all of the Big Five (Buffalo, Elephant, Lion, Cheetah and Rhino)

All up we only got to see two of these, but there were lots of other animals along the way.

After staying in the park until just after lunch, we headed back. (Fran Jenny and I just about ran about ran out of petrol). We had a little rest and then we had supper on a barge. The highlight for me, sticking my feet in the Indian Ocean which was at the end of the river. We were joined by some other members of the local Rotary while we were on the barge.

Thursday 17/4

Early Morning. I’m up at 3am after having some chat time with Andy and Jenny the night before. Everyone else is up at 3.30am and after packing the car, and some teary good byes it is off to Durban Airport. We drop off the car and it is back to check in. We discover that we have all extra weight in our suitcases and less in our carry on. Fortunately after some sympathic looks we are able to get our very overweight bags on. After that pretty much on to the place (MD87) and off we fly to J’burg. We arrive and after transferring from Domestic to International, we check in and through we go (both Fran and Ryan are frisked.) We then have something to eat look around the terminal and then on to Lilongwe. (B737).

We arrive and after a fair amount of time through customs, a 3 wheeled trolley, and Greg and Ryan’s bags being checked (a BAC cap helped) we meet at least 10 of the Rotarians from Lilongwe. We are then taken to Ash’s lake holiday house by Ash and Alex (about 100+km). The countryside is in many ways similar to Australia, but there are lots of people walking along the side of the road, (down to very small children), at their markets, bikes, motor bikes (with large loads – house doors, calves and a massive assortment of things), goats, cows and dogs with us flying past at 130 km/h. We are also stopped by a road block. All very usual.

The house is great, right on the lake (which is massive). There are a lot of children looking over the fence at us. We have dinner in the back yard, some curry, veggies and rice which is served by the servants and after some chatting we all hit bed, boys in one room (with Alex) and girls in the other.

Friday 18/4

After a slowish morning (Greg was up to watch the sunrise but the rest of us stayed in bed), we have a breakfast of corn flakes, eggs, fried potato, onion and juice, we decide to go for a walk up the beach.

Before that we have a number of locals showing us their wares (paintings, bangles, necklaces and key rings). They are very polite as these types of vendors go. After some haggling (but nothing is sold at ridiculous prices) we all end up buying something and off we go. We then go off on our walk (with Alex leading). These vendors walk along with us and explain a lot to us about their lives and what is ok to take pictures of and what isn’t. We later discover that the vendors are trained by the government on how to deal with tourists, thus their politeness. We cause a bit of a stir as our skin colour and size is very different.

It is interesting to view the luxury of the houses along the fore shore and compare it to the life styles. However the local seem fairly settled in their lot, and are generally friendly. One of the big thing that we all notice is how hard the women work, clothes washing and washing themselves and their many children in the lake, carrying all sorts of things on heir heads, cooking, (and occasionally offering themselves). The fishing village is very cramped, with people everywhere, lots of boats and small fish drying on tables.

We walk past the local tech college – they teach things like bricklaying, typing etc. About US$4,000 a year, for 4 years but that includes lodging and board. Still that is a fortune to these people.

At the end of the beach is the 5 star hotel. What a difference. When we get there there are a lot of people in suits (obviously at a conference). It is strange that a wall can make such a difference! While we a re very casually dressed, we are welcomed in (white people must have money it seems!) If they only knew!!

We walk back along the road, and through a different village. We pass a lot of children on the road, on the way home form school. Again they are mostly friendly. I buy a sim card for my phone (which I later discover only works in Ryan’s phone) and at we wind our way back to the house. After some more sales with the vendors, (the some ones waited for us at the front of the resort) we have lunch and hang out for a while. (All up we walked about 7kms). In the afternoon Alex takes go for a drive. When we get back we do some language training with Alex (I’m awful at it, but Fran, Jodie and Ryan seem to have a knack for it)

Ash and his family join us for dinner and we say farewell to Alex.

Dinner is massive, chicken, T Bones, veggies, salad and some little pastries. All very yummy. After some chatting we all go off to bed. Big day tomorrow.

19 April

We start out at the lake house watching the sun rising, with the reflection over the water. It is strange to think that the mountains on the other side are a different country (Mozambique). Most of us go back to bed, while I catch up with the log.

After a hearty breakfast, (Eggs, snags, baked beans, cereal, toast, onions, potatoes, juice, tea, coffee) we all pack up and head toward Lilongwe. On the way we stop off at a fish “farm”. Really it is more just a huge fish storage facility for pet and research fish; they are not fish for eating. The business sends divers into the lake to catch what ever fish they need and bring them back to the facility. After that they are then held and shipped off wherever they are needed around the world. It seems that the original owner (originally from the UK) passed away 6 months ago and his family have taken over running it. As a result locally it is felt that the facility is detracting.

After that Ash stops at a shop and treats us all to ice cream. When we have finished we give the cups to the locals who lick them clean and then use the cups for other uses. It has been the same with our water bottles. Two children get very lucky as there is still a fair bit of ice cream left.

We then visit Ash’s house which is beautiful.

As an overall comment, one thing we are all aware of is that building quality is a fair bit lower than what we would find acceptable in Australia. Not bad quality, but a lot of things look like they have been done by a handy man rather than trade professionals.

Lunch is at Nando’s which is great. We then go to the shop to get some munchies for our 3.5 hour bus ride to Blantyre. It is then off to the bus station, and fair well to Lilongwe and on to the bus.

