The Price That One Pays

This time last year I was in southern Africa. I was not too worried about the violence in some of the places I was going to. Or the amount of travelling to far and strange places. But the one thing I was quite worries about was Malaria. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between 1 and 3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of whom are young children and the poor.

I was lucky, I had the correct prophylactic drug and I could afford them. I was shocked at the expense of good Antimalarials. There are cheep ones, but reading about the conta indications of these cheep drugs, I would rather risk Malaria than lose my mind or hair by taking these cheep Anti-Malarial drugs. I am not surprised that so many people lose there life in Africa due to Malaria. People just cant afford the good medication and don’t want to run the risk of side affects. I cant say I blame them.

But the risk is very real! The other day I was informed that Ian, who took over from me with North Star South Africa, has some how caught Malaria. It was likely he caught it in Kenya but he could have got it in Malwai/ Zimbabwe or even Zambia. He like many others that live in Africa did not take prophylactic drugs to keep him safe from Malaria. I guess this is the price one pays for being a humanitarian in Africa and you do not take the correct precautions. Ian is lucky – he has been to the doctors and confirmed he does have Malaria. He can afford good treatment so he should be fine.

Malaria is a bit like an airborne AIDS. You can do as much as you can to protect your self but if the little blighters (Mosquito’s ) bite you and they have Malaria and you not on prophylactic’s its just as bad as having unprotected sex with someone with HIV. Granted if you can get the treatment you will live a long and normal life. But like HIV, Malaria is for life too. It will always be in your system.

So my warning to you is if your going to be in a Malaria area take the drugs! Yes they may taste bad but hell its miles better than being stuck in bed with a fever! A small price to pay I would say.

25 Years on – The People it Affects.

As mentioned in an earlier blog, it has been 25 years since the first reported case of HIV and still no cure.

But how has HIV affected people with HIV?

Well I was quite privileged to meet one of the longest known survivors of HIV while I was in South Africa. What an inspirational person he is. I have been wanting to blog about David Patient for a long time now but I have not had the time or the right material to put into the blog to do him and his story any justice.

When I met David I knew very little about him. I still know very little about him. Only from what I have read on the net and from what I have been told about him. The day I met David, in Johannesburg, it was his 25th anniversary of being diagnosed as being HIV+. At the time all I know of him was he was a director for a company what we were looking at using as a supplier of low income medical services to the South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA) and that he had HIV and was wildly regarded as one of the longest survivors of HIV. Other than that I knew little else of this man that would inspire me to write this blog.

As David walked into the boardroom he looked just like any other person I had met. A tall slim man, a man that walked with a sense of presence. During the talks we had with him regarding the SAEPA project the only signal to emit from David was that of positivity. He just about oozed it. He wanted to see the project we were working on succeed. No issue was a big issue to him. He was not interested in problems only solutions. In true South African sprit he would make a plan if it got the job done.

This was not a person who was in a, “Woe is me! I am the poor sick person destined to die” mindset that seems to be the attitude of a lot of people who are diagnosed as having HIV. But no David Patient was going to rise above that and use this disease to motivate him and others. It was in effect his life force.

David’s story is that of a quite tragic one. I urge you to read the following article (Positive Heroes - David Patient) about David’s life with HIV. It is truly inspirational to see what David had to deal with all them years ago. These things have made him stronger as a result of it. He has risen above it all and wants to use his life experiences to help benefit those who are less fortunate than he is.

David has been a real inspiration to me. He has made me realise that most of my problems in my life are small in comparison to what others have to deal with. He has made me realise that one should grow stronger from there life experiences. Never give up no matter what is thrown at you. It really is a case of “ If it don’t kill you it will cure you!”

I thank David Patient for his support while I was in South Africa. I think him for standing in my corner and his advice when I asked for it. A true hero, one that a lot of people could learn from.

In the true spirit of David Patient and his say it as it is way – If your going to be part of the problem and not part of the solution then “ go hug a penguin!” (read my this blog entry for an explanation of the “go hug a penguin!” remark )

Please do read the “Positive Heroes – David Patient” article mentioned above (click on the highlighted link for the full article)

For more articles on David Patient click on this link here for a list of Google search results.

25 Years on – Still no cure

It was around 25 years ago that the first reported cased of HIV were being reported in the US and soon after in other parts of the world. 25 years and still no closer to a cure. But that’s not that surprising at all. Decades have passed and they have not yet found a cure for the common cold. A virus is just that, a virus, the perfect killing machine. It mutates and it attacks with stealth and force.

But 25 years ago people who were infected by HIV were convinced that there lives were over. In most cases it was. Doctors turning patents away if, they had HIV, and the stigma attached to it did not help them in the early days. To be honest things have not changed much since in that regard. While I was in South Africa last year I heard a story of a mother who had killed not only her self but her kids as the local communities believed she had HIV. Then the other day I saw on the BBC website that HIV patients are being refused medication for common illness.

So what has changed in regards to HIV 25 years on? Well awareness for one has changed. No longer is HIV an African or Gay disease. Everyone is at risk across the globe. But it does seem that the numbers of Gays and people in African countries contracting HIV are on the decline. On the other hand infection rates of young white heterosexual people in Europe and in the US are on the up. Why is this so is any one’s guess. I can only but speculate that the young white’s that are now being infected feel they are immune to this disease. One thing is for sure awareness in the UK is nothing like I saw in the 6 months I was in southern Africa. At times I thought I was in the wrong country and that I should be back in the UK spreading awareness of HIV.

But things are getting better for people with HIV. Treatments are much more effective than they have ever been. And now with early detection the medication does not have the same devastating effect that it use to in the past. Advancements in the medication and treatment now mean's that people with HIV can lead a more normal life than before. But could it also be that because of these advancements in treatment that youngsters are willing to take the risk and get HIV as they know they can just pop a pill and things will be alright? I don’t think we will ever get to the bottom of that one. At the end of the day prevention is better than cure and to be “forewarned is to be forearmed”. So education and awareness is the way forward.

Be sure to click on the links in the blog for more details.

In the news

TNT Express publishes a quarterly in-house magazine, TNT Life, so that staff around the UK can be kept up to date with the going ons of other staff and company related news.

Well in this edition of TNT Life I have had a mention. Click on the images bellow to get the full story.


In addition to my story there was a bit on TNT's partnership, Moving the World, with the World Food Program and its work in Africa. Click on image for full story.

Twittering

I have never been a massive fan of the whole social networking thing but the past year or so I have found it to be a very useful tool. From Facebook to MySpace and now Twitter all these sites can be really powerful tools if used correctly.

Twitter is one of the new kids on the block ( well to me at least ) I am not on Twitter and I am not sure if I will ever be on Twitter. I know that Twitter is full of celebrities who love to share with there fans what they are up. That's great for the fans. But would any one be interested in following me on Twitter ? I think not my life is not that interesting.

So what is Twitter ? Well basically its micro blogging. You can post up to 160 odd characters in lengh at any one time. It appears that most people seem to do this while on the move via there phone but they can also do it online via the web. People can then "follow" there "Twits ?" and get updates from them. Now I can see the points of groups, celebrities and even companies wanting to reach out to the masses via this means of communications. Just don't see the point from an individuals point of view.

One thing I really liked about North Star Foundation was how it was very keen on embracing technology and wanting to share with others data about projects and data from projects.

Back in November 2008 North Star Foundation got Twittering and I have put down the right hand side of my blog feeds from two of the Twitter feeds. If you visit the North Star Foundation website or click on the links provided here you can view all the North Star Foundation Twitter pages and if you like even follow them to keep up to date with what is happening in Africa with North Star Foundation.

Pages to visit: ( Click on the highlighted links to go to the pages )

North Star Foundation - Official Website
North Star Foundation - Twitter
North Star Foundation South Africa - Twitter
North Star Foundation East Africa - Twitter

One Year On

Its quite a shock to think that 1 year ago I landed in South Africa to start my assignment with North Star Foundation ( Landed in SA on the 9th of March 08) It was the start of something really big and special in my life and not something I am likely to forget in a hurry.
A lot has happened in the 6 months since I left South Africa but a lot more has happened in the year since I arrived in SA.

So here is a bit of a recap of what was going on while I was in South Africa with North Star Foundation and what has happened with the projects.

South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA) – During my time in South Africa I was responsible for being the impartial point of contact to get SAEPA’s Low Income Heath Care program off the ground. We investigated service providers and get the right people around the table to progress this project with SAEPA and service provider (iKhambi Care) During my last few days with North Star Foundation the Service Level Agreement was signed. This was a great milestone for this project. Ian Lubbe (North Star Foundation South Africa) was then handed the rains to take the project on to the next stage. Ian informs me that there are now two established clinic, Jet Park – near ORT Airport and Centurion – near Pretoria. This is a great start to this project but its still has a long way to go to meet the goals that were set back in 2008. I am sure its just a matter of time till these goals are met. Till then I wish this project all the best for the future.

Walvis Bay Wellness Centre – This project is one of the dearest to my heart. A lot of blood, sweat and tears was put into this project. Not just by myself but by the whole team. While I was on assignment with North Star I was able to take this project from its inception to getting the doors open, in order to treat and educate its first clients. Clementine took over from me after I left SA. She was able to take the centre to the next level and set up the official opening of the centre on Worlds Aids Day (1st December 08) From the photos it looked like a really super day and was well supported. Unfortunately I can’t have a happy story for all my projects. Last week the doors on this centre had to close due to lack of funds. I know North Star is busy trying to get this centre re-opened and I hope he is able to do so sooner rather than later.

Zambia – Chirundu Wellness Centre – Now here is a real success story. Getting the Chirundu Wellness Centre to Zambia was a mission in its own right. Just the logistics of the whole thing was immense. Nothing went as smooth as we had hopped on this project. Getting the unit to Zambia was one thing but getting it to its resting site was another thing all together. Having to pay a contractor to level the ground and get a transported to off load and site the container was two quite arduous tasks that needed to be done to get the centre on its way to being open. If that was not enough there was the small task of getting funds put in place. We had the money it was just getting it to Zambia that was the problem. Just to get the cash to Zambia took over a month. But all this hard work has paid off with Ian reporting that the site is seeing around 700 people a month! This is great news. This more than makes up for all the frustration of getting this centre open. Well done to every one who made this project as successful as it is today and long may it continue.
Zimbabwe – Beitbridge/ Chirundu (Zim side) – Well I did not have a lot to do with these projects but I thought it would be good to report on it. When I left South Africa I had sent the centre to Beitbridge, and it was being housed at Swift Transport till we could finalize the arrangements to get it placed at the old custom house. Since leaving SA North Star Foundation has got every thing in place for the move to open at the old custom house at Beitbridge and will be shipping the container for Chirundu (Zim side). Chirundu should be in place sometime in April if all goes to plan.

