Vacation in Tanzania

I think I visited Paradise last weekend together with my friend Malena. Zanzibar was wonderful! We spent a day in Stone town and then we went to the beach for another day. It was pouring down rain on our way to the hotel by the beach on the NE side of the main island. Just when we arrived the sun came out again and we spent most of our time in a deckchair, me under a parasol, looking at the ocean.

Besides that one rainy morning, the rain season has been kind to me so far. It's at least 30 degrees C day and night and very humid. I can really feel how I'm thawing up... Now I'm spending a couple of days sitting under a fan in Rosman's garden prepping for my assignment in Nairobi as well as playing with the dog and the turtle, eating lunch with Malena's husband Fredrik and just taking it easy. I can recommend it! Tonight we are celebrating the Dutch Queen's day together with many others based in Dar, all dressed in orange.

I thought I was going to meet a part of the world where everything smells, sounds and feels very different from what I'm used to. It's not that different besides the temperature. Everyone is very nice and the way of greeting each other and talking is very polite and caring, meaning that you always talk about what is going on. I really like that!

A good start

After many hours in planes, it was a good feeling to step out in the heat and humidity in Dar es Salaam and meet Malena. Just back at their nice house after a sun-downer at the yaht club. A good start of my Africa adventure! One week of vacation before work starts in Nairobi :-)

D day!

Last night I tried to fit 5 weeks of things into the allowed no of suitcases and weight... We are talking about suits for work, safari clothing, workout, beach, leisure, rain, sun, warm, cold....presents, hering, Kalles kaviar, dalahorses...and everything else i need. The negotiations will continue this afternoon.

A couple of days ago, we had our first call with our client, WEF. The two ladies were very helpful and knowledgable. There are a lot of activities going on within WEF and a lot of energy to help the women in Kenya. And a lot of boundries and traditions to overcome. For example, the people in Kenya are used to that a lot of things coming from the government are free. So when WEF lends out money, some women think it's for free and that they don't have to pay it back. A lot of communication and training needs to come together with the loan. Things for us to work more with the following month.

Now I first look forward to a team lunch with my colleagues, a quiet flight to Africa and a first drink tomorrow in Rosman's garden in Dar.

Less than one week away

In one week, I hope to be pretty close to landing in Dar es Salaam to visit my friends, the Rosman family.

Yesterday, I spent the morning with a 3 page shopping list in a mall. I was able to tick most of the items off the list. Puh! The next challenge will be to fit everything into the suitcase....
I also took my last immunization , Rabies 3. That was my 7th! Now it's only eating the Malaria pills left. Can probably wait with them until I go to Masai Mara.

In preparing for my assignment, I've started to read a really interesting and funny book called The International Bank of Bob www.kiva.org/events/bankofbob. For me, this is a totally new world that I'm trying to get to know and understand. I sometimes cannot believe what I'm reading, that so little can do so much for a family.

Preparations

I had a lot of reading to do this weekend regarding our client and the assignment. But there are worse places to do that reading in....

Did you know that the repayment rate of the loans given by Women Enterprise Fund (WEF) is over 90%! And we are talking about 800.000 women across Kenya. I think it is amazing how this works! I also really like their motto: You empower a woman, you empower a family and a whole nation. I'm really looking forward to work with WEF and to help them enrich their strategic plan.

Now it's 1½ weeks until I leave for Dar es Salaam to first visit the Rosman family. Malena asked me to pack my wetsuit as there have been heavy rains these last days :-) The security app I've been ask to download by IBM tells me to have flexible travel plans in Dar due to the rain. I hope my new raincoat will do the job now that the rain season of 2 months has begun...