Meetings

We were stuck late in a meeting yesterday, so I didn't manage to get a post up. Luckily for you, today has added to my material. So today I can update you on some of the stuff we talked about in our staff meeting this morning.

1. The Ministry of Agriculture is becoming interested in our project. We have a meeting with them February 21 to see if and how they can be more involved in what we're doing. Due to the current state of government funds, I would expect they might be able to help with some training. Tinashe is a bit more optimistic about additional funds.

2. Our farmers in Lamgabi are running into some issues as they're taking care of their chickens. They're all on their first or second cycles, so this isn't surprising. We're working through these growing pains and working on helping them any way we can.

3. We have a new staff person starting tomorrow. She'll technically be working for Temashinga, selling chickens and making sure we get the payments. That will be welcome. She'll probably be around here a lot, because although Tinashe technically doesn't work for Temashinga, I haven't noticed a real strict division of powers.

4. Our portfolio is now large enough to support all of our farmers, which is great news. It's letting us get into a cycle, and move forward. Now we're looking to expand into another village. Very exciting.

I hope that fills you in on some of what we've been doing and will be doing in the next couple months.

-Ben

We're being watched

It's Friday again. I thought it would also be a good idea to see who's following my blog. When I was home, I was really amazed by the amount of people who mentioned that they read it. I was truly honored, but don't worry. I'm not going to quiz you or ask if you've been reading my blog. What I'm most confused about is the foreign countries.

In the past month, people have viewed my blog from the following places:
Ghana: Another PW intern is serving there, so I'm more honored than surprised.

Honduras: My former high school teacher is pastoring a church there. We've been exchanging emails, so I'm not too surprised. (He did a very similar post on his blog)

Russia: I think Russia is the generic place where random hits are assigned.

United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany: I've gotten a lot of hits from Europe. I don't think I know anyone who's currently in Europe.

Mexico and Brazil: I'm also not sure who these can be attributed to. Brazil has been a fairly consistent hit as long as I've been here. Maybe there are a lot of netizens there?

Malta: This is really the one that sparked my interest. Someone from Malta read my blog? Of the 415,000 people there, one of them is interested in my work in Swaziland? Cool.

If you are one of these people, or if you just want to send me questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email me at BenjaminCVerhulst@gmail.com.

Have a good weekend,
-Ben

Alone Again, Naturally

It's only been 24 hours since my last post, but I'm generally still trying to stick to my MWF schedule. In those 24 hours, I've realized that Africa has made me weak. As I've mentioned before, we can buy boxed milk here in Swaziland. Well, there was a deal at the grocery store such that I could purchase a box of 6 individual 1-liter cartons for the price of only 5 individual cartons. The difference is about E10, or $1.25, but that's a deal and I'm Dutch. What I didn't take into my considerations was my walk back up the mountain to home. So, as I was near the top of the climb and I realized that I was doing basically the same thing in Washington 10 months ago. Maybe I've just forgotten what it was like, but I think I'm getting to be a wuss.

Some of you may wonder why I walk so much. I know most of the Americans here think I'm a bit weird when I walk to church instead of drive. For one thing, I think it's good exercise (which I'm always in need of) and it saves fuel. But I think more importantly, it lets me walk on the streets with Swazis. Sure, passing someone and nodding or throwing out a quick greeting isn't a deep relationship, but I think it's a good experience to get. I hope that makes some sense.

-Ben

Great Excitement

I forgot to post yesterday, so I'll have to post today. You probably remember all the rain we got last week. 72+ hours straight. It looks like we're going to be doing something similar this weekend, which I'm not looking forward to. But I'm now more convinced that we won't wash away. I am a bit worried that my roof is leaking, but nothing has come through the ceiling yet. So, at most, it'll just be water damage.

Those of you who know my hobbies know that I'm a bit of an Oscar follower. So, my big excitement of the day was seeing that Oscar nominations are out. Generally, this is a list of movies considered to be the best, and I usually try to see as many as I can. Things are going to be a bit different this year, because I'm a bit limited in my choice of movies to go to. Well, that just means I'll have some movies to see when I get back.

In case anyone is looking for something to do, a friend sent me a NY Times article on Alvin Plantinga, in honor of his new book. Although the Times isn't known for being a haven of Christian philosophers, I thought the piece was very positive and a good read. I'm a huge fan of Dr. Plantinga, so this got me excited and I thought I'd share it.

-Ben

Ncobile Ethel Simelane

Today I interviewed a farmer for our newsletter. I thought I'd post a draft of her story.

            Some people learn business by studying it in school. Some learn it by trial and error. Ncobile Ethel Simelane just has intuition, but she makes the most of what she has. After all, she’s had seven children, and is also taking care of two orphans. So when AfricaWorks began talking about raising chickens, she was one of the first to seize the opportunity. She and her husband rallied the community, and now there are fourteen chicken houses in their village. And there are more people who want to join.