This is all great news and it still makes me feel very proud to have been part of North Star Foundation. North Star still plays a big part in my life. I keep in regular contact with the team in SA and its never very far from my mind.

As to what else is happening with North Star Foundation – Ian reports the following:

Malawi is still going strong and that plans are afoot to launch Wellness Centres in Kenya sometime in March. North Star Foundation are also looking at expanding into the DRC, Botswana, Tanzania and Mozambique. So loads on then. I wish the team all the best of luck

Walvis Bay – Open – Worlds AIDS Day – 1st December 08

Well the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre had its official opening on the 1^st of December 08. I was not able to attend this function due to commitments in the UK. But I did feel like I was part of the event. Both Paul and Ian who did attend kept me up to speed with proceedings and Ian even sent me a message to my phone when the ribbon was cut at the centre.

The event was well attended from what I can tell representatives from Nam Port (Namibian Port Authority), The Walvis Bay Corridor Group and members of the Walvis Bay local government were in attendance.

Its great to know that there was many people there to see the opening and to hear how important projects like this are to the industry and the community they operate in.

But it seems that this is not enough.

Last week (End of Feb 09) I had an email from Ian (North Star Foundation, South Africa) to inform me that the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre has had to close its doors. This is due to the lack of funding. It seems that even projects like this are not even safe from the global credit crunch. I do hope that this will only be a temporary thing. I am sure it is.

Although I was a bit gutted to hear this bad news but one must remember the good that the centre has done in the short time it was open. During the time it was open it did get to make a fair bit of difference in the community. No matter how small the difference is it’s still a difference that has made some good in the community. People will remember this in time and when they do I am very hopeful that the doors on this centre will be open again soon.

The team did a great job in a very short time and I am still very proud to have been a part of this project.

YouTube updates

Well I have been busy putting together the massive of video's I took while I was in Africa for North Star Foundation.

Click on the YouTube logo's to see the video's.

My YouTube Channel
Moving the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre into the correct location. Thanks to Westbank Transport for all the help with this. With out them we could not have done this.
The Walvis Bay Wellness Centre a few days before we opened the doors to the public. Loads of work to do and to top it off there was a sand storm and it was mega hot - 40DegC easy!

Sand Storm in Namibia - Man it was hot and windy - not nice to work in at all.


More updates to come soon in the next few days.

Walvis Bay Wellness Centre

Well it's been a long time in coming but the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre will have its official opening on the 1^st of December 2008.

This is a really proud moment for me as I put quite a bit in too getting the centre on the ground in Walvis Bay. But is has been a team effort. Even after I left Namibia for the last time there was still a fair bit of work to do and the team have done loads to ensure that the centre opens on a high note.

North Star Foundation Africa has now got a new team member to carry on from where I left off. Clementine comes from Spring Global Mail. Spring is part of the TNT family so it's great to see that the baton has been past on so that others can experience what I had for the past 6 months. Clementine will be based out of Namibia. Now to say I am not jealous would be an understatement! But I am glad to see that Clementine has already fallen in love with Namibia in such a short space of time.

I have been hearing great things about the Walvis Bay project. Good support from local businesses and the communities. Every one has really pulled together and I am sure they will continue to pull together. It's the Namibian way.

I unfortunately will not be able to attend the official opening of the centre on Monday the 1^st of December. I am just a bit too busy to be honest. I never thought I would be too busy to go to Namibia but I am. I am currently in Scotland till the end of the week catching up with family then next week is an action packed week for me at work. The week after that, the same week of the opening, I am of to Germany for a few days with my best mate Brett to go and see a bit of Germany and to see a mutual mate of ours who now lives in Germany so its a bit hard to just juggle it all.

I will be there in spirit and my support will always be with this project that is so near and dear to my heart.

To the team........

All the best guys you deserve it. Job well done !

Walvis Bay Wellness Centre

Sure we can………

“Sure we can” is the new TNT strap line that was lunched mid September. When I first saw it on the side of one of our delivery vehicles I could only but think about what negative banter that both customers and even staff would come out with for this strap line. “Sure we can lose your parcel” “Sure we can deliver it late” things like that. I thought it was a silly strap line to be honest. But after a bit, I changed my view on this strap line and, it all made really good sense to me. “Sure we can” sums up TNT very nicely.

It also sums up the partnership between WFP and North Star Foundation quite nicely too. “Sure we can” work together to help combat hunger in children around the world. “Sure we can” help prevent the spread of sexuality transmitted infections. The key word in the strap line is “WE” not “I” (Sure I can) but “we can” as a team not as one person but as a group all focused on the task at hand. Be it delivering someone’s documents across country or city or delivering food aid to children in need. Or delivering a quality of health service to drivers. We as a team can all do this. “Sure we can!”

Not long after I arrived back in the UK I was speaking to Luke Disney, Director for North Star Foundation, about change and he came up with a really good analogy but he was not quite there with it. We were talking about change and he came up with this:

An oil tanker in the sea takes kilometres to change course – but it only takes one person to initiate that change of course.

He is right with the above analogy but the captain is only but one person. He has a team of dedicated and qualified seamen behind him to help with the running of the ship and together they all help with the change of course be it directly or indirectly. It is still a case of “Sure we can” but its easer if we do it as a team and be the “we”

So from what I originally thought was a stilly statement it has become one that is really powerful. One that should inspire both staff and customers of TNT. As we can do any thing we as a team put our minds to. Its just a simple case of “Sure we can!”

Being back.

6 months does not sound like a long time when you say it like that. 214 days sounds a bit longer but its still quite a small number. But five thousand one hundred and thirty six hours that’s a fair old long time but its still only 6 months. 6 months was how long I was away from the UK and my mates. To be honest the whole thing felt like it was only 6 weeks and not 6 months. I have to pinch my self to remind myself of how long it really was. During the time in Africa I did cover a fair few miles both on the road and in the air.

Drove around 15000km (9200 miles)
Flew loads! I will sit down and try and work out how many air miles I actually flew but here is an idea of how many flights I took.
UK to Rome – Rome to Frankfurt – Frankfurt to South Africa.
Jo’burg to Cape Town then onto Walvis Bay and back the same way. I did that. Jo’burg to Walvis Bay and back twice.
Jo’burg to Zambia and back.
Durban to Jo’burg twice.
Jo’burg to Frankfurt – Frankfurt to Birmingham

Total of 19 planes in 6 months (average of 3.16 flights per month!)

I dare not think how many times I visited Nando’s or Steers ( a fast food place that make the best ham burgers in my book) but I am sure I am owed shares in these places.

But some more noticeable figures are.

• 3 converted containers being shipped out side of South Africa to be used as Wellness Centres.
• 1 fully open Wellness Centre in Walvis Bay, Namibia.
• Zambia Chirundu should now be well on its way to be fully open as we now have got the funds to Zambia. (Probably the biggest challenge we had to face was sending money to Zambia from South Africa – it took months to sort out!)
• Being part of South Africa’s first LIM Project ( Low Income Medical ) that has the potential to benefit around 15 000 staff members who work in the courier industry and there dependants ( around 30 000 – 35 000 people in total) to receive cost effect heath care.

So on the whole I did a fair bit in time I was in Africa so I guess though it did not feel that long I must have been there that long to do all the above.

Over the past week and a bit I have been asked numerous times “Are you happy to be back?” I am happy to be back with my mates. All the travelling in Africa was a bit lonely. Yes I was meeting people but they can not replace ones mates so I am very happy to see them again. As for being back in the UK? MMMM it’s a bit early to draw any conclusion on that one. Only time will tell.

It’s not over ……

Well I am now in my second week back in the UK and many of you may think that the blog page has come to an end……………………………

Well you’re wrong, it’s not over.

There is still many things I wish to blog about my trip to South Africa with North Star Foundation. More about my experiences and about the people that I interacted with and the places I went to. Blogging is a bit of a labour of love to be honest. So much too put down, and not enough time to do it. And when you do have time to sit down and type the words just never come out the way you want them to.

So bare with me and in the coming months I hope to share with you stories of a remarkable man I met who is an inspiration to many I am sure and stories of sand dunes crossing roads to get to the other side.

DEEP DARKEST AFRICA

This was emailed to me by a mate of mine in SA

Just wanted to share this with you as its so cool.

A regular occurrence at the Mfuwe Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia where the lodge was unwittingly built on the Elephant's traditional path through to some wild mango trees on the property. The herd of a dozen or so elephants walk through the lodge's reception area at least twice a day for about 4 weeks and then sporadically for about another 3 weeks to feed on the trees

No incidents reported to date!

Spirit of the Greatheart

Feeling a little "Home Sick" for Africa - this is one of the greatest songs from the "White Zulu" himself Johnny Clegg and Savuka - the clip that I have used is a remake of the classic with 17 top SA artists - it was done in support of the Starfish Greathearts Foundation, an international development charity that supports over 34,000 orphaned and vulnerable children across South Africa.

To me this just sums up Africa in all its glory.

The cost of living….. the simple things in life.

Its been nearly six months since I left the UK to be a project manager for North Star Foundation. Loads of people warned me that I should not expect to make a difference to the fight against HIV in Africa. I knew I would never make much of a difference in the fight against HIV but I knew that this experience would make quite a difference in me. One of the biggest things that I think I have come to realise is that it is the simple things in life that matter.

The other week I was in Zimbabwe. Ian, who is taking over from me when I leave, and myself walked over from South Africa into Zimbabwe. It was quite a surreal experience. Getting into Zimbabwe was easy. I think from entering the South African border to exiting the gates into Zimbabwe the whole thing took like 30 mins. As Ian and I walked over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe there was quite a sense of excitement and a fair bit of nerves in the two of us. We were no sure what was going to happen on the Zim side. Ian and I were to meet with one of the managers from the transport agents that had taken our container/ Wellness Centre to Beitbridge but we could not get hold of him as the cell (mobile) network was down in Zimbabwe. So we thought we would chance it and go over to see what happens. Maybe we would get lucky and Albert (the manager ) would be waiting for us on the other side.

