Well, it's been a while. After finishing up my MEDA contract, I headed out to Egypt to visit my mother for a week, and then spent a month wandering around Europe, staying on people's couches and floors and generally enjoying life. It was fantastic.
Egypt is awesome, It turns out that the Nubian people still measure the worth of women by the number of camels they would have to give her father as a dowry. My best offer: 10,000 camels, I feel I'm worth at least 15,000. The Sphinx - overlooks a pizzahut and a KFC, AND there are people who actually believe that aliens built the pyramids! These people do a pilgramage to the Pyramids and climb into the burial chamber of the Great Pyramid to meditate and chant, hoping to call back the aliens, who will then take them to the chosen land. It's a bit outlandish I know, and I also really feel that they should have paid more attention when watching Star Gate - the aliens weren't very nice, so why would you want them to return?
And, it turns out that it is possible to do some development work from Calgary. I am currently working on a short contract for the World Bank, doing research on cash transfers in post-conflict/post-disaster zones. It's interesting work, but it's difficult to work from home, where I don't have access to all their files and information and must rely on other people to send me stuff (this become particularly difficult when the person responsible for supplying the information is transfered to a field office in East-Timor for the bulk of your project). I have some contacts for a few NGOs based in Calgary for after this project is done, and I'm heading to DC for the end of June to look for jobs and hopefully lay eyes on my boss.
I would really like to return to the UK but I'm not sure how to get there since I don't quite qualify for a Highly Skilled Migrant Visa yet. To qualify I need to make a bigger salary in the year before I apply. If I remain in the developed world that salary requirement is so high that I fear I will have to work in Oil and Gas again to make it happen, which somewhat defeats the purpose, since I won't have strong job experience in my field when I get to England. We'll see, hopefully something interesting pops up while I'm in DC. So think highly employable thoughts for me, so I can get hired by the World Bank on a permanent basis, or something like that.
Kelly!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Home, Home on the Range
Well, I'm back in Calgary and getting better every day. MEDA has been fantastic and while there are not the funds to send me back to Tanzania, I am finishing my internship doing research from home. I'm working with the wonderful folks in the Waterloo office and am doing a value chain analysis of the fruit and vegetable sub-sector in Ethiopia and Zambia as background information for a small-scale irrigation project they are running with a group called IDE. It's fascinating but ridiculously challenging. There is lot's of information on Zambia, and almost none on Ethiopia's small scale fruit and vegetable farmers, in part because there are few small scale fruit and veggie farmers in Ethiopia. I have always been a little obsessed with Ethiopia so it's great to learn about it, but a tad depressing all the same. The country faces so many obstacles, and to succeed in overcoming poverty resources need to be directed everywhere at the same time, which is obviously impossible, but farmers need access to markets to sell a surplus, which means they need seed, fertilizer, and education on better farming techniques to get a surplus, and they need better roads and transport systems to get to markets, and the urban population needs better jobs so they have the funds to buy this surplus stuff!! And even if there is no drought and Ethiopia has a strong crop, 5 million people will still need food aid. It makes me very happy that I am working on a project that may help farmers produce high income goods that can be used to overcome some of these issues, but on a macro scale the problems seem almost overwhelming.
It is very strange to have come from working in Tanzania, where it is warm, and humid and my office was full of fabulous people to working in my parent's house in Calgary, where it is cold, dry, and the only real office mates I have have four legs and bark. I miss working in an office with people who you can ask for help when you don't understand something, or get advice on, stuff or just talk to. On the other hand my commute to work is pretty sweet.
It's also getting to that point where us interns must start thinking about our next steps and start searching for and applying for our future jobs. Calgary is not exactly known for it's international development sector, so I'm feeling a little lost and envious of all my friends and fellow interns who are able to liaise with people on the ground and get contracts that way. Perhaps I should find a way to become terribly interested in oil and gas. I know that things will work out in the end but things are a bit tough right now. I'm hoping that I can work in an empty office at my dad's office starting next week to overcome some of the difficulties of working from home. I'm sure being around more people will help improve my mood. Until then it's just me and the dogs.
It is very strange to have come from working in Tanzania, where it is warm, and humid and my office was full of fabulous people to working in my parent's house in Calgary, where it is cold, dry, and the only real office mates I have have four legs and bark. I miss working in an office with people who you can ask for help when you don't understand something, or get advice on, stuff or just talk to. On the other hand my commute to work is pretty sweet.
