However, I realize that most of my blogs have been about travel, so I thought I would add a couple of pictures from work for my final blog - yes, I did actually work. This is a quick one though as Elene and I are just about to head off to pick up our rental to then drive to Swaziland and then Kruger park in South Africa.
These pictures were taken from a presentation I made at the Tobacco Association of Malawi's (TAMA) AGM. I don't know if I've already talked about tobacco, but tobacco is the most important crop, by far, in Malawi - it is by far the most important crop for earning foreign currency. I was working for the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) throughout my time in Malawi, but TAMA is a member of FUM, so I was, sort of, on loan for a month.
Yes, I worked for about a month for the main Tobacco Association in Malawi. As most of you are aware of how much I can't stand tobacco related products, this part of my work was a difficult one (at my first meeting with the E.D. there were a couple of packs of cigarettes laying on the table!), but also ended up being the most rewarding experience.
I conducted an evaluation for TAMA on their cooperative development program - for the last 5 years, TAMA has been organizing some of its members into cooperatives, and they wanted someone to take a look at the program to see how its going and to make suggestions on how it could be improved. So, I went around the country for a few weeks interviewing cooperative members and the TAMA staff responsible for the program.
It was the first time I really got to travel into rural Malawi and chat with farmers, so it was quite a different experience to everything else I had done to date. And, I was happy to see that the coops were doing fairly well and that the farmers really appreciated working in this manner. The work went really well and my presentation was well received. Overall, other than the fact I was supporting the cigarette industry, I enjoyed this project the most out of my work in Malawi.
As, this is my last blog, I thought I'd also include a few more pictures from our last adventure. Elene's family visited us - we travelled to Zambia and all around Malawi for about 3 weeks.
This is Mumbo Island that we kayaked to.
We were so spoiled - had our own chef - we purchased some fish and he cooked it up!
Little kids seemed to grab us from everywhere and not want to let go...mostly trying to get something from the Mzungu (the Malawian term for white person).
This is actually a random shot from the bridge that goes to the main market in Lilongwe.
And finally, a few pictures from our safari in Zambia. A few elephants charged our car and freaked the crap out of us - I have a great picture of Elene hiding under the seat of our safari truck!
We are really excited to see you all soon!!!!