What was on the other side was quite unexpected. Ian and I were very worried about the real threat of being mugged for money. Zimbabwe is in a state of “desperate times call for desperate measures” But this was not the case. A few black market traders tried to sell us some money and a few people asked us for money. But they did not hassle us. As soon as we said “Sorry can’t help you” they backed off and left us to it. We hung around a bit just out side the gates to the boarder and thought it might be best to walk into the town of Beitbridge. We did and saw loads of people around just being busy doing there thing. Informal traders aplenty. We stopped at one of the clearing agents to see if they could help us with directions to the depot that we were going to or if they could get hold of Albert for us. They were only too happy to arraign for someone to come and fetch us to take us to Albert.

While we waited out side for our lift Ian and I finished off our bottles of ice tea we had brought with us across the boarder. So we were standing there waiting and looking for a place to discard our empty bottles and a young boy came upto us to ask for our bottles. Happily we gave them to him but I think he was happier to have them than we were to be rid of them. Small things that we take for granted can make such a difference to others.

If you have been following the news in recent months you will know that things in Zimbabwe are not great. Inflation in Zimbabwe sits at just over 11,250,000% and 10 zeros were knocked off the currency just so as to make it manageable.(Click on image for full size)

But despite all this I saw happy people in Zimbabwe, happy people every where. Smiling and laughing. Yes things are very bleak in Zimbabwe but the people in Zimbabwe have not lost there soles or the will to live. They make the most of what they have and get on with life. People I have found in Africa will not be victims to any thing. The atrocities that happen against them seem to make them stronger. I am not just talking about Zimbabweans but all the people I have come across. Weather it be in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe or Namibia. These people live in harsh environments, where it would be down to politics or just the environment they live in, it makes these people stronger and I have a lot of respect for them.

I guess the moral of the story that these people send out is don’t be the victim but stand strong and fight for your rights in the hope that things will get better. But at the same time I guess they have nothing else so they may as well try and stand strong and hope that the moral of this story comes true.

Getting back into South Africa was another story! Zimbabwe side of things were quick. I guess with no computers they just take your forms and stamp and send you on your way. I wished I had my camera with me but we did not take any thing like that in fear of it being confiscated but did see some truly amazing sights on the bridge as we crossed the Limpopo River. The river is dammed for some reason but you cant really see the dam as its just a little wall so as you look at down steam you have this very odd optical illusion type effect as the water just stops. But what this does do is give the 100’s of crocodiles we say plenty of water to get the 1000’s of fish we could see from the bridge. It was quite a sight.

My short trip into Zimbabwe has taught me that no matter where you are in the world you should be happy with what you have got and that it’s the simple things in life that are important. Be part of the solution not the problem oh and go hug a penguin!

(note – the go hug a penguin comment above kept Ian and I very amused on our 5hr drive to Zimbabwe – it was said in jest in a meeting we had just left earlier in the day and was used in the context that if you did not like something then go take a long walk of a short pier or “go hug a penguin!” – thanks to David P for making our drive so much more interesting for this simple but highly amusing phrase – the simple things in life hey !)

Passion, Support and Commitment.

7th July 08 – 10th July 08

I have been to many places during my time with North Star Foundation but by far my favourite place has to be Walvis Bay, Namibia. I have also been to and lived in a few very small “Sleepy Hollow” type places but Walvis is not one of them places. It’s really hard to put into words what type of impact the people of Walvis Bay and Namibia have had on me but I hope that if I share with you the events of the past week it can give you an idea to why this place appeals to me so much.

A few months back I was here to do a KABP (Knowledge, Attitude, Belief and Practice) survey to identify exactly where the hot spot of commercial sex workers and truckers operate in. (See this blog entry about that trip) I got to interact with a lot of people during that trip and there support and commitment for what we were doing was just out of this world back then. So I am now back in Namibia to place the first Wellness Centre in Namibia, in Walvis Bay. The hard work of the people that helped me out on the survey has paid off. During this visit to tie up all the lose ends to get the centre operational I have been visiting various stakeholders who have played vital rolls in there own little way to help get centre to where we are now.

It’s these stakeholders that have truly amazed me. Yes these stakeholders work for large companies in the Walvis Bay area but the individuals own excitement and enthusiasm for this project is unreal. Every one and I mean every one is just so eager to see this project work.

On Thursday we had to move the container from its first placement to its correct placement to comply with the municipality building regulations. No problem……… just get a 50 ton crane, a modified front end loader with forks on it to pick up 6 concrete sleepers for the container to sit on and job done. Sounds easier said than done don’t it? Well I thought it was way too easy. Just speak to two key people and a few phone calls later every one knows what it needed to be done and it was done just as easy as the written text in this blog. I kid you not!

I arrived with Paul Matthew (North Star Foundation – Operations Director SA) at the site at 7am to find a mass of people had arrived to ensure the success of this mini operation. The operations manager and HR manager from Westbank Transport were there. They had arraigned for the 50 ton crane to come from another project to help move the container. The General Manager from Rennies Consolidated (one of the largest warehousing and container logistic companies in Walvis) was there to over see the moving of the sleepers by the Stevedores that he had arraigned to move with the big modified front end loader. And a few other managers for good measure where there too. All of them were really excited about the prospects of this centre being open in the area. The whole operation was done with military procession and with out any fuss. Just so slick, I could not have done it any better. (You can find photos from the operation here.)

Then there was the sorting out of the site plans for the site. OK this was not as easy as the moving of the container but it was done with out any hassle what so ever. There was a lot of confusion to the site that the container was sitting on. Some time back there use to be 5 sub plots to this peace of land but now they are all gone and just one open peace of land remains. The confusion was with the earth number of this plot. But the health department with the municipality and the arrcutec that did the plans just got it sorted. No real headaches at all. It was all in hand. Submitting the plans and getting the company registered in Walvis Bay took less time than it did for me to type this blog entry. Again this was done by people who are so committed to the success of this project in Walvis Bay.

Getting the water sorted was fun though. Getting all the paperwork in order for this took a little longer than planed. I got to the municipality with minuets to spare, actually less than that! No problem our man from the municipality health department was on hand to smooth things over. When we got to the cashiers to pay the deposit to get the connections made they had actually closed! NO! Still no problems, smile nicely at the lady behind the counter and explain the problem and all was sorted. Paid my deposit and was on my merry way again. You just can’t do this in a big city they would have chased you away or just ignored you. Everyone was just so helpful and friendly. To quote a line from the movie “Madagascar” and a personal favourite of my mom and mine “Smile and wave (boys) smile and wave” seems to do the trick no matter where you are.

It’s just goes to show that when people believe in what your doing they too will do any thing to help make the project a success. The people of Walvis Bay know how important it is to protect their work force from the spread of HIV and STI’s. Sick staff members are non-productive staff members and that will impact on business and the economy. Every one is aware of this fact and are willing to pull out the stops to try and make a difference. Even a small difference makes a big difference in the big picture of things.

I have a lot of respect for the people in Walvis Bay for there help and support to us with our Wellness Centre. I am looking forward to going back to Namibia in the coming weeks to put the finishing touches on this project and opening the doors to the truck drivers, sex works and the people of Walvis Bay. So that we can all work together to fight the spread of HIV and STI’s.

Speaking your mind…….

I have never been a big fan of politics. I just feel that life is way too short for all the bureaucracy that goes hand in hand with politics. But since I have been in South Africa I have been some what entertained by South African politics. Well the politicians have been keeping me entertained.

Some time back I blogged on Deputy Security Minister Susan Shabangu, who said police "must kill the bastards [criminals] if they threaten you" (click here to see the full blog) She was speaking her mind and I commend her and respect her doing so. Yes she got a lot of flack for saying what is on the minds of many South African’s.

Then recently the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema has vowed that the youth of South Africa would die in supporting ANC President Jacob Zuma. Julius Malema actually said he would “Kill for Zuma” again taken very much out of context. In this day and age in South Africa you can’t go around saying you will kill for any one or any thing. It’s just not done. People get nervous. Julius Malema was just trying to emphasize his commitment to the cause, the cause being to get Jacob Zuma into power to be SA’s next President. He was miss quoted, a young politician who was just a bit over zealous. Maybe or maybe not I am not one to judge on this one. You can read more about this here

(Click on image for full size)

But South African political figures are not the only ones to fall pray to being miss-quoted. Hillary Clinton said she arrived in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, directly contradicting Her own book's account of the incident. ( there is loads of sites about this issue – click here to see a google search result) Hillary apologized and said she had “Miss-spoken” about the events.

It happens and we have all done it at sometime in our life. It just takes a bigger person to put there hand up and admit that they are in the wrong. I have a lot of respect for people in the public eye who can do something wrong and stand up and say “Yip I did say that and I am sorry” Or not say sorry and stand by there word. That’s the African way. “Yes I said it and I am proud to have said it!” Both ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema and Deputy Security Minister Susan Shabangu have spoken out about what they have said but they did not apologise for what they said. It was more a case of they meant what they said but just not in the way it was meant to be interpreted. I guess I could have called this blog entry “Lost in Translation”

The Paid Tourist

I have been called many things in the past but “The Paid Tourist” is a new label to me. Granted I am being paid to go to some really beautiful places in Southern Africa. Swaziland, Zambia, Namibia and even Zimbabwe (for a few hours but I was there) I have even been put up in some fantastic accommodation too. Kiambi Safari Lodge in Zambia where I saw loads of Elephants and Hippo’s and the Beach Lodge Hotel in Swakopmund, Namibia where the beach was only a few meters away from my room. All great stuff I assure you and with the South African Rand and UK Pound exchange rate all very cheep places to stay. But these places to come at a price to my self. Long hours of travel and the solitude.

Don’t get me wrong on the solitude bit. I do have friends here but it’s not a case of them just being around the corner. South Africa is a vast place. No longer am I just a 2 hr drive from one coast line to the other coast line. It’s more like 5 hrs just to hit the coast of Durban and 13 hrs to get to Cape Town. Hell you can drive the whole length of the UK in just over 13hrs. So it’s a little harder to just jump in the car and go round to your mates for a meal or a chat.