It's also getting to that point where us interns must start thinking about our next steps and start searching for and applying for our future jobs. Calgary is not exactly known for it's international development sector, so I'm feeling a little lost and envious of all my friends and fellow interns who are able to liaise with people on the ground and get contracts that way. Perhaps I should find a way to become terribly interested in oil and gas. I know that things will work out in the end but things are a bit tough right now. I'm hoping that I can work in an empty office at my dad's office starting next week to overcome some of the difficulties of working from home. I'm sure being around more people will help improve my mood. Until then it's just me and the dogs.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The safest street in Nairobi
According to the sign the safest street in Nairobi is Bishop's Road. I'm assuming it's the safest street in Nairobi because of the 24/7 'friendly' checkpoints along it. The check points consist of two armed guards who open your trunk look in your car and then, with their guns, wave you through the maze of nail beds and road blocks that force you to slow down to 10 km/hr. The guards don't smile, don't say please and are in no way companionable so I'm not sure what exactly about these checkpoints makes them so friendly. My taxi driver informs me that the street is poorly named. The 'friendly checkpoints' exist because across the street from our hotel is the Israeli Embassy. So really they're not that friendly at all, and with what is apparently a serious terrorist target on it i am clearly NOT on the safest street in Nairobi.
Nairobi is an interesting place. It is much cooler than Dar, and more developed. The lights stay on all the time, the roads are paved, the cars are new. But no one walks around outside. People are still friendly but even the shopping mall we go to has armed guards wandering around inside. Rebecca went to the Hilton downtown while I was in the hospital and they checked the car for bombs before letting her in. Security is a serious issue.
I returned to Dar late last night, and am waiting to see the doctor's will consider me safe to remain or if I have to return to Canada to recover. Here's hoping they let me stay!
Nairobi is an interesting place. It is much cooler than Dar, and more developed. The lights stay on all the time, the roads are paved, the cars are new. But no one walks around outside. People are still friendly but even the shopping mall we go to has armed guards wandering around inside. Rebecca went to the Hilton downtown while I was in the hospital and they checked the car for bombs before letting her in. Security is a serious issue.
I returned to Dar late last night, and am waiting to see the doctor's will consider me safe to remain or if I have to return to Canada to recover. Here's hoping they let me stay!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
That's One Way to See Kenya
What's that you say? Kenya? I thought you were in Tanzania? Well you are correct, my internship is in Tanzania but I discovered an interesting way to get to a new country this past Monday: it's called emergency medical evacuation!
I have been having some stomach problems for about 8 weeks, and lately they had started to get much worse despite having been on every antibiotic under the sun. Monday I went to the doctor because the pain was much worse and suddenly everyone had decided that all the drugs had been masking a case of appendicitis so off to the Aga Khan hospital I was rushed for an ultra sound, which they couldn't fit me in for of course. Unfortunately the pain continued to worsen and my condition weakened so my fabulous French doctor decided it was time to call in the flying doctors and med evac me to Kenya where they have better medical facilities and where it would be safer for me to have surgery. Thankfully it was NOT appendicitis, I just had some drug resistant acute typhoid, so after a week in the hospital I have been discharged, but I must remain in Nairobi for a few more days as a day patient so the doctors can monitor my recovery.
Now that I am out of the hospital Rebecca and I are going to see some of the sights of Kenya ( in between my naps, I'm the least fun travel buddy right now). We are hoping to go to an actual Shopping mall to get some sweatshirts since Kenya is cold. I'm looking forward to the culture shock. It's already weird being in a country that manages to keep the power on all the time and has safe tap water and paved roads everywhere and where people don't yell at you because of the colour of your skin. We may also go to the snake park since it is close by. WE are also staying in the nicest hotel because it is right by the hospital and has rooms available, unlike many of the other places we tried to stay. The rooms that are available however are the executive suite! So we are staying in luxurious accommodation, for a price that in Canada would get you an economy room at a three star hotel. Not a bad place to rest up and recover in if I do say so myself.
I must say that I am the luckiest person around because I have wonderful friends who graciously packed up a bunch of stuff for me and them and flew with me to Kenya. Flora left a very important work meeting she had been preparing for for weeks to get my stuff, and Rebecca flew to Kenya with me and has been by my side the whole time. She has had the exciting task fo trying to deal with the medical insurance this whole time since I have been in bed stuck to an IV. I am now an even bigger supporter of public health care because the insurance was such a hassle. Everyone at MEDA in Waterloo and Tanzania has been spectacular as have all my friends and family. So thank-you for the support and the good wishes.
