A blog from Bob

So, I had just sorted my packing case and hand luggage fine, when the District Governor presented me with a conch shell weighing over 5 kilos, whoops!!

Anyway, a lovely gesture and our final DISCON 9210 dinner last night was excellent, good food and wine, entertainment of power cuts and faulty microphones, which kept the speeches short. Had problems prising the team away from their friends, hosts and the American GSE team but in the end we got away by midnight, not without a few tears, back to our hosts and packing. It will take all of us a few weeks to assimilate what we have seen and done! We have scheduled a meeting to review what we have learned and some potential rotary community projects that the district may want to take up.

My last blog (maybe) but final words; it has been a privilege to lead such a great team of young professionals through 3 African countries.

Signing off

Dad!

The end of an epic adventure

By Adele

So, today is our last day together on the GSE trip and what a trip it has been. As a team we have travelled through 3 different countries, covered around 25,000km, visited at least 25 Rotary clubs, and delivered 14 presentations. Culturally, we have really been spoiled; we’ve seen one of the seven wonders of the world (the Victoria Falls), flown in a 30-seater airplane, swam in Lake Nyasa, learned traditional African dancing, been on several safaris, sampled the local nightlife and gone 270m underground in a copper mine. All of the team have been fairly adventurous when it comes to trying the local delicacies; our meals have included antelope, crocodile, caterpillars, cow’s hooves, gigantic mutant prawns, chicken’s feet and of course nshima!!

It has been incredible fun, but we have also learned a lot. Vocationally, we have all had the opportunity to see how our jobs work in another culture. I have been amazed by the resourcefulness and sheer passion on the African people. Despite limited resources and funding they have managed to set up some amazing projects and do some incredible work in the local community. It was been great to see the role of Rotary in supporting the community also; the work that they do is so varied, ranging from solar water pumps to cleaning rivers to supporting the disabled and many more wonderful projects. I have been inspired to do more to help my local community and to see what we can do with all the resources that we have to support the amazing work over here.

We are all packed up now and heading off to have breakfast on the beach before we embark on our various journeys back to the UK. Bob, Kate and Seb will fly back to the UK today; Alice is off to visit family in Johannesburg and is Adele is heading to Worcester near Cape Town to visit friends. Although we are heading separate ways I know this is not goodbye for this team, we have formed amazing friendships between us and they have become like family to me. I am so thankful for this once in a lifetime opportunity; I have made some great contacts and even better friends and I know I will never forget this experience. So, a huge thank you to everyone that has been a part of this big adventure…we will keep you posted!!!!

Evening! Just a very quick one....... we said our byes at the final evening of the conference this evening (we had gigantic tiger prawns!) it felt very sad to be leaving, it was great to meet the other GSE team from D5240 in Calafornia that were in Zimbabwe, Frank (team leader), Sarah, John Big and John Small!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone who has helped us along the way, and Rotary as a whole. Definitely recommend GSE!!!

We fly out of Beira at 1.30pm, Kate, Bob and Seb head back to the UK and I will be in S.A for about 2 weeks visiting where I use to live, and also meeting the Benoni Van Ryn Rotary club! Adele is off to Cape Town for about 10 days, going back to where she worked with YWAM (Youth With A Mission).

It has been a fantastic, incredible journey, more blogs and pics to come...

Beira

Our last evening in Beira, what an incredible journey! Thank you to all who made it possible

Vida Louca at District Conference

The District Conference kicked off yesterday with an opening ceremony complete with flags and national anthems - we felt very proud when the English flag was brought in and 'God Save the Queen' played! Then we were treated to some fantastic dancing and music, as well as presentations from the District Governor and his special guest, Rotary International President's representative, PDG June Webber.

Today we presented at the District Conference. It was fantastic to see so many of the friends we have made sitting in the audience, and great to be able to express our thanks to the Rotarians of District 9210 for everything they have done for us.

The presentation went really well, and it was interesting to see how emotional the team were about our experience. For me personally I got a real buzz from presenting to such a large audience, something that I don’t think I could have done before the GSE trip!