So what have I been doing while I have been enjoying the wildlife in Zambia and the rolling dunes of Namibia? I know a lot of you have seen loads of fabulous photos of wild life and sunsets and it does look like I am on a holiday but that’s far from the truth. I don’t really have a regular 9 – 5 type job at the moment. I like to say I have a job that needs to be done. What is this job that needs to be done I hear you cry? Well its jobs actually. My first task when I got here was to look at and over hall the current IT infrastructure that is in place. Currently we have clinics that sync to a centralized database here in Jo’burg. This is done via 3G wireless technology, but not every Southern African country has 3G so we have got the software developers to develop an application that will do the syncing to a USB memory key so that we can manually do the data transfers. So this is one of my responsibilities, to ensure there is a robust IT infrastructure and solution in place to record every thing that happens in our wellness centres regardless of there location.

My next responsibility is the rolling out of these wellness centres. Once a location has been identified we can start the project rolling. This starts with meeting with stakeholders (key people in key positions to help aid in the roll out of the Wellness Centres (Minister of Health, Transport Ministers and other aid groups) ) to gain there support for the project and to basically drum up awareness of what we are trying to achieve. We then have to ensure that every key member is kept up to date with progress and if they have agreed to add any thing to the project that they deliver. We then need to ensure that the container has been converted to specification and that we have all the equipment ready to go into the container. By this time the logistics of getting the containers (Wellness Centre) to its destination has been completed and all that will required to do is load the container and get it picked up and shipped. All the stakeholders will be notified of the container’s movements so that the site is ready for the centres arrival.

Once the container has been placed in its new home ready to become a Wellness Centre there is still a lot of work to be done. Staff need to be recruited (Peer Educator and Nurse) Water and electricity to be connected. The stakeholders are also sensitises to what is going on with the centre and to ensure they start to let others know that the opening of the centre is imminent and to offer as much support as they can to the centre. After a lot of negotiations and hard work from every one the centre is ready to open.

Once open the Wellness Centre will be offering education on HIV/AIDS its risks and preventative measures that can be taken to help reduce the risk of infection. Also as part of this education is the STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections (STD’s – Sexually Transmitted Diseases)) If you can curb the spread of STI’s then you will also aid in the spread of HIV. In addition to the education part of the centre there is the clinic side. The nurse will help truck drivers, drivers assistance, commercial sex workers and the local community with there primary health care, occupational health and STI treatment.

So a fair bit of work goes into one of these Wellness Centres right from the start and ongoing. But this work is not just done by me. There is a team of motivated people working next to me to ensure the sustainability of these projects. I admire the dedication and the motivation that each and every one of these people put into these projects. So I guess at the end of the day all the long days of travelling and the bit of solitude is all worth it in the end. I have got to go to some really awesome places, met some really amazing people and do a very worth while job all at the same time. Not many people get to do that!



I am currently in Namibia but I was here a few weeks back and took these photos. Click here to view some stunning shots of a sunset near Walvis Bay

Blogging

Why do people blog ?

I mean why do people have the urge to disclose every little aspect about what they are doing to complete strangers? Ok not all blogs are like this. Most have a topic and stay to that topic. Like photography, current events etc. People like to share information and a blog can be a powerful tool to get that information out to people on mass in an easy format.

I was never really a big fan of blogging my self. I often use blogs to find info on a variety of subjects but that was about it. Blogs about a little girl’s cat really annoyed me. Does the world really want to know how often your little cat has been sick? NO! I DON’T THINK SO! But the world does want to know about the latest innovations in the world of cellular communications or medical advancements. I also think people can learn from others experiences. Or share in someone’s adventures. This is the reason I am blogging. I wanted to share my experience with family and friends. And so far so good on that front. But am also finding that blogging is a great way to un-wind and it can be quite rewarding too.

People don’t just blog in the conventional way, in the written form like this blog, but via video and photography. I have been blogging in all three formats. Video on YouTube and photography on Flickr. I have been getting a real buzz out of blogging in the two visual formats. People I don’t know have been posting comments on the images they are seeing. This just encourages me to do more and to make the items more interesting. The reward is having someone comment on an item in your blog, YouTube or Flickr image. And there is a real special feeling of achievement when someone flags an item up as being one of there favourites.

But for me I thing the best thing about blogging is sharing my thoughts and experiences with my friends back in the UK and else where in the world. Normally I would share these things with them in person but with flights being the price they are now a days its not very practical. We do now truly live in a global village with social networking sites like Facebook and instant messaging programs like Skype and MSN your never really far from your mates.

You can visit my Flickr photographic page by clicking on the Flickr logo bellow.

You can visit my YouTube video page by clicking on the YouTube logo bellow.

Kiambi

I wrote the following while I was in Zambia a few weeks back.

I was feeling a bit low as just wished I could have shared the experience with my friends.

____________________________________________________________________

What is man without beasts?

If all beasts were gone,

Man would die from the great loneliness of spirit for

Whatever happens to the beast,

Also happens to the man.

All beings are connected.

(Chief Seathl 1855)

The above quote was found on the cover of the Kiambi Safari lodge guest info booklet.

It made me think, “What is a person with out the support of there friends?” It’s kind of the same thing. Friends are all connected and they play a vital part in our lives. Good friends are there for the up’s and the low’s in ones life. I know from my own experience that when one of my friends is low, I am low. If they are happy then I am happy. We are connected.

No I have not lost the plot, yet, or gone all philosophical nor am I depressed. I do how ever miss my friends back in the UK and do wish I had someone with me at the moment to share in the wonders of Zambia and the “Mighty Zambezi” river. Going “AWE!” “OOOOH!” “AWESOME!” or “WOW!” does not quite have the same impact when your on your own than when you are with someone.

BUT

On the flip side of thing I am getting to meet some fantastic people along the way.

Kiambi Safari Lodge is around 24 km away from the Chirundu boarder post between Zambia and Zimbabwe. I am currently here overseeing the setting up of a Wellness Centre just out side the border post.

Some of the people that have touched my life are the staff from “Coridors of Hope II” who are going to be running the Wellness Centre at Chirundu. When we opened the doors to show them the insides of the converted container it was like Christmas day to them. Loads of “OOOH’s!” and “AAAH’s!” from them. It was a great feeling to share with them. They are so driven now to getting every thing sorted for this centre.

As mentioned I am at a safari lodge at the moment. The staff here have made me feel very welcome and are all quite interested in the work I am doing here. Some of the guests too have shown an interest too in what I am doing. One such family is that of Mark, his wife, two young kids and his mom and dad. Mark also runs a safari lodge in Zambia on a working fish farm. His lodge is called Nsobe Game Camp. Nsobe is some 3 hrs away from Lusaka towards Angola. It has been great to meet such warm and welcoming people on my travels. It helps with the isolation that I could have felt if I had not been in contact with people like these. It makes such a difference.

I guess I will have to settle with the second best way I can think of sharing my experience with you. Blogging. I do appreciate the comments I received from all of you who have viewed my blog. Keep them coming.

Will update this in a few days with links to photos I have taken while I have been on “Holiday” (I mean working!)

Photos of Kiambi along with the boat trip on the Zambezi river. It was spectacular and I thank Mark and his family who I went with for making it quite a special occasion as it would have been really lame to have gone on my own.

Photos of Chirundu Wellness Centre being off loaded and site preparations.

Walk the World – Johannesburg Zoo – South Africa

On Sunday the 1st of June 2008 I braved a very chilly early morning start to head down to the Jo’burg Zoo to take part with around 200 or so TNT staff, family and friends to “Walk the World”

Walk the World is an annual event that TNT hosts to raise funds and awareness for the World Food Program (the UN’s WFP) thousands of people all around the world take part in this event that is held around the globe on the same day.

I think this sums up what Walk the World is all about – source: Moving the World website.






Walk the World 2008: A great success!

Thousands of children who know what it feels like to be hungry took to the streets yesterday, together with TNT- and Unilever-employees, their families and friends. From Indonesia to Guatemala, more than 250,000 people in 70 countries participated in End Hunger: Walk the World. Across 24 time zones and in more than 250 locations, initial reports say the global walk raised more than $500,000; enough to feed 2 million children for one day through WFP's school feeding programme. We expect this number to increase significantly in the weeks to come. "Walk the World is the event to raise awareness for all the children who suffer from hunger every day," said Peter Bakker, CEO of TNT. "At TNT we believe that hunger is not acceptable in today's world. I am proud that so many employees, their families and friends on all continents of the world have actively taken part in this Walk to show their solidarity and to raise funds to give these children the daily meal they deserve."

Funds raised by TNT South Africa will be channelled though to the South African Food Bank this year as WFP do not host any feeding programs here in South Africa as this is handled by the SA Food Bank. WFP do however support the SA Food Bank.

So I arrived at Jo’burg Zoo a place I had been to many, many times when I was a lot younger. I have a vivid memory of the polar bears that were kept at the zoo when I was younger. I was very pleasantly surprised to see they still had the polar bears in a much nicer enclosure. Jo’burg Zoo is the only Zoo in Africa to have polar bears. I also saw the original enclosure and I was very sad to see how small it was. Things have defiantly progressed for the Jo’burg Zoo.

I am not sure if one can realistically base how well a city is doing on how well maintained it zoo is. I was surprised to learn that the zoo still existed let alone see how well maintained it was and the range of animals in it. It could be rated as world classed. But to me it does give me some hope that Johannesburg as a city is heading in the right direction. It has fantastic restaurants, top music acts like James Blunt and Counting Crows are performing in Johannesburg (or have quite recently) so it must be doing something right.

Back to the walk!

So some 200 people arrived to take part in Walk the World Jo’burg. There was also an event in Swaziland and one down in Richards Bay ( home of the SA Food Bank) The weather was fantastic, a bit cold to start with, clear skies and well just a really nice day to go for a walk around the zoo. To give you an idea of the size of the zoo the walk was around 5km in length and it was all within the grounds of the Zoo. This made it a really ideal location to host this walk. Not only did it offer a save place to walk but it was an interesting place to walk too.

I am not sure how much money TNT SA raided for the SA Food bank but as soon as I have an update I will let you all know.


I took loads of photos during the walk (121 exactly) The pix can be found here.

Here are some links to the YouTube clips I have posted from the Walk the World event.

Part 1 can be found here

Part 2 can be found here


As some of you will know I am a bit of a gadget nut head. I love my toys and I am proud to call my self an anorak. I have always enjoyed photography and recently splashed out on a digital SLR. I got my self a Canon EOS 400D awesome bit of kit. While I was reading up on tutorials I came across an interesting article called GEO-Tagging. Basically it’s the syncing up of the date and time stamp of your photos to a GPS track log. This info gets attached to a meta tag embedded in the photo. So this means you can now see the lat and long of a photo you have GEO-Tagged. Flickr reads this info and plots it on a map. Cool stuff hey.

