Strangely, it feels as if a large amount of my day has been used dealing with American things. My parents had a question about my taxes, my student loan payment wasn't withdrawn from my account as it should have been, and I'm looking into a grant from the American embassy. AND I just caught my grandmother online, so I got to chat with her for a minute. Lots of American stuff.
So I passed on the tax question to someone who might know enough to help me, and I'm currently working on sorting out my student loan problem (which is why I'm at work so late). I also almost forgot it's a leap day, which is a fantastic, 2-3 times in a decade experience.
Well, I'll finish this up and head out. Have a good Wednesday.
-Ben
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Weekend Update
This post comes on Tuesday because Tinashe and I spent much of Monday at the abattoir, and I had to leave work a bit early to make my small group car pool. I hope you don't mind.
We were at the abattoir basically to get a feel for how things were going. I'm working on a report for how we can better operate at the abattoir from an efficiency and operations viewpoint. Most of what we learned at the abattoir was the same as what I'd already seen, but it was good for Tinashe to get exposed to some of it. We also implemented a new system for tracking chickens and weights through the abattoir. It's been helpful for us so far, and we're hoping that it will prove even more beneficial over the long-term.
The weekend was sunny and warm (which is always good, because it means my laundry doesn't get rained on while it's drying). While Skyping with my parents on Saturday, however, I learned that Len Zydowicz passed away late last week. I had known he was having health problems, but I was caught off-guard. Len and Barb have been such close friends of my family that they have become family for all intents and purposes. I think the hardest part was not being able to attend the funeral, but my heart prayers certainly go out to Barb and her family.
God bless,
-Ben
We were at the abattoir basically to get a feel for how things were going. I'm working on a report for how we can better operate at the abattoir from an efficiency and operations viewpoint. Most of what we learned at the abattoir was the same as what I'd already seen, but it was good for Tinashe to get exposed to some of it. We also implemented a new system for tracking chickens and weights through the abattoir. It's been helpful for us so far, and we're hoping that it will prove even more beneficial over the long-term.
The weekend was sunny and warm (which is always good, because it means my laundry doesn't get rained on while it's drying). While Skyping with my parents on Saturday, however, I learned that Len Zydowicz passed away late last week. I had known he was having health problems, but I was caught off-guard. Len and Barb have been such close friends of my family that they have become family for all intents and purposes. I think the hardest part was not being able to attend the funeral, but my heart prayers certainly go out to Barb and her family.
God bless,
-Ben
Friday, February 24, 2012
Ministry of Agriculture
Yesterday the Ministry of Agriculture toured the areas, and we are happy with the way it went. We rented a van, picked them up, and we all went out. We started in Myoloza, where the ministry people spent a fair amount of time talking to the farmers about ways they could improve and questions they had. National Chicks people also came, which was good.
When the ministry people were done there, we all (with the farmers) went up to Lamgabi. We looked around a bit more, and then sheltered inside an empty chicken house as it started to rain. So we had a big meeting with the government, our supplier, us, and the farmers all sheltering from the rain in a chicken house. The ministry set up a 3-day training course for next month, which we think will be good. The farmers also got to air all their concerns about AfricaWorks, and the ministry promised that they would try to be fair judges.
Overall, I think it was good. I think the training will be good for the farmers, as well as having an outlet where they can talk through frustrations with AfricaWorks. Frankly, AfricaWorks has had all the power in the relationship up until now, and I'm sure the farmers will be glad to have someone who they can express their complaints to. We'll know more after the training.
Have a good weekend,
-Ben
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Ministry Meeting
Tuesday we met with the poultry department from the ministry of agriculture. All seven of them came here and we had a big meeting with presentations by Tinashe and me, and a lot of discussion. We also had one guy from National Chicks (our supplier) and two of our farmers. Altogether, I think it was a successful meeting. We'll be picking them up this morning and taking them to see the chicken houses themselves. Then they've agreed to run a training seminar for 3 days in March.
I think it would be a very good thing if our farmers get more connected to the ministry. The ministry seemed very committed to making an effort to help small-scale farmers. Although I'm not sure how much impact they have, or how deep their concern is, I think they do have some resources that we don't.
So we're hoping this is another good meeting.