            With the money she makes from her chickens, Mrs. Simelane hopes to pay school fees for her children and build a house with 5-7 rooms, enough for her family to move out of their current two-room house. But she isn’t content with the income she receives from her families. She is also using the manure from her chickens to fertilize her vegetable garden so that the vegetables her family grows will be improved.

            But it’s not the income from the chickens or the prime vegetables that make Mrs. Simelane proud. It’s not even the chickens she brings to her family if they’re too small to be slaughtered at the abattoir. She is proud because they’re doing something better than what they were doing before. Before, they were eking out enough money to live by growing vegetables. Now, they have a real business and enough money to pay for luxuries like a home with five rooms.

-Ben

Wednesday it is

Well, it's still raining. So I'm probably only writing this to put off walking home through the river that has taken the place of the sidewalk. But rain not only soaks shoes, it also nourishes the land. So I we are thankful for that.

Other than the rain, not much else is new. I'm working on our Q4 newsletter, so if anyone wants to buy space in the back for advertising, let me know (only half joking). Tinashe will be travelling to Mozambique tomorrow, but he'll be back on Friday. Hopefully, all the rain that's going through these two countries won't be a serious problem for him. They are, though, a problem for some of our farmers, because it's tough for us to get up the mountain on dirt roads when we have this much rain. These are the weeks we're very glad that we put concrete under our chicken houses and elevated them slightly so that water runs around them instead of into them.

Hope all is well in the States, now that winter weather has finally arrived. For those of you who didn't know, my sister had eye surgery and it went well. Please pray for a swift recovery and for it to help keep the pressure down. Thanks.

-Ben

Welcome back to Africa

It's been pouring rain here for the past 36 hours, knocking the internet out for most of that time. That's why this blog is late, and why my jeans are wet, and why the walk to work was entirely mud. Forecast is more rain the rest of the week, but at least we're not in the middle of the cyclone that's hitting Mozambique right now. So, as long as we don't get washed away, we'll keep working here.

I did make it to church on Sunday, and it was nice to see friends there again. I also recovered from my jet lag, so I'm staying awake now from 5:30am to 8pm, which is good enough for now. I've also managed to load some pictures, so I'll post a few of them from my trip and our visit to the abattoir.

Zurich from the train window. I don't understand German, but I think I may have snuck into first class on this train ride. It was only 10 minutes, and no one checked my ticket, but I didn't mean to.

This is the city street right outside the train station. A lot of cool old buildings. The city is made for pedestrians, even though there are thoroughfares for vehicles.

I walked down the Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich's main street. It's a really cool street, with all sorts of fancy, classy, and expensive businesses and banks. But if you enlarge this picture, you can see a sign for Claire's farther down the street. Sad.

This is another picture of the street. The weather was chilly and the skies were grey, but the city was beautiful.

This is off main street, back in the neighborhoods. Little shops line these streets, which are too narrow for cars. It's the definition of idyllic.

This is the Grossmunster, a church said to have been commissioned by Charlemagne. It was an amazing church, but pictures were not allowed inside, so this is the best one I've got. I'd never been in a church that had been standing for a millenium.

Back in Swaziland, one of our farmers brought her baby in to the office for our meeting. Always good to know who we're helping.

Mbabane. I just thought I'd throw this in for contrast to the streets of Zurich. Interestingly, there are many fewer smokers in Mbabane than Zurich.

Some of the less-bloody shots of the abattoir. This is where they turn the clucking, feathery things into tasty morsels.

Here, our farmers are watching as abattoir workers weigh and wrap boxes of chickens. From here, they'll be frozen and sold.

-Ben

Swaziland at last

I am once again writing from the office of AfricaWorks Swaziland. I had a safe trip, although 12 hour plane rides are no great joy of mine. My body is also very displeased to be awake right now, so I'll keep this short.

Today we had a meeting with some of the farmers who had some things to discuss about placement schedules and organization rules. After the meeting, we visited the abattoir together so they could get a good idea of where their chickens go. It was my first visit to the abattoir, although I'll probably be spending some more time there working on getting it running smoothly.

It's nice to be back, although I understand I'm missing a major snowfall. I guess I'll show some solidarity with my Wisconsin brethren by doing some shovel-esque exercises here.

-Ben

I am actually on my way back to Africa. So my blogs can resume. I had a wonderful holiday and I got to spend some quality time with my family. It was great, but I am ready to get back to work in Swaziland. So I write this from the halfway point, on an hour of sleep. It's hardly all bad though, as I am sitting on the patio of Schober Confectionary in Zurich, drinking a cup of hot chocolate that would pass for ambrosia. I will fly out tonight and get off the shuttle late tomorrow in SZ.

I will write more Friday.
-Ben