Beira

Quick update from Beira

We were kindly hosted and enjoyed the privilege of staying with the District Governor João Bettencourt and his wife Nela at their home in Chimoio. It was a very busy household with people coming and going in preparation for the District Conference in Beira.

We were lucky enough to visit a scheme that was set up by the Rotary club of Chimoio where disabled people have a factory to make flip-flops and sandals from old tyres, rubber and leather. It was incredible to see the skill of these people, the quality of the products and a very successful Rotary project.

Pictured District Governor João Bettencourt, GSE team leader Bob and a lady with a baby and her maize hat!

We stopped in quickly to the District Governor’s workshop area and got to see how he personally gets involved and helps the local community by providing a maize mill, local people can come and use this and any money made from it is used for more community schemes.

 Also, got to see a lovely dozer and grader loaded on some classic units on their way to the mining areas apparently!! I can’t help it, sorry! It is vocational, honest.

 We are now in Beira for the District Conference and waiting for the sea mist to disappear so that we may be able to enjoy an afternoon in the sea before we depart!

Day 1 of the conference has been fantastic hearing more about the incredible work that the Rotary clubs in Africa are involved with as well as catching up with some our the rotarians that we have met on the rigorous and adventurous trip.

We have our final presentation tomorrow and it will be to our largest crowd, probably around 200-250 people!! Fingers crossed!

The Bicycle

The Bicycle

A bicycle, often called a bike and sometimes referred to as a "pushbike", "pedal bike", "pedal cycle" or "cycle", is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.

Cycling is a big part of my life but not a way of life as we have seen in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. In these three countries that we have visited, it is obvious to see how useful the bicycle can be as an aid and tool in everyday life other than a form of exercise as it is so often used in the western world. I have been attempting to capture images of these fantastic contraptions, each individually modified to the user’s needs for whatever is being carried. The best number of people on a bicycle so far I think has been four, very rarely with just one person! Pigs, chickens, goats, water containers, oil drums x 3, charcoal, cotton, maize, fish, just a few of the things we have seen carried. 

In Blantyre, Malawi I noticed more second hand Royal Mail Pashley bicycles than any other town or country. A fantastic site to see someone cycling along with a dozen live chickens in the handlebar basket is far more productive than a bag full of mail!

Travelling through Salima, a rural town close to Lake Malawi seemed to be the highest density of bicycles and bicycle taxi’s lined the streets as we went through. We dropped off someone in the centre of town and the surge of taxi riders with a potential client was incredible, people jumping and clambering over each other with bicycles to get the business!

There have been schemes set up by various charities in the UK to help send second hand bicycles out to Africa for adults and children. A Rotary International charity, Bikes4Africa.

bikes4Africa refurbishes donated second-hand bikes and delivers them from the UK
to African schools, where they enable children to...

•    get to school, and arrive on time, instead of late
•    begin the school day alert, instead of exhausted
•    stay for extra lessons at the end of the school day
•    remain safe by travelling home from school in daylight
•    reach higher academic achievement

http://www.jolerider.org/index.php/programmes/bikes4africa

Re~Cycle is a UK charity committed to providing cheap, sustainable transport in Africa. We believe that bicycles offer poor people the best means to improve their lives, giving them opportunities to travel to work and school. They can also be adapted to carry goods and passengers giving small scale farmers and traders the opportunity to reach customers further afield. They are also an invaluable resource for traveling health workers coping with the AIDS epidemic.

I am very keen to work with one or both of these charities on my return to the UK and aim to send a container of bicycles out to the countries that we have visited.

Made it to Mozambique!

We arrived in Mozambique on Saturday, following two interesting hours spent at the border whilst we got our visas in order.  We were hosted by the Rotary Club of Tete, who certainly provided us with a fantastic introduction to Mozambique!

On Sunday we drove to visit the Cahora Bassa Dam. The dam is part of a large hydroelectric plant which generates electricity for all of Tete, and some of the power is even exported to South Africa. It was great for me to see some green energy generation in action! The lake behind the dam also made for some very picturesque photos. 