-Ben
I think it would be a very good thing if our farmers get more connected to the ministry. The ministry seemed very committed to making an effort to help small-scale farmers. Although I'm not sure how much impact they have, or how deep their concern is, I think they do have some resources that we don't.
So we're hoping this is another good meeting.
-Ben
Monday, February 20, 2012
Big meeting tomorrow
We're having a big meeting with the Agriculture Ministry tomorrow, so that's something to anticipate. If all goes well, tomorrow morning will find the AfricaWorks staff, a few of our farmers, and seven members of the ministry meeting to discuss how we can work together to achieve our goals. Our main hope is that they'll be able to provide some training to our farmers. I'm not sure exactly how much help they'll be able to provide, because of the country's financial situation, but we're hopeful.
Please pray that the meeting goes well. I'll let you know how it goes.
-Ben
Please pray that the meeting goes well. I'll let you know how it goes.
-Ben
Friday, February 17, 2012
Lions and Tigers and Bears
Yesterday I went out to the Eastern side of the country with Daran and his wife Theresa to see what they were doing out there. It was a very interesting and informative trip, so I'll try to run you through the highlights.
We first stopped to meet a woman who works closely with Daran and Theresa. She came with us and brought along two girls who are on a short-term (1 month) mission here as part of a mission trip through 11 countries in 11 months. From there, we went to the house of an older couple who retired to the Swazi bush in order to help as much as they could. They do a lot of visits to the communities out there, where they work with kids and try to minister as much as possible.
They came with us into one of the main villages they work in. Their main purpose is to test and get treatment for the children and caretakers in the communities. One of the challenges they see are organizations that come in and test without figuring out how the people will get the necessary treatment. But Daran was quick to point out that if they don't do something about the economic situation of these people, the cycle will just continue.
It's currently the Murula season, so we saw a number of women busy pitting the Murula fruit, which will be brewed quickly and turned into the favorite alcoholic beverage here. Sadly, there aren't many other economic options for these people. They're hemmed in by sugar cane fields and maize fields, so there's no real room for agriculture or raising poultry. The missionaries have gotten some of the women sewing machines and connected them with a business that will pay them for well-made items that it will then sell in the US. Hopefully that will improve their quality of life somewhat, but I'm not sure if their situation will develop further in the next 10 or 20 years.
So while I wasn't inspired with hope and optimism, I am glad I had the experience and got to see how they're living. We'll see what God does in the next couple weeks.
Also, while I saw neither lions, nor tigers, nor bears, I did see antelope and a monitor lizard. I also saw the eyes and nostrils of a submerged crocodile, and saw a hippo, elephants, and apes far off in the distance.
We first stopped to meet a woman who works closely with Daran and Theresa. She came with us and brought along two girls who are on a short-term (1 month) mission here as part of a mission trip through 11 countries in 11 months. From there, we went to the house of an older couple who retired to the Swazi bush in order to help as much as they could. They do a lot of visits to the communities out there, where they work with kids and try to minister as much as possible.
They came with us into one of the main villages they work in. Their main purpose is to test and get treatment for the children and caretakers in the communities. One of the challenges they see are organizations that come in and test without figuring out how the people will get the necessary treatment. But Daran was quick to point out that if they don't do something about the economic situation of these people, the cycle will just continue.
It's currently the Murula season, so we saw a number of women busy pitting the Murula fruit, which will be brewed quickly and turned into the favorite alcoholic beverage here. Sadly, there aren't many other economic options for these people. They're hemmed in by sugar cane fields and maize fields, so there's no real room for agriculture or raising poultry. The missionaries have gotten some of the women sewing machines and connected them with a business that will pay them for well-made items that it will then sell in the US. Hopefully that will improve their quality of life somewhat, but I'm not sure if their situation will develop further in the next 10 or 20 years.
So while I wasn't inspired with hope and optimism, I am glad I had the experience and got to see how they're living. We'll see what God does in the next couple weeks.
Also, while I saw neither lions, nor tigers, nor bears, I did see antelope and a monitor lizard. I also saw the eyes and nostrils of a submerged crocodile, and saw a hippo, elephants, and apes far off in the distance.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Openings
Today I met with Mitch, the director of Children's Cup and Daran. With Mitch, we talked about our visions for Swaziland and our ideas of the best way to get there. I'm hopeful that someday, we'll get to a point where we can work together to make both of our organizations irrelevant. One challenge is that much of their food is donated from the US. So I'm searching for a way to find food of equivalent nutritional value at a cost that's lower than what they pay for transport. Not easy.