5 hours later we arrive at Blantyre. The trip is fairly good, but lots of beeping from the bus driver and slow trucks, cars, wagons, bikes and people. Every time we stop traders try to get our attention to sell things.

When we arrive we are met by local Rotarians and whisked off to our hosts. I know that Fran and Jodie are together and Ryan and Greg have gone off in different directions. The plan is a day with our hosts and then a vocational day on Monday, so we may not see each other until Tuesday possibly?

I am staying with the Dean of Social Sciences (Menno Welling) at the local catholic University (300 students very small and only opened in 2006) and his wife Lillian who is a Lawyer. Had Internet access for the first time (the beauty of Unis)
The Trip -20/4 (End of week one)

Today was a day with our hosts and is the first day since we met at Brisbane airport that we have not seen each other.

I had a short tour of the Uni and then we went on a drive around the local area. The most imposing thing was the local mountain chair, Mt Mylanje which was huge!! We had lunch close to it. To get to the top is a day hike. You can stay in cabins on the top and then return the next day.

After lunch we looked at some of the tea plantations and Menno showed me a couple of the local sites. One was the rock, Mwalewanthunz, which is sacred. The story with it was that when the road was being built it was moved, but yet the next day it had returned to its original place. As a result the road changed alignment. Some people say that it was a sign of local resistance, but I like the thought of it moving itself.

After some more exploring we went to a baby shower of one of the local Dutch families, yet another language. Fortunately all spoke English, so I wasn’t left out. So here I am drinking champagne and Carlsberg beer, in Africa. All very amazing

And the winner is...

2008-04-09T13:24:00.007+10:00

Our raffle has now been drawn and congratulations go to:

Jenny Wilson (first prize)
Ken Taylor (second prize)
Trish O'Brien (third prize)

Thank you to all those who supported our raffle! We have been able to use the money to purchase small gifts and giveaways to take to the orphanages, schools, and other centres we will be visiting whilst we are away. The only problem now is waiting to find out how much we will need to pay in excess baggage...

The final countdown

2008-04-07T20:06:00.009+10:00

We are now in the final week before departure and it has been a long but quick road!

Our quest to get the official team photo led to an investigative stroll through the grounds of University of Queensland and we decided to go with the 'waist up' shot.

On Saturday night the 5th April we attended a function hosted by District 9600 which saw 2 inbound (from Canadian D5550 and Southern Africa D9210) and 2 outbound GSE teams together at a common point of our various journeys as GSE team members.

Here's a picture of the four teams, along with Darryl Gommersal (GSE Chairperson) and Steve Kruger (District Governor).

Visit to the Rotary Club of Murgon

2008-02-27T18:23:00.003+10:00

On Wednesday 20th February we entered into the next phase of preperations for our exchange as we conducted our first practice presentation for the Rotary Club of Murgon. It was a shared meeting that night so we were lucky to also meet the members of the Rotary Clubs of Kingaroy and Kingaroy-Taabinga.

The presentaion went quite well and we would like to thank the clubs for their support and advice! Also for the many raffle tickets sold that night!

Carolyn Krueger (Assistant Govenor - Far North and West) was also there to support us and we thank her for her enthusiasm!

Our next practices before we depart will be at the Rotary Club of Buderim on Friday 14th March (lunchtime meeting) and Thursday 3rd April at the Rotary Club of Aspley (dinner meeting).

Thank you!!

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

2008-02-13T22:42:00.002+10:00

If you feel that this Exchange program is something you would like to sponsor in a financial or material manner then we are grateful for your consideration and support!!

We have opportunities to display aknowledge your support leading up to the exchange as well while we are in Africa.

For more information on this and to discuss further please email Francine Riley at francan04@hotmail.com.

Thank you!

RAFFLE!!

2008-02-13T22:34:00.005+10:00

RAFFLE!!!

Please help us raise money for Uniforms, Embroidery, Brochures, Business Cards, and Gifts for our host families.

Our raffle is proudly sponsored by our friends at Moffatdale Ridge Winery

First Prize:
MR 2007 Verdelho (bronze medal 2007 Qld wine awards) 750mL,
MR Melon Madness (liqueur) 500mL,
Inner Circle Rum 700mL,
6-pack Crown Lager,
6-pack Stone's Alcoholic Ginger Beer 330mL,
8 gallon plastic drinks bucket.
Approx value $100

Second Prize:
MR 2005 Reserve Shiraz 750mL,
MR 2003 Vintage Port 375mL,
6-pack Stone's Alcoholic Ginger Beer 330mL,
3 gallon bucket.
Approx value $50.

Third Prize:
Wolf Blass 2003 Shiraz Merlot Cabernet 750mL.

"Moffatdale Ridge Winery is located in the South Burnett region and Jason and Susan pride themselves on being Queensland’s friendliest winery. The vineyard is situated on a 260 acre property selected by Susan's grandfather almost a century ago and the old world still features strongly in the operations today from old world wine making through to their Tuscan style cellardoor." We thank them for their support!

And thank you for your support!!!

To arrange to purchase tickets please email Fran at francan04@hotmail.com

$1 per ticket. Drawn on the 3rd April.

To contact Moffatdale Ridge about their products or to make a booking call Jason or Sue on (07) 4168 4797.

Preparing for the trip

2008-01-25T09:37:00.001+10:00

Preperation for our trip begins months before our departure date. Here Jodie and Ryan are busy with presentation discussions.