Click here to see the map of where my photos were taken on Flickr.

You can also see the data log file in google earth here. I am yet to work out how to get the photos to appear in this file online. It works fine on my laptop as the file knows where the photos are (they are on my laptop!) so that’s a bit of a project for me to work out.

The GPS Data Logger can be used for other things besides the photo tags – you can upload the file into google earth and see where you have been. The data logger I am using is a Sony GPS-CS1 with Jet Photo Studio. (click the links to find out more about these items)

Attached here is my route to the Zoo – you can see I got a bit lost! The squiggles on the left of the log is the zoo. (You do need Google Earth to view the track logs click here to down load it)

So I got to have a good walk with some fantastic people take some fab photos with my new camera and play with some new toys too. Great day out 





To find out more about Walk the World please click here.
To find out more about the partnership between TNT and WFP please click here.

You gotta love Africa!!!!

I had these emailed to me this morning,

Very real and very funny but this is a place where everyone makes a plan!

TNT Moving the World - Five years partnership with WFP

I found the following Moving the World Clip on YouTube






Click the logo to view the clip


Makes me feel very proud to work for a company that can be involved in projects like this - In December last year TNT renewed it partnership with WFP indefinitely so long as the partnership was mutually beneficial to both parties. How many companies can you say you have worked for that can form a partnership like this?

Xenophobic attacks

As many of you may have seen on the news recently there has been a large number of Xenophobic attacks on foreigners in South Africa. Not only are people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and other Southern African countries getting caught up in this but so are many locals.

The Red Cross of South Africa have set up a fund-raising drive. Any one can donate to this via credit card so its not only for South Africans so please visit the following page to donate.

http://donations.redcross.org.za/ please also ensure you quote the correct refrance number so that the money goes to the right cause.

Its quite sad to see South Africa in this state.

I had to look up Xenophobia as I did not clearly understand what it meant.

Found the following meanings of the word

Xenophobia - –noun an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

Xenophobia is a fear or contempt of that which is foreign or unknown, especially of strangers or foreign people.^[1] It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners or of people significantly different from oneself.

And here I was thinking that SA had become such a divers place to live and that it had come a long way since I lived in SA 6 years ago.

I hope this madness comes to an end sooner rather than later.

Namibia VBlog Live

I have now uploaded my Namibian YouTube Blog

Click here to view it.

YouTube Update

Hi All,

Been a bit slack on the old YouTube on the old YouTube vids so I have uploaded a few very short Vids that you can view by clicking on the links below.

You may have seen these on the blog before but I did have them posted here but so as to clean up the page abit I will leave them on the YouTube site and just give you the link to go to them.

Some people at work cant see YouTube due to restrictions of there web access.

_________________________________________________________

Day 1 - a few hrs to go.

Filmed just before I headed off to the airport to go to Rome, to join up with the other TNT Staff from around the world. The other TNT staff would be on there way to School Feeding Projects around the globe. I would be on my way to a different project. To set up Wellness Centres for trucking communities in Southern Africa.

This short VBlog just outlines how I was feeling at the time. The few weeks upto this point had been very stressful as I only had a weeks notice to sort my life out both personally and at work. It took a lot out of me.

_________________________________________________________

Flight to Rome - 2nd March 2008

Some footage at Birmingham International Airport (BXH) on route to Rome. 2nd March 2008

_________________________________________________________

North Star Foundation

This is the project I am working with in South Africa. I am doing a very similar thing here in Zambia (Chirundu) and very soon in Zimbabwe and Namibia.

This clip was found on YouTube - it was posted up on YouTube by TNT Communications

More TNT Communications clips can be found here.

Art imitating life ........

The other day I was driving to the office listening to the radio and it was time for the traffic joke on Radio Highveld. The joke went as follows ( not exactly as it was played on the radio - you can down load the original from here )

Jo was sitting at home watching the football when his daughter, Eve, came home.
"Dad" said Eve "I have some news that you will not like"
Now Eve had just recently turned 18 so Jo was concerned to what Eve had to say.
"Dad, I am with child!" Said Eve
Needless to say Jo was shocked.
"What did I tell you to say when a boy tries to touch your breast?" Asked Jo to his daughter Eve
Eve responded "Don't!"
"That's right! And what did I tell you if a boy tries to tough your private area? " Asked Jo.
"Stop!" responded Eve
"That's right! So how did you get into this predicament? " asked Jo of his daughter.
"But Dad! The boy tried to touch both so I said " Don't, Stop!" "

This got me thinking is this art imitating life ? How many girls out there fall pray to this very story. I know when I left South Africa there were stories of HIV/AIDS awareness teams going into the rural area's to educate the population on HIV/AIDS and prevention. These educators were going out into the field with out the proper equipment to show people how to put condoms on. So what they were doing instead of having an anatomically correct penis to demonstrate how to put a condom on they had a bit of a broom handle. They would show the group how to put a condom on the broom handle and say " This is how you don't get HIV by protecting your self like this" This led to reports of people finding boom sticks behind doors with condoms on them. People were saying this is what they had been told to do.

To make matters worse you then have the minister of health here having sex with a sex worker who has HIV and he said it was "OK" because he had a shower afterwards!

The cure for HIV is out there!
It does not come in a bottle and its not a pill or an injection its called "Education" and "Responsibility"

People in this day and age take things way too literally. Its up to every one of us to ensure that the message we send out is clear and understandable or so much hard work will be undone.

On a lighter side of thing here is a few more graphical examples of "Art imitating life" from my favorite South African satire cartoon strip "Madam and Eve"

Please be sure to visit the "Madam and Eve" blog site here.

How computer games can influence the world around us.

Ok South Africa does have a bit of a rap about bribery and corruption but I had to post this as its just very amusing. Its not quite this bad but it is just as blatant.

(Click on the images to get the full size)

General Update

Hi All,

Sorry its not a blog update as such. Kinda having writers block at the moment on that one. I do have a few idea's but its just time to sit down and put them into words.

I have however been quite busy.

Last week South Africa had a 2 day working week - yip only in Africa can you have a holiday on Monday then two more on Thursday and Friday in one week ! As a result of this I headed down to the coast to spend the time with Mom and Dad. It was great to see them again.

So what have I been upto?

Well I have submitted a review from the survey done in Walvis Bay. We have funding to set up a Wellness Centre in Namibia but I am not sure if Walvis is the ideal location to sit this centre. We have been told of another location called Grootfountain (click on the word to get a map of the area ) So I will be off to Namibia again on the 26th of May to see what's what in this area.

You will see from the photos I have got a Wellness Centre on its way to Zambia - (click here for photos of the container/ Wellness Centre being loaded for transport ) This container should be in Chirundu by Friday. I will be going up to Zambia on the 19th of May for a few days to set the centre up. Looking forward to this. So a lot of planing is on the go for this too.

I have also been looking at the Wellness Centre software to add more KPI elements to it so we can report on what is happening at the centres more effectively.

Other updates of interest.

Took some photos on Sunday on my way back to Jo'burg - you can view them here. It took 10 hrs to drive the 540km (874 miles) normally it takes like 5 - 6 hrs to do this trip but there was a massive smash on the motor way ( 3 dead ) and a hail storm that stopped me in my tracks for 15 - 20 mins as I could not see any thing for all the hail!

Also went on a game drive with Mom and Dad to Hluhluwie Game Reserve - photos can be seen here - saw loads of animals. Was a fab day out.

I also got my self a new toy - a Canon EOS 400D - fab bit of kit but need to learn how to use it but so far so good it seems to take good pix even if the owner has no eye for detail ! Some photos I took with it with in hours of the battery being charged can be found here.

Well that's it for now from me.

Hope to have something up on the blog soon for you all to read.

Regards,

Peter
Bedfordview - Gauteng 

Namibia – Walvis Bay

Well I have spent the last few days in Walvis Bay, Namibia. I arrived on Sunday the 13^th April 2007 and I am now leaving on the 17^th. (Currently at the Walvis Bay International Airport)

It has been a truly remarkable past few days. Right from the moment I arrived in this rather quaint little place. As we landed at the airport I could not stop thinking how much the scenery around the area reminded me of a movie I had watched not that long again called “Flight of the Phoenix” In the movie you see a story of a plane of oil drillers whose plan crash in the desert. Unknown to me at the time the actual desert they filmed in was the “Namib Desert” I only found this out when I passed a comment to the car rental lady that the airport reminded me of something out of that movie. Her dad had worked on the movie when it was made here. In the movie we are led to believe that it is the Mongolian desert but as we now know it was in Namibia.

It is quite literally wall to wall sand here.

So what have I been doing in this picturesque country? Well I have been here for the past 4 days aiding in running a KABP (Knowledge, Attitude, Belief and Practice) survey to identify exactly where the hot spot of commercial sex workers and truckers operate in. A few “Hot Spots” had been identified to us but we needed to narrow this down to one ideal location. Not quite as easy as it sounds. One would think look and see where the sex workers hang out and see where the truckers hang out. Wish it was that easy.

The survey is a questionnaire that we gave out to a team of 10 volunteers to go and interview our target group ( Commercial Sex Workers and Truck Drivers and Assistance) Our questionnaire had 7 section in it.

Section 1 – Socio-demographic information and employment (Gender, age and type of work etc)

Section 2 – Drivers and assistance – nature of work (How long they work how often they frequent the area and stay etc. General info on heath care and services are also collected at this point. )

Section 3- Sex workers – nature of work (How many working in the area how often they are working etc)

Section 4 – Risk and risk reduction (How aware they are of STI and HIV/AIDS and its associated risk and risk of infection to them self and others. Also we can ascertain how promiscuous people are in the area)

Section 5 – HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes (Questions on what they know about HIV/AIDS and how to seek information and there attitudes towards HIV/AIDS (have they been tested etc))

Section 6 – Condoms (do they know where to get them and how to use them?)

Section 7 – STIs (do they know how to identify an STI and where do they go to get treatment)

We did find out where the sex workers hang out and we were able to talk to them about what they were doing and get a good idea of there HIV awareness. We also found out that predominantly there cliental were more often than not seafarers than truckers. One of the reasons for this is they pay better. Truckers in the area don’t really park up for any great length of time. The reasons for this were not very clear. In most cases it was they have a quick turn around of off loading and loading. So it is going to be hard for us to justify a wellness centre to facilitate the truckers and the commercial sex workers in the area.