The scenery here in Mozambique really is stunning and the drive from Tete to Chimoio was very beautiful. Seeing people’s everyday life is part of our adventure here; people carrying massive piles on wood on their heads, and women with babies strapped to their backs with their colourful capulanas (wraps). Its also interesting to see the ingenuity and resourcefulness of those selling all manner of things along the side of the road. The colours, characters and sheer contrast to our own lives in the UK is fascinating, and I'm enjoying every minute!

We are staying at the District Governor's house in Chimoio, it's a hive of activity as they make the final preparations for the District Conference. This afternoon the team are also preparing as we run through what we need for our last presentation of the trip. Departing here early tomorrow - next stop the District Conference on the beach in Beira!

 

Captain's blog

16^th June 2012

So, blogging again on our departure from Blantyre, Malawi. We’ve had some highs and lows, but again an excellent experience and some terrific vocation visits. 29 hours at the lake and 3 ½ hours in Majete Game Reserve. Lost a day in Blantyre/Limbe due to plane cancellations and lateness which through the visit out kilter with the programme. However, the visit to the Rotary club of Blantyre, Mudi River clean-up project and to the Malawi Disabled Association Weaving factory more than made up for any time lost.

Thanks again all Rotarians and families for the time and warm welcome, we look forward to our last country, Mozambique.

Captain Bob

 Bob and Charles, friends for over 35 years

Art and Craft Part 2

St. Peters art and craft workshop centre

Another vocational visit that I found really useful was visiting the St. Peters art and craft workshop centre(Mzuzu, Malawi). Four artists work there producing, paintings, cards and 3D wooden sculptures. The artist I met there was a sculpture called Bob. I really enjoyed sitting and listening to Bob about his daily life and techniques of sculpture. He was in the middle of making a wooden cabinet in the shape of an African wooden hut, it was a very unique piece from the sculptures I have seen so far in Africa. I asked if I could also make a miniature hut, which he showed me how to make and what tools to use. I did this for 2 hours and afterwards I gained a real appreciation for the amount of skill and effort that goes into wood carving. I was amazed because he had hardly any tools and used his feet and toes as a vise to hold the wood, which I had a go at doing too!

In Lilongwe I visited a secondary school Art department in Lilongwe called ‘Bishop Mackenzie International school. I met SangameshRajeshwar who is head of the art department. It was interesting to speak to him about the projects they do with pupils and to see some of the pupils artwork – I was very impressed!

Abit of art and crafts in Malawi..

Current location: Blantyre, Malawi

I have had some great vocational visits so far, visiting the Henry Tayali art gallery and studios (Lusaka, Zambia), meeting Roy Kausawho works for the Lechwe art trust (Lusaka, Zambia) and visiting secondary and high schools. It has been fascinating to meet actual practicing artists.

La Galleria

My first vocational visit in Malawi was in Lilongwe, visiting La Galleria art shop with Bob (Team Leader). It is a small art and crafts gallery, run by an artist called Elson Kambalu, unfortunately I did not meet him but did see some photos of his artwork. Elsons art is the most conceptual of what I have seen so far on the trip, one of his pieces was a collection of paint pots that were stuck on a board, with dried coloured paint inside each pot. This piece was titled something along the lines of ‘These tins are empty’. It made me think further about the meanings of the piece and what the artist is trying to say. 

Around the shop were lots of intricate and colourful painting by local artists, all with very different styles, some very realistic, some very large, some abstract and some mixed media based. I particularly liked a very intricate wooden carving of a crowd of people and also some batik paintings (I bought some!).On tables all around the room was lots of beautiful craft objects and jewellery for sale. Some of the craft sales goes towards an orphanage under the company name of ‘consol homes’ and other craft sales went towards a fund for refugees.I met two artists that work at the art shop, called Raphiq SandiKonda and Mathews Chimalito. They told me about their styles of work and Raphiq said he only likes works in an abstract way. I think both of them produce commercial art and crafts to make money too. This is the first vocational visit so far where I have seen art workshops available for the public to join in on, they said that children are able to come along each day to do art activities.