Daran came into the office and met with Tinashe and me. We rehashed much of the same stuff he and I talked about on Monday. I'm excited about the ways God could put all of this together, but I really have no idea how it will all work. We will see.
-Ben
Daran came into the office and met with Tinashe and me. We rehashed much of the same stuff he and I talked about on Monday. I'm excited about the ways God could put all of this together, but I really have no idea how it will all work. We will see.
-Ben
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Did it again
Well, Happy Valentine's Day. We had a church Valentine's event on Saturday evening at church. I've been told that, although some churches might not have an Easter service or a Good Friday service, every church here will have a Valentine's day event. It was a fun time with food and dancing. I learned an African dance, but I'll have to learn it a lot better before I can do it without lots of laughter.
Yesterday I met with Daran, another missionary here. He's working with HIV patients in the eastern area of the country. His goal is to get a self-sustaining clinic going in one of the villages out there. To do this, he wants to buy a large commercial property that he will then be able to lease out to support the clinic. We talked for quite a while and I think he's got a very good plan going forward.
We were talking about possible ways we can work together, and I explained that our focus at AfricaWorks is more focused on developing the economic capacity of the community. We talked about some of the opportunities that might arise, especially if they have commercial space where we could set up a business/processor. One of the options we're looking at is growing Moringa, an extremely nutritious plant that I think would have very positive impacts in Swaziland.
Some of the speedbumps that we still have to get over include:
1) Daran hasn't been able to put together the money necessary to buy the property. I believe the property costs about $400,000, and he's only raised a fraction of that money. So our (AW) work in the community is purely speculative until his organization can move that forward.
2) We need to do major market research to see if we could sell moringa if we grow it. Although it's worked very well in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, Swazis haven't adopted it into their diet yet. So we'll have to see if we can create a market or export. That will need to be worked out before we decide whether or not to get involved.
Because the area is so far east, we can't really connect them with our abattoir because all the profits will go straight to transportation costs. So I'm just trying to figure out the best way to create opportunities for the people out there. Hopefully more to follow someday.
-Ben
Yesterday I met with Daran, another missionary here. He's working with HIV patients in the eastern area of the country. His goal is to get a self-sustaining clinic going in one of the villages out there. To do this, he wants to buy a large commercial property that he will then be able to lease out to support the clinic. We talked for quite a while and I think he's got a very good plan going forward.
We were talking about possible ways we can work together, and I explained that our focus at AfricaWorks is more focused on developing the economic capacity of the community. We talked about some of the opportunities that might arise, especially if they have commercial space where we could set up a business/processor. One of the options we're looking at is growing Moringa, an extremely nutritious plant that I think would have very positive impacts in Swaziland.
Some of the speedbumps that we still have to get over include:
1) Daran hasn't been able to put together the money necessary to buy the property. I believe the property costs about $400,000, and he's only raised a fraction of that money. So our (AW) work in the community is purely speculative until his organization can move that forward.
2) We need to do major market research to see if we could sell moringa if we grow it. Although it's worked very well in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, Swazis haven't adopted it into their diet yet. So we'll have to see if we can create a market or export. That will need to be worked out before we decide whether or not to get involved.
Because the area is so far east, we can't really connect them with our abattoir because all the profits will go straight to transportation costs. So I'm just trying to figure out the best way to create opportunities for the people out there. Hopefully more to follow someday.
-Ben
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Early this time
Kuyashisa. That means, "it's hot" in SiSwati. And it is. I know most of you are dealing with temperatures 60 degrees cooler than this, so I'm not trying to rub it in. But a major storm is brewing and I want to get this in, just in case we lose our internet tomorrow.
I thought I'd give you a little idea of what driving is like here. We drive on the wrong side of the road, which wasn't too tough after I mastered walking on the left side of the sidewalk. It still gets me a bit when I'm on the highway, because the passing lane is the right lane.
Stop signs change their meaning depending on the time of day. During rush hour, you're expected to roll through unless someone is trying to turn. Then you do a full stop. When the intersection is abandoned, it's a yield sign, so you slow down and make sure no one is coming from another direction. Late at night, it's probably more dangerous to stop than to just fly through, because the guy behind you isn't stopping.