On the flip side I have been able to meet some really remarkable people during my stay here. The staff and volunteers at the “New Start” “Walvis Bay Multi Purpose Centre” have been incredibly hospitable to me. The volunteers who have helped collect the data from the survey have been incredible. All really eager to help out and get as much info that they could. They arraigned appointments with the girls so that they could sit down in a place they felt comfortable with to conduct the interviews. They asked additional questions of the drivers and the girls in order to try and shed some more light on where activities were happening. They were just so helpful. A great pleasure to work with. Every one we spoke to understood the importance of a wellness centre in the area and were willing to work with us to provide the data we required. Right down to the pub owner where the girls worked out of.

Some of the things that really struck me about Walvis Bay is the personal pride and sense of community in the area. I guess living in a harsh environment like a dessert you have to stick together at all times in order to survive. I think people here also realise that they live in such a harsh environment and they have risen about this to have a strong community and this is something to be proud of.

I have been really lucky to be given this opportunity to see Namibia from this perspective.

I have taken loads of photos of this remarkable place. And before any one comments I was here on work – honest! click here to see the photos from Namibia.

Some things I can recommend to anyone wanted to visit.

DO! Don’t just think about it just do it! You will not be disappointed.

I stayed in a fab place in Swakopmund, The Beach Lodge Hotel, some 35 – 40km away from the airport. The drive out there is well worth the distance. Walvis is very commercial so Swakop is where the holiday people tend to go. Loads of fab hotels and places to go. About half way between Swakop and Walvis there is a Dune Quad centre, Dare Devil Adventures. I had to pay a visit there as it was highly recommended. There are quite a few places that offer Dune Quad biking so just take your pick. The one just as you come into Swakop has had cliental of such likes of Brad Pit and Angelina Jolene.

I was lucky to get to go out as it was just myself and the guide. I think this made it extra special as the guide really went out of his way for me to show me some of the awesome wild life that resides in this barren hostile environment. Jackals, Chameleon and sand diving lizards to name a few of the inhabitants of the Namib Desert.

You will see from the photos I had an awesome time out there and yes I did do work out there too and important work at that. (Click on link to see photos from Namibia)

Low-cost Air travel – African style

I type this from Cape Town International Airport. Like Johannesburg International there is a lot of construction work going on here. So every thing is in a bit of disarray but every one is very happy and only too happy to help.

I flew down on a low cost airline called Kulula.com and wow what an airline. A there is a lot of low cost airlines that operate out of South Africa and this is my first experience with Kulula.com and I am glad to say it was a real fun experience. I mentioned in a recent blog that the glamour and the fun has been taken out of flying as a result of these low cost airlines making air travel as mundane as catching a bus or train. Its just an other form of public transport to some. Well I think Kulula may have turned that idea upside down and shook it all about.

Checking in was no different to any other airline I have been with. As long as your bags are within limit and you have all the correct paperwork with you this is a breeze at best.

But what really stuck me about this airline was its rather unorthodox way of dealing with health and safety issues and just trying to make air travel fun again.

There health and safety brief was not all that different from any other airline. They still show you how to fasten your seat belt around your “gorgeous” hips and that oxygen masks will be deployed if the price of SA fuel is to drop by ZAR2 or there is a sudden loss in cabin pressure. There is also no smoking on a Kulula flight and if you are caught you will be asked to leave the plane immediately! (Would love to see that at 35000 feet!)

The landing was just as funny – “Welcome to Cape Town International Airport – if you were expecting to be some where else I think you have a problem!” “Please if you do wish to leave any thing behind that it is something useful to us like an Ipod or Cell phone!”)

This sense of humour does work. People listen and the message does get across. I also think it aids the people who are nervous flyers and helps them relax . 10 out of 10 Kulula.com. It really brightened up my day that’s for sure.

My only regret on this flight was I did not have my camera with me as it was in my laptop bag in the bulk head and I could not take photos of the awesome views coming into Cape Town. I will make sure I have it with me on my short flight to Walvis Bay in Namibia. I will post them up as soon as I can.

Time to go – got to go and check in.

Survivor Zim

This has been in the local news papers here.

Just had to share it with every one.

Source - Madam And Eve ( Click on the link to get a week of Madam and Eve and the Zimbabwean elections - very funny but very true )


Click on the image for a bigger version

Where I live (Bedfordview Jo'burg SA)

Quite a few people have been asking where do I live in SA.

Well I live in a residential area called Bedfordview not far from the O.R Tambo Airport ( JNB International)

The apartment I live in is part of a MASSIVE house! There are 6 self contained apartments in this house ( well what use to be a house ) the house is called Lee Gardens.

I have uploaded some photos of my "apartment" for you all to see here.

Photos as well as the official booking site for Lee Gardens can be found here.

Lee Gardens so far has been really good - its really close to all the major motorways and some really fab shopping centres. So all in all home from home really.

I am enjoying it so far.

Only in South Africa - again

I was listening to the radio in traffic today and I could not believe what I was hearing. It was the news at 17:00 and it was a government minister addressing parliament today.

Here is what she had to say :- Source BBC news website

SA police 'should shoot to kill'

A government minister in South Africa has told police they should kill criminals if they threaten police or the community, reports say.

Deputy security minister Susan Shabangu said police "must kill the bastards [criminals] if they threaten you", the Star newspaper reported.

"I want no warning shots, you have one shot and it must be a kill shot," she told an anti-crime meeting in Pretoria.

"You have been given guns, now use them," she added.

"The constitution says criminals must be kept safe, but I say no," she added.

The minister was responding to questions from residents on what the police and government were doing to curb crime.

South Africa suffers some of the highest levels of violent crime in the world, with police figures showing an estimated 20,000 murders committed every year.

Now listening to this I was in stitches at first - in absolute disbelief that this could be said in public. Now public opinion on what was said is a bit mixed. People who have been victims of this seem to agree on this hole heartily ( or is it cold heartedly ) and the rest were rather mixed.

I can not only but applaud the Deputy security minister for what she said as I think like many people in SA she is just fed up with criminals getting away quite litraly with murder over here.

BUT

And it is a big but, she is sort of sending out the wrong message. Cops should not be judge, jury and exicutioner. The juditial system says your "Inocent till proven guilty" and for this to remain people will have to stand trial for there crimes. I think what the Deputy security minister was saying that if your threatening life of innocent people you, the criminal's, life will also be threatened as a consequence.

Well I hope that's the case.

But what a woman for using the world "Bastards" in parliament and it being broadcasted for every one to hear. I hope the shock factor hit home to many.

Beer Chicken

How can you be so glum with a beer can up your bum......

Yesterday I went round to an old school mates place for a Braai ( A BBQ to the rest of you ) Normally its a all beef affair but not this time. Jacques was going to introduce me to something new. Something that has taken South Africa by storm. Now I am not sure if its a typically South African dish or if it came from Zimbabwe or Australia as my search on the web could not clear this up for me. But not to worry about where it originates from all you have to know is it was dam tasty.

So what is beer chicken.

Basically its a whole chicken that is roasted with a can of beer up its do da ;-)

the basic recipe that I had at Jacques was as follows.

Ingredients.

1 chicken ( whole - no giblets etc )
1 can of beer ( Cobra in our case but you can use any thing - just a small can not the long)
some olive oil with salt - pepper and other spices to spice things up a bit.

Baste the chick with the olive oil mix.
OPEN the can of beer ( very very important! )
Sit the chicken on top of the can - See my photos.

We put the birds into a Webber BBQ oven with the coals on eather side of the bird but I am sure an ordinary oven would do the trick but I think you will miss the smoking process in a kitchen oven.

We served the chicks up with salad and garlic bread.

The chick was moist and tender and you could taste the beer in the meat. It was fab.

Here is a link to an official recipe.
And some more info on Beer Chicken/Beer Can Chicken
A link to buy some accessories for the professional beer chicken connoisseur.

Hope you enjoy.

Photos of our chickens not looking so glum with a beer can up its .......

T.I.A (This Is Africa)………….

………..Or should it read …… OIA (Only In Africa)

I think one can write a book on things that you can’t make up but do seem to only happen in Africa.

Thought I would share a few that I have had the joy to experience and just feel like I want to laugh or cry over.

There is an advert both on TV and radio. The advert is for a whistle blower phone number to report Telkom (Telecommunications provider like BT in the UK) cable theft. Theft of phone cables is costing industry here millions and it’s also costing life where people can not place a simple phone call to the emergency services. This has been going on for years so nothing new there. But the bit that does make me laugh about this advert is at the end of the advert it says “Call 0800 ….. from a landline” hang on a moment from a landline – the very landline that your reporting stolen ? HOW! Someone did not give that much thought I feel. I am sure it can also be phoned from a cell (mobile) phone but why emphasize the landline bit I really don’t know.

Mom told me a sweet story the other day about a labour at the complex they stay in. My dad answered a knock on the door the other day to find Simon with a parcel in his hands. The parcel was wrapped up in paper and masking tape. As Simon’s English is not too good my Dad could not work out what he was on about. Dad’s first thought was that Simon was trying to sell him something. This was far from the case. Simon had been given some ice-cream and he was looking for somewhere to keep it till he went home. Mom explained to him that they could not keep it long as they were going out. He was happy with that. When it came for Mom and Dad to go out they found Simon to give him his ice-cream. As they were going out the saw Simon knocking on doors looking for another place to store his ice-cream. The story just reminded me of a scene from “Ice-Age” where “Scrat” it trying to keep hold of his cherished wall nut.

Been walking around the shops and meeting people here and every one seems to be so happy. Yes there is a lot of bad things going on. Crime is off the scale inflation is at 10%. But people here seem to just get on with it and smile. I got to experience load shedding the other day. Load shedding is Eskom’s way of trying to save on fuel for power. Basically Eskom is in a bit of a power struggle at the moment with the country not having enough power. They were warned years ago that this would happen but did not react. The power went off from just after 11am till around 15:30. People who had laptops carried on working till there batteries died. Others made appointments to see people who had power or did not need power to do what ever it was that they wanted to. But I did not hear any one complaining about it. Its just a way of life. Actually someone said to me that this was a good way to show that South Africa was growing too fast that Eskom could not keep up with demand. One way of looking at it I guess. Always the African way – look to the positive.