Now everyone go and do the following: buy a membership to AMREF, they run the flying doctor's plane that took me to Kenya and helps save hundreds of lives every year. I am buying mine after I publish this post.
I have been having some stomach problems for about 8 weeks, and lately they had started to get much worse despite having been on every antibiotic under the sun. Monday I went to the doctor because the pain was much worse and suddenly everyone had decided that all the drugs had been masking a case of appendicitis so off to the Aga Khan hospital I was rushed for an ultra sound, which they couldn't fit me in for of course. Unfortunately the pain continued to worsen and my condition weakened so my fabulous French doctor decided it was time to call in the flying doctors and med evac me to Kenya where they have better medical facilities and where it would be safer for me to have surgery. Thankfully it was NOT appendicitis, I just had some drug resistant acute typhoid, so after a week in the hospital I have been discharged, but I must remain in Nairobi for a few more days as a day patient so the doctors can monitor my recovery.
Now that I am out of the hospital Rebecca and I are going to see some of the sights of Kenya ( in between my naps, I'm the least fun travel buddy right now). We are hoping to go to an actual Shopping mall to get some sweatshirts since Kenya is cold. I'm looking forward to the culture shock. It's already weird being in a country that manages to keep the power on all the time and has safe tap water and paved roads everywhere and where people don't yell at you because of the colour of your skin. We may also go to the snake park since it is close by. WE are also staying in the nicest hotel because it is right by the hospital and has rooms available, unlike many of the other places we tried to stay. The rooms that are available however are the executive suite! So we are staying in luxurious accommodation, for a price that in Canada would get you an economy room at a three star hotel. Not a bad place to rest up and recover in if I do say so myself.
I must say that I am the luckiest person around because I have wonderful friends who graciously packed up a bunch of stuff for me and them and flew with me to Kenya. Flora left a very important work meeting she had been preparing for for weeks to get my stuff, and Rebecca flew to Kenya with me and has been by my side the whole time. She has had the exciting task fo trying to deal with the medical insurance this whole time since I have been in bed stuck to an IV. I am now an even bigger supporter of public health care because the insurance was such a hassle. Everyone at MEDA in Waterloo and Tanzania has been spectacular as have all my friends and family. So thank-you for the support and the good wishes.
Now everyone go and do the following: buy a membership to AMREF, they run the flying doctor's plane that took me to Kenya and helps save hundreds of lives every year. I am buying mine after I publish this post.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Zanzibar!!
Shikamooni Rafikis (Respectful Greetings Friends)
This past weekend I travelled to the glorious island of Zanzibar, just off the coast of Tanzania. Zanzibar is the birthplace of Freddie Mercury from Queen and has a big tourism trade. Stonetown, the capital of Zanzibar, was a big slave trading port and spice market way back when and today it has this strange mix of Arabic and African architecture that results in twisty narrow streets perfect for getting totally and completely lost in. Especially at night when there is no moon.
We had great fun despite the rain and the choppy ferry ride there and back (good bye sunglasses!). Stonetown actually reminded me a lot of Venice with it's old buildings and twisty streets and the strange smell of wet yet burning garbage around every corner, which is funny because rumour has it that most of the big resorts on the island are owned by the mafia. This Italian influence has the added benefit of a spin off trade in quality Italian food, which is fine by me.
The hot season is officially here on the mainland and we are starting to cook. We have started quantifying the temperature in terms of what setting you put your fan on at night. Last night we moved up another notch to 4 out of 5. I have no idea what we are going to do when the heat peaks in another three weeks or so. One of the reasons I liked Zanzibar so much was that our hotel had A/C which is decidedly lacking in my room at home.
A lot of people keep asking what it is exactly that I do here so let me try to explain that now.
MEDA (the NGO I work for) is contracted by the Tanzanian government to run a programme that provides subsidies (through a voucher) for mosquito nets to the most at risk populations: pregnant women, infants and children under five. The programme runs in every community in Tanzania, and as such is quite complicated in terms of logistics. This year the programme is expanding to include an equity voucher that covers the top-up price associated with the original voucher for those people who cannot afford even the highly subsidized price.
My internship has so far focused on capturing the operations of the new voucher schemes (the Infant, Child and Equity Vouchers) for the operations manual, and in creating a communications unit for the program. Creating better awareness of the program and giving it a higher profile helps not in terms of getting funding but also assists operations because high level officials and leaders are more aware of the programs benefits and are therefore more likely to throw their support behind it.