The highway has gotten more interesting since Christmas because the ore trucks have been coming down from the mine that's now operational again. Two weeks ago, five of them piled up in one morning. It can get exciting, getting around them but not getting picked off by the much faster traffic.
My favorite part is the speed bumps, which everyone else has to slow down for. Because my motorcycle is half dirt bike half road bike, it can't keep up with most vehicles on the highway. But it is perfect for the dirt roads on the way to the abattoir, and when everyone else is stopping at speed bumps, I can slip right past and go over without a problem.
Have a great weekend,
-Ben
I thought I'd give you a little idea of what driving is like here. We drive on the wrong side of the road, which wasn't too tough after I mastered walking on the left side of the sidewalk. It still gets me a bit when I'm on the highway, because the passing lane is the right lane.
Stop signs change their meaning depending on the time of day. During rush hour, you're expected to roll through unless someone is trying to turn. Then you do a full stop. When the intersection is abandoned, it's a yield sign, so you slow down and make sure no one is coming from another direction. Late at night, it's probably more dangerous to stop than to just fly through, because the guy behind you isn't stopping.
The highway has gotten more interesting since Christmas because the ore trucks have been coming down from the mine that's now operational again. Two weeks ago, five of them piled up in one morning. It can get exciting, getting around them but not getting picked off by the much faster traffic.
My favorite part is the speed bumps, which everyone else has to slow down for. Because my motorcycle is half dirt bike half road bike, it can't keep up with most vehicles on the highway. But it is perfect for the dirt roads on the way to the abattoir, and when everyone else is stopping at speed bumps, I can slip right past and go over without a problem.
Have a great weekend,
-Ben
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Abattoir Emergency
Yesterday I spent a few hours at the abattoir. It was a good chance to talk to the employees and I got a lot of good information that I'll be able to work into a report. Unfortunately, one of the freezers was not working, which meant they couldn't process chicken yesterday (nowhere to put them when done).
The crisis is that we probably won't be able to process anything for the next couple weeks. So we had an emergency meeting today and ran through our options. For now, we're going to sell our chickens to the live market. We'll actually be making more money this way, but the price is very unstable, so we can't count on this in the future. We also had to determine how to allocate the profit, because Kumbula is supposed to be buying the chickens from the farmers, but at the price they should buy at, our farmers are making losses (mainly because they're not very good at raising chickens yet). So we're giving them a bit of a break, and Kumbula is cutting their own profit margin. It seemed a bit silly that we (the AW staff) was deciding that Kumbula would cut their profit margins, but I guess that's how this works.
On a more serious note, one of the other PW interns had to be flown home due to a medical emergency. I've gotten conflicting reports of what exactly is going on, so I'll just say that she was in pretty tough shape, but we're very hopeful that she'll make a full recovery. Of course, we appreciate your prayers.
-Ben
The crisis is that we probably won't be able to process anything for the next couple weeks. So we had an emergency meeting today and ran through our options. For now, we're going to sell our chickens to the live market. We'll actually be making more money this way, but the price is very unstable, so we can't count on this in the future. We also had to determine how to allocate the profit, because Kumbula is supposed to be buying the chickens from the farmers, but at the price they should buy at, our farmers are making losses (mainly because they're not very good at raising chickens yet). So we're giving them a bit of a break, and Kumbula is cutting their own profit margin. It seemed a bit silly that we (the AW staff) was deciding that Kumbula would cut their profit margins, but I guess that's how this works.
On a more serious note, one of the other PW interns had to be flown home due to a medical emergency. I've gotten conflicting reports of what exactly is going on, so I'll just say that she was in pretty tough shape, but we're very hopeful that she'll make a full recovery. Of course, we appreciate your prayers.
-Ben
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Tuesdays
Since I've been back, I'm not sure if I've posted on Monday yet. Yesterday I was just working on AW Mozambique expense reports until it was time to go home, then I went home. I'm going to have to work out some sort of reminder system that shocks me if I try to leave.
Anyway, today I'll be heading to the abattoir to meet with the workers there. My goal is a report on how we can improve operations there for the good of the abattoir, their investors, and our farmers. Wish me luck.