As a result of all this development South Africa is having to import cement to aid in the building of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2012 football world cup. Southern Africa has a shortage of cement as a result.

I think you will find that as the rest of the world try and find ways of taxing people for the power they use and there CO2 footprint and the likes. It will be a power saving/ clean energy idea that will come out of southern Africa and it will save the economic crisis and solve all our ecological power issues in one go. Just you wait – after all – THIS IS AFRICA! Stranger things have happened. PowerGen Wind up radios are made here (or where) Ok it’s a UK invention but South Africa helped make it happen and I think they will make it happen again.

On the subject of making it happen – it’s a very African thing that – “Boer maak ‘n plan” (A farmer makes a plan)

To see some views of South Africa click here.

Photos taken from Ballito and en route back to Johannesburg just past Harrismith on the N3

Click here to see where Ballito is

Click here to see where Harrismith is.

Slight Change of plan.

This should have been uploaded last week ( 10/03/08)

Well there has been a bit of a change of plan to my assignment with North Star Foundation. I am pleased to say I am still going to SA on Saturday and the main goal is still the same. That is the goal to set up Wellness Centres to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and education still stands.

Originally the plan was to setup Wellness Centres at Bietbridge and Chirundu to target the long haul truck drivers at the boarder posts. Well this has changed slightly with the plan now being to setup 7 centres targeted at the courier industry in the major centres of South Africa. Already some of the major courier companies have joined forces in this initiative along with SAEPA (South African Express Parcel Association) to put together these centres at locations like airports or close to there depots. To me this makes a lot of sense. Although some of the big names in the courier industry have large long haul trucking divisions out side of South Africa there key business in SA is courier both domestic and international. This means that they are all playing a part in something that is mutually beneficial to themselves. They will be helping protect their investment in their own staff.

I am very excited by this new development as I come from a domestic (South African) courier back ground with Dawn Wing Couriers. So I now can play quite an active part in ensuring that staff in this industry that, has and still does play a big part in my life, can have the best possible care and education when it comes to HIV and AIDS.

I have been tasked with two objectives. Project manage the project, and looking at the IT infrastructure to ensure that we can get data back from the centres so we can monitor the performance of them and report back to the stakeholders. I also hope I can add more to this project with my knowledge of the domestic courier industry in South Africa.

I am now really getting excited about getting into SA and getting stuck in. Next week is going to be a week of meeting people and just getting as much info into my head as I can. It’s going to be tough yes but I know there is a team behind me all the way that I can count on. My meeting with Robin and Francesca yesterday has only enforced this support.

Support is important in any thing you do. With it you can do anything!

Swazi Wellness Centre (Chevron/NFS)

On Thursday 12th March I visited the Swazi Wellness Centre at Oshoek, near Mbabane, the border between Swaziland and South Africa.

The Swazi Wellness Centre at Oshoek was setup with a partnership between Chevron and North Star Foundation back in September 07. Chevron is the sponsor for this centre and has committed to its running costs and has even hosted it on its forecourt of the Caltex Service Station. The drivers, sex workers and local community benefit from this very well located centre.

I got to meet the staff of the centre and the first thing that struck me about them was how enthusiastic they were about there work. The staff consists of an Out-reach worker and a Nurse. The Out-reach worker does basic sex education and HIV/AIDS awareness and the nurse does basic heath care with the patients that come to see her. I got the sense that they were very proud to be doing there part in the combat of the spread of HIV/AIDS and STD’s in the community and with the long distance drivers. We, the North Star Foundation team, got to speak to the local’s that were around the area and it does seem that the centre is a very welcome addition to there community. They all knew what it was about even if they felt they did not need to visit it they were aware of the message it was sending out.

Swazi does seem to be very jacked up HIV/AIDS awareness program. On every lamp post and just about every sign post there is the red ribbon symbol for HIV/AIDS awareness. Posters and billboards all have some form of awareness message on them. It was great to see so much awareness and campaigning for the fight against HIV/ AIDS. But it’s not just the Kingdom of Swaziland but I have seen a fair bit of awareness going on in South Africa too.

I am fully aware that we will not eradicate the spread of HIV/AIDS but it is refreshing to see that people are trying to do there bit to stop the spread of this pandemic.

Photos of the Swaziland Wellness Centre can be found here.

Air Travel

I write this in the departure lounge of Frankfurt Airport (FRA) as I wait for my delayed departure to South Africa. – (Was meant to depart at 20:45 – now departing at 00:15 (Sunday morning))

Gone is time that air travel was for the selected few. When it was exciting just to get onto a plain to visit new destinations and go on exciting adventures. Now it just seems to be a mundane thing that people do. Security is now just a formality. Delays are just part of the norm. The only people you see excited about the prospects of getting on a plain to travel to far off places are young children. There parents are only worried about getting to there final destination with there children on the same plane as them. People bustling around, with a sense of purpose, but not really going any where. Just to the exit gate to find that there plain has been delayed do to unforeseen circumstances.

Maybe it’s the time of day, I don’t know. But I just seem to see tired people, stressed people.

Why is this?

Has low cost air lines made it as normal to fly to a new destination as driving to the shops? “Every one does is now.” So that if you have not been on a plane you’re the odd one out? It does seem that way I as sit here watching people running around with no where to go.

The Person,

Over the past few days it has become clear to me that it takes a certain type of person to volunteer to go on a WPF assignment.

 

On the training course there were people from all manor of backgrounds. Male, Female, young and old alike. Just about every bit of land mass was covered by these people in some shape or form. People that are currently residing in Australia, India, UK, Chilly, Argentina, Italy, France, The Netherlands. Other countries like South Africa, Malawi, Switzerland, and Germany have all had a part in these people's lives at some stage.  

 

One thing that became very clear during our time together was that we all shared the same ambitions in life. We all wanted to make a bit of a difference in the world. No matter how small and insignificant it might be as long as we made a small contribution it would make a big impact on us.

 

I really enjoyed my time with these people. New friendships have been made and bounded together though this common ground we now all have. Language, gender and cultural differences have been left back home. We are now all just one…..

 

Members of an elite group of people with a common goal. To make, what might appear to be small to some but massive to others, a difference in the world.

 

As I sit at Frankfurt airport typing this up, I can not but wonder what adventures lay ahead of them with the School Feeding Program and Me, with North Star Foundation. All our adventures will be different but one thing is for sure they will all be memorable.

 

I wish them all the best and I look forward to reading there stories and seeing there photos.

 

Blog's for the teams that are going, and have gone, on the WFP School Feeding program with TNT can be found on the "Moving the World" website.

 

The Partnership

For the past few days I have been at the World Food Program (WFP) Head Quarters (HQ) in Rome. The reason for my visit to the WFP is to do some training. This training is done by all TNT members of staff that go onto the “School Feeding Program” and “Emergency Response Stand By Teams”. It covers all manner of things from basic health and safety issues down to managing stress while on assignment. Even though I am not going on a School Feeding Project (Food for Education – FFE) I have found it very interesting. The one of the aspects of this training was about the partnership between TNT and WFP.

Back in December 2007 TNT and WFP celebrated its 5th anniversary. In doing so both TNT and WFP extended this partnership indefinitely so long as the partnership remained beneficial to both parties. Being part of this partnership makes me incredibly proud.

TNT is WPF largest corporate contributor. In 2007 TNT donated US$ 9 million ($2 million in cash the rest in services (trucks, planes, manpower etc)) As a result of this TNT has a department called “Moving the World” that facilitates fund raising exercises and awareness (Walk the World/ Colour the World), coordinating manpower for WFP projects. (School Feeding Project, etc)

In the past 5 years Moving the World has aided the following.
30 Emergency Situations (supplying resources)
10 Air Lifts (Food, manpower etc)

Why does this partnership work so well?

Both TNT and WFP have a common core business entity. We are both in the logistics business. TNT moves freight from point A to point B. WFP moves food and aid from point A to any where it is needed. It made sense to form this alliance.

This partnership is not exclusive. Anyone can play a part in it. Not just TNT Staff, family and friends in Moving the World projects. Any member of the public can help WFP raise the nearly US$3 billion (yes BILLION!) needed to feed people around the world.

Here are some very impressive stats for WFP

2006 WFP fed 88 million people in 82 countries.
They did this with:
12 000 staff (World Wide)
80 aircraft
40 ships
5000 trucks
and a bit of help from TNT !
WFP is the largest humanitarian agency in the world.

Why is it important to help?
800 Million people suffer from hunger in the world. Most of these are women and children.

1 child dies every 5 seconds from hunger.

Hunger claims more lives than AIDS, TB and Malaria combined.

So what can you as an individual do to help?

Well seeing as you’re on the internet reading this why not go to the following websites to see what you can do?

WFP – http://www.wfp.org
Or for a real practical and fun way of helping raise some money you can always play the “Free Rice Game” where you can earn rice by playing a word game. It’s FREE and addictive! – http://www.freerice.com

If you are a TNT staff member, or know of TNT staff, go and pay the Moving the World site a visit for more news on WFP fund raising projects. You can also find blog’s of staff members that are both currently on assignments or have been on assignments – http://www.movingtheworld.org

Every bit helps!

Food for Education (School Feeding Program) fed 20 million school children in 71 countries (55% of children in Africa) in 2006.

When in Rome ……

Yesterday (03/03/08) was my first official day in Rome. I have never been to Italy before so it was all very new and exiting to me.

The morning started off with me having some breakfast and a bit of an impromptu meeting with Robin Landis and Francesca Duffy from WFP (World Food Program). Both Robin and Francesca went into some detail about the partnership between WFP and North Star Foundation.

The partnership is quite simple really. WFP move tons of food and aid around the world. The main means of transporting this relief aid is by truck. HIV/AIDS like any other epidemic is spread by the movement of people from one area to another. What easer way of spreading a disease than by sex workers and truck drivers that utilize the services of these sex workers? This means that the backbone of the WFP is under attack from HIV/AIDS. WFP and TNT are aware of the impact that this can have in there own organisation and felt that more needed to be done to ensure the longevity of there own drivers but that of others in the same field. This has in turn lead up to the forming of North Star Foundation. More and more companies are seeing the benefit in what WFP and North Star Foundation are doing and are coming on board to help aid and fun this project. More info on this can be found on the North Star Foundation’s official website (http://www.northstarfoundation.org)

After the meeting I felt I had to see a bit of Rome. So when in Rome….