I am looking forward to another trip to Morogoro this week to try and launch our infant voucher yet again, and to possible future trips to help set up our Equity voucher. MEDA and my bosses in particular I feel is really good at providing opportunities for growth and capacity building. Despite how frustrated I get with things every now and then I am very lucky to be here and to have this opportunity. It may take three months to get a printing job done here that would take a day in Canada, and we may not have power or water but in the end it all works itself out somehow.
This past weekend I travelled to the glorious island of Zanzibar, just off the coast of Tanzania. Zanzibar is the birthplace of Freddie Mercury from Queen and has a big tourism trade. Stonetown, the capital of Zanzibar, was a big slave trading port and spice market way back when and today it has this strange mix of Arabic and African architecture that results in twisty narrow streets perfect for getting totally and completely lost in. Especially at night when there is no moon.
We had great fun despite the rain and the choppy ferry ride there and back (good bye sunglasses!). Stonetown actually reminded me a lot of Venice with it's old buildings and twisty streets and the strange smell of wet yet burning garbage around every corner, which is funny because rumour has it that most of the big resorts on the island are owned by the mafia. This Italian influence has the added benefit of a spin off trade in quality Italian food, which is fine by me.
The hot season is officially here on the mainland and we are starting to cook. We have started quantifying the temperature in terms of what setting you put your fan on at night. Last night we moved up another notch to 4 out of 5. I have no idea what we are going to do when the heat peaks in another three weeks or so. One of the reasons I liked Zanzibar so much was that our hotel had A/C which is decidedly lacking in my room at home.
A lot of people keep asking what it is exactly that I do here so let me try to explain that now.
MEDA (the NGO I work for) is contracted by the Tanzanian government to run a programme that provides subsidies (through a voucher) for mosquito nets to the most at risk populations: pregnant women, infants and children under five. The programme runs in every community in Tanzania, and as such is quite complicated in terms of logistics. This year the programme is expanding to include an equity voucher that covers the top-up price associated with the original voucher for those people who cannot afford even the highly subsidized price.
My internship has so far focused on capturing the operations of the new voucher schemes (the Infant, Child and Equity Vouchers) for the operations manual, and in creating a communications unit for the program. Creating better awareness of the program and giving it a higher profile helps not in terms of getting funding but also assists operations because high level officials and leaders are more aware of the programs benefits and are therefore more likely to throw their support behind it.
I am looking forward to another trip to Morogoro this week to try and launch our infant voucher yet again, and to possible future trips to help set up our Equity voucher. MEDA and my bosses in particular I feel is really good at providing opportunities for growth and capacity building. Despite how frustrated I get with things every now and then I am very lucky to be here and to have this opportunity. It may take three months to get a printing job done here that would take a day in Canada, and we may not have power or water but in the end it all works itself out somehow.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Pictures!
Camel
That's right, Buffalo Chicken Wings, Fried and Tossed in a Monkey Gland Sauce. MMMM delicious
Beach!
That's all folks!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Kelly 1, Malaria None
Just a quick note to say that yes I am still alive. I have been busy getting all the fun parts of being in Africa out of the way like Malaria, and a stomach parasite (at the same time - woo!). Work continues to be awesome, despite the fact that my boss keeps sending me home to rest and recuperate every morning (typical morning goes like this: Greg (in thick Kiwi accent) Kelly, what the heck are you doing here? Me: Working, Greg: Trying to work maybe, go home and get well, Me: But.. Greg: GO - I'll get one of the drivers to take you Me; fine.) Other pluses, there is a new Minister of Energy, and so far he seems to be doing a better job. We have had power for most of the day and large parts of the evening for the past 2 days. Will this trend continue? I hope so, although I would gladly not have power between the hours of 8-4 if it meant having power all evening and night. Cooking by candle light on a kerosene burner is just not quite all it's cracked up to be. In fact, Candle light is no longer romantic to me, it just represents yet another coping mechanism for less than stellar living conditions. Oh, here's a good one; so get this, in Tanzania there is a holiday based on the sighting of the moon in Saudi Arabia!! Eid may or may not be this coming Monday and Tuesday, no one knows for sure though so you certainly can't plan a trip! Seriously, hasn't science evolved to the point that we know when the moon will be out? I mean didn't Da Vinci pretty much figure all this moon stuff out centuries ago?? This weekend we have plans of going to the beach for the day only as we cannot guarantee whether or not it will Eid and thus worth staying over. Mind you, I guess I cannot complain too much, after all on my weekends I get to go to deserted beach islands in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and all of you are stuck in snowy Canada/drizzly Britain/where ever you are. Suckers.
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