I've been throwing "abattoir" around a lot, but a lot of the missionaries here don't know what that means. Although I'm confident you're using it in everyday conversation by now, in the interest of completeness, I'll post that it's a slaughterhouse. Our chickens go there, wait in the holding pen, then are taken inside, killed, plucked, gutted, frozen, and packaged. It all goes pretty smoothly, but my goal is to make it better, so I'm off.
Since going down the mountain on my motorcycle is probably one of the most dangerous things I do, I'll say goodbye now. It's been a pleasure. Tell my family I loved them. ;)
-Ben
Anyway, today I'll be heading to the abattoir to meet with the workers there. My goal is a report on how we can improve operations there for the good of the abattoir, their investors, and our farmers. Wish me luck.
I've been throwing "abattoir" around a lot, but a lot of the missionaries here don't know what that means. Although I'm confident you're using it in everyday conversation by now, in the interest of completeness, I'll post that it's a slaughterhouse. Our chickens go there, wait in the holding pen, then are taken inside, killed, plucked, gutted, frozen, and packaged. It all goes pretty smoothly, but my goal is to make it better, so I'm off.
Since going down the mountain on my motorcycle is probably one of the most dangerous things I do, I'll say goodbye now. It's been a pleasure. Tell my family I loved them. ;)
-Ben
Friday, February 3, 2012
Abattoir
Today we had a meeting with Oscar at the abattoir. I would be hard-pressed to describe the progress we made, but I think Tinashe and Oscar worked some things out with transportation and tracking of chickens. We're getting closer and closer to figuring this all out. Then (hopefully), we'll have a smooth ride as our farmers' chickens go directly and smoothly into the abattoir, where we are able to easily track them and quickly determine the weights so payments can be made.
Our abattoir situation is pretty unique, in my opinion. We deliver the live chickens and they're processed, frozen, and eventually sold. But the abattoir never owns the chickens. I thought all abattoirs bought their animals live from the farmers, processed them, and sold them. But our abattoir just charges a processing fee. So I'm really not sure whether the farmers or the marketing company own the chickens while they're in the abattoir. Tinashe seems to think this is the only way abattoirs work, so maybe I'm just out of my depth here.
Have a great weekend,
-Ben
Our abattoir situation is pretty unique, in my opinion. We deliver the live chickens and they're processed, frozen, and eventually sold. But the abattoir never owns the chickens. I thought all abattoirs bought their animals live from the farmers, processed them, and sold them. But our abattoir just charges a processing fee. So I'm really not sure whether the farmers or the marketing company own the chickens while they're in the abattoir. Tinashe seems to think this is the only way abattoirs work, so maybe I'm just out of my depth here.
Have a great weekend,
-Ben
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Highway Wisdom
We were driving back from the abattoir yesterday and I saw a Kombi that struck me as funny. It had a phrase on the back, like many of them often do. "Train up a child -Proverbs 22:6". That made me laugh, mainly because it strikes me as a very Swazi editing of the verse.
The whole verse is "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." But from the amount of children around, you would probably believe that the command is just "raise children." I thought that was pretty funny.
Of course, the situation is a bit sadder than that. The ratio of kids to adults is getting to be a problem. So many middle-aged people have died that the amount of orphans has exploded. If my parents both died, my sisters would go live with my grandparents until I got situated and we worked something out. And it really would be a manageable situation. But now imagine that each set of grandparents has to deal with all of their grandchildren. And grandparents aren't always around either, so neighbors and distant family have to step in. Pretty quickly, everyone is taking care of kids.
That quickly became more serious than it was yesterday in the car, but it's definitely a situation that needs prayer.
-Ben
The whole verse is "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." But from the amount of children around, you would probably believe that the command is just "raise children." I thought that was pretty funny.
Of course, the situation is a bit sadder than that. The ratio of kids to adults is getting to be a problem. So many middle-aged people have died that the amount of orphans has exploded. If my parents both died, my sisters would go live with my grandparents until I got situated and we worked something out. And it really would be a manageable situation. But now imagine that each set of grandparents has to deal with all of their grandchildren. And grandparents aren't always around either, so neighbors and distant family have to step in. Pretty quickly, everyone is taking care of kids.
That quickly became more serious than it was yesterday in the car, but it's definitely a situation that needs prayer.
-Ben
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