I did not venture to far in Rome as after all I am here on business and not on a sight seeing trip so I only really went to the Colosseum and some of the other ruins around it. One of the things that did strike me about Rome is the carefree attitude of people here. Very laid back I found. At the train station there was a lady that had climbed off the platform to carry her bag and children across to the other platform. (There was a subway she should have and could have used) but no one seem to get upset about it or even offered to help. Lucky for her the hi-speed train came though the station about 5 mins after she had got every thing across. But no one seemed to care.

Rome its self is a bit dirty, again no one seems to care. Graffiti! Now I have seen graffiti in the UK but not on this scale. It’s every were! But the monuments are left untouched. I guess they do have some respect. The people are very friendly and will talk to you no matter what, even if you can quite plainly show them that you don’t understand. My taxi driver rambled on for ages despite me telling him I did not understand what he was on about. On the subject of taxi’s, well driving, I can clearly see why some of the best race car/ motor bike racers in the world are Italian. Any one that can drive like these people and get away with it must be world classed! I am yet to see a smash. Every road seems to be a race track. Just glad I don’t have a nervous disposition.

The Colosseum was amazing. I did not go into it but just walked around it and up the road a bit to the other ruins. As I did not do history or geography at school I am bit ignorant to what is what. Also as I did not get a guide book I kind of felt I was missing out on a lot. As a result I think I will come back with someone a bit more knowledgeable on the subject of Rome. I have taken some photos of where I went to as well as some video. The photos can be found here. The videos will take a bit longer to upload to YouTube as I have restricted internet access at the moment.

So far I have enjoyed the start to my assignment with North Star Foundation. But there is still lots to learn and a fair bit of hard work ahead of me.

The start of things to come

oooh sounds bad don't it ? Well I hope its not all down hill from here on in ! I am sure it wont be.

Been a bit of a bumpy start that's for sure.

A few weeks of hell at work, dealing with emotions that just dint seem to fit and a hotel shuttle that did not arrive. Great so far!

Well I am now in Rome. First impressions are not good so far. But it is early days. So far every thing I have been told about this place is true. You do take your own life into your own hands here just stepping out onto the pavement - never mind the road just the pavement can be a bit dangerous. I now know why Italy makes such fine sports cars. The car is god here - it has right of way and its a law unto its own. In the hour that I sat out side the airport waiting for the bus that would not arrive I saw so many road violations it was unreal. Cars driving over the pavement to get into another road as it was the shortest route I guess. People just stopping where and when they like ( but never to let you cross the road at a pedestrians crossing! ) madness! The taxi drive to the hotel was almost as hell raising as the landing.(Any landing you walk away from is a good one !)

Tomorrow I hope to get to see a little of this fine country and I hope my views on this place changes from it being so laid back every one is horizontal with out any respect for any other road users ( pedestrian or vehicular alike )

On the whole I am happy to be here as it means I have started my journey.

All Roads Lead to Rome

Well I guess in my case its a flight to Rome - darn sight faster than driving!

I guess what they say about all roads leading to Rome is true, but no one told me it would be such an arduous road to travel. Last week I got told I could head off on my African Adventure and join the rest of the team on the World Food Program.

After much deliberations with the Boss he finally said I could join the rest of the World Food Program in Rome for training with the rest of the people who are going onto other WFP projects around the world. This all happened on Thursday afternoon and I am leaving for Rome on Sunday the 2nd of March.

Even as today draws to a close I still have loads to do. Panic has not really set in yet, nor have I had much time to think about what lies ahead for me. One thing I do know is what lies ahead of me will make me stronger and will change me for the good. It has already started to do so. I have already had to find a bit of inner strength in myself.

I used the word arduous just now to describe my metaphoric road that I have had to travel the past few weeks and I am still on this week. I don't kid myself that I will still be on it for the next 24 weeks as I have a lot to do and archive in them weeks. Dictionary.com has a great description of this word - Arduouse


ar·du·ous Spelled Pronunciation[ahr-joo-uhs or, especially Brit., ahr-dyoo-]
–adjective
1.Requiring great exertion; laborious; difficult: an arduous undertaking.
2.Requiring or using much energy and vigor; strenuous: making an arduous effort.
3.Hard to climb; steep: an arduous path up the hill.
4.Hard to endure; full of hardships; severe: an arduous winter.
[Origin: 1530–40]


My last few weeks have most defiantly been all of the above. I have been very lucky to have some very understanding friends and work colleagues who have helped me keep it together the past two weeks.

I have been aiming to have a project completed by the 29th but it has been plagued with problems. Just about every time I look at it I have found something amiss with it. It would seem that pressure has all manor of effects on people some more positive than others. But these pressures have also highlighted who the team players are and who is not. Its just a pity to find that the people you think you can count on are not always the ones you can. But its still nice to know I have some firm rocks I can lean against to help me when I have lost direction.

As for the project and it being completed on the 29th before I depart. I think it will be. If not it will just need a bit of smoothing off around the edges and someone else can take the glory of my hard work and roll it out for me.

I fly off to Rome on Sunday the 2nd of March then onward to South Africa the following Saturday arriving Sunday the 9th or March

I am still looking forward to getting out to South Africa and to help make a little bit of a change to many and a very big change to me.

Bloopers

Some of you may have seen my first Vblog ( Video Blog ) and some of you have commented on it. It was a lot harder to make than even I thought it would be.

A few of my friends have seen the attempts at making my first Vblog and have badgered me into posting them up on YouTube as they seem to think they are funny.

So with a bit of arm twisting I have decided to post them up.

You can find my cringe worthy attempts here. YouTube Bloopers

Update to blog - 09/02/08

Due to the nature of blogging all old posts end up at the bottom of the page and new postings at the top. Edited pages remain where they are unless you change the date on the original post so I have decided to just highlight some of the updates to my blog.

New Post - Where I live (Currently)
Posted two new video clips on YouTube ( links can be found in the "Where I live ( Currently ) "post)

Removal of my 1st Vblog video clip - it is however still on YouTube - it was only removed due to some visitors not being on hi-speed internet.

Moving the introduction post back to its original place at the bottom of the blog pages.

Where I live ( Currently )

I felt obliged to give you all a little bit of a view of where I currently live before I head off to South Africa. Then I can show you the contrast of the small village of Atherstone verse the buzzing metropolis of Johannesburg in South Africa.

I have been living in Atherstone now for just over 3 years. Its not a bad place and it has some rather interesting little quirks about it.

1st up is the Atherstone Ball game:

The Atherstone Ball game is an ancient Shrove Tuesday tradition in which people literally brawl over a large ball.

Shops are boarded up, local schools are closed and towns people of Atherstone gather in the main street at 3pm for the beginning of this 800 year old Shrove Tuesday tradition.

There is only one rule, and that rule is the ball can not be taken outside the town. Anything and everything else goes. The winner in this no holds barred contest is the person holding onto the ball at 5pm

2nd up is Dickens Night:
Dickens night is held on the last Saturday in November and is also the night that the Christmas lights are turned on in the town. Its just a nice festive fair with people dressing up in period costumes and people roasting wall nuts. Its a really nice night out with fireworks finale by one of the top piro display teams in the UK.

I have made a short film in two parts just showing you around Atherstone, TNT and the canals near where I live and work.
Part 1 can be found here
Part 2 can be found here

For more information on this quaint little town you can visit the "Atherstone Online" site and the "Atherstone Wikipedia" site for more info on the "Hat town"

Its all very real now.

Its all starting to hit home now that in around 4 weeks time I shall be embarking on what will probably be one of the biggest adventures I am ever likely to have.

Yesterday I got my "Welcome Pack" from Rose ( Moving the world ) and it out lined a whole load of legal and official bumph that I need to fill in fax back post back. That's when it really hit home that I am really am going to be part of something special. The excitement is starting to kick in but there is still a lot I have to do before I leave.

From a personal perspective I just really need to clean my flat and pack my bags. Oh and send off the forms etc for Rose.

From a work perspective I think that where the real challenge is going to be. I have loads to turn out before the end of Feb so I really do have my work cut out for me in that department. But I am sure I will get there in the end. Just hope I don't have too many sleepless nights over it all. I don't think I will - I will be too tied not to !

On a plus I did have a post on the blog from someone I did not know. That was quite a pleasant surprise. It was from Jaqui, a Researcher/ Coordinator, who works with Alan Whiteside. Alan is one of the co-authors of "Aids in the Twenty-First Century" a book that I got the other day. So that was quite a boost to me.

Links & Resources

Here is a list of links and resources that may be of interest.

Links

• TNT Express - The company I work for and one of the key partners in Moving the World & North Start Foundation
  

• Moving the World - The partnership between TNT and the UN

• TNT World Food Program Partnership
  

• North Star Foundation - The foundation I will be seconded to for 6 months in South Africa.

• My YouTube site - I will upload all sorts of vid clips but not all of them will get posted here so do check it out from time to time

• HEARD - Health Economics & HIV/AIDS Research Division. HEARD conducts research on the socio-economic aspect of public health, especially the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Resources

• "Aids in the Twenty-First Century" - a book by Tony Barnett and Alan Whiteside ( ISBN 978-1-4039-9768-5 ) This book was recommended to me, I have not yet started to read though it as I only got it in the post today. I ordered my book from here
  

I will be updating this from time to time as I get more resources and links to add.

Why ?

I have been asked this question a few times over the past few weeks.

"Why do you want to do this assignment ?"

Its not an easy one for me to sum up really. There are loads of reasons for it but I guess the big reasons are as follows.

I grew up in South Africa and a bit in Zimbabwe so Africa on the whole has a very special place in my heart. Its where I call home. HIV/AIDS has also started to play a bit in my life too recently. With friends and there partners and family members being affected by this virus. Whilst in South Africa I had a part in the transport industry too, so it just sort of made sense. This assignment with the North Star Foundation will give me the opportunity to give something back, to a place that I hold so dear to my heart and also to an industry that has given me this opportunity to do this.

I think Africa will always have a bit of a hold on me.

Site info

I am still getting to grips with this blogging but here is a few cool things you may like to know.

When I mention places in my blog I will where ever I can post a link to the place from Google Earth. All links are highlighted in blue like the Google Earth link I have just posted.

The same will go for links to external websites and photos etc.

I hope this will ensure that there is loads of interesting content to see.

You can also subscribe to my blog by clicking on the RSS feed icon located on your address bar.
it looks like this :


This will ensure your always up to date with what is going on.