a merry christmas to all our readers!

I have a terrible confession to make. I have not sent a single Christmas card ... not one. Like I said before, Christmas creeps up on you in Africa and I just, well ... forgot.

But John and I would like to wish all our friends and family a really wonderful holiday and hope that 2009 is a healthy year for all of us.
It's getting hotter and hotter in Botswana - we are waiting for the weather to break and send us some decent rain. That would be a wonderful Christmas present. Pula!

Christmas in Francistown

Work has finally finished and I've had my first weekend off for months. We've decided to stay at home for the holidays ... it will be weird not to be with family but I just could not face the travelling to go to either UK or Cape Town. It has been very hot and dry here for the past few days so we are hoping for rain later this week. It doesn't matter how long I live in Africa - Christmas in summer just doesn't do it for me!
Francistown is completely manic - the supermarkets are heaving and the traffic - well, I won't even go there. There is a definite seige mentality - although I think a lot of the shoppers have come over from Bulawayo in Zim, because, of course, there is nothing in their shops. Someone told me the other day that it can take 5 hours to get through the border now because of the sheer volume of traffic. A Zimbabwean guy we know who lives in Francistown came to us for help yesterday - he'd been in Zim selling maizemeal and as he got back to Francistown on his way home, he got beaten up by a couple of guys and had his money and cellphone stolen. Someone knew he had money. So no Christmas for him and his family. John bailed him out but it is poor comfort. Our neighbour phoned on Saturday to say that we must be more security concious as someone in the Inchwe River Residence next door, got burgled on Friday night ... it is the season, but not to be jolly!

You Tube 2

I've managed to get 2 more videos up - the first is all about a fantastic new hardware product from Microsoft - 'Surface'. This video is not exactly marketing material ... but you'll get the idea! The second video is about the Wii Fit which is my latest toy. John bought me one for my birthday - but I think I like it more than the guys who made the video. In fact, Christmas Eve is officially declared Wii Fit Day in our house as we have friends (Lesley and Guy and their daughters Maggie and Tess) coming round for the afternoon to play on it. For Christmas, John got a whole load of accessories, tennis bats, golf bats, cricket bats etc so we can play all those sports without even leaving the living room. Then we're going to have a braai and stuff our faces with chocolate cake and mango tiramisu ... yum!

New gadget - video bar

I have added a new gadget to the blog - I am highlighting my favourite You Tube videos. To start with I have only put up my all-time, never to be surpassed, favourite YT vid. Please click on the FIRST box to view - and send me a comment to let me know what you think. A word of warning - you have to like either Nilsson or Mariah Carey to appreciate this video ... but then it is very, very funny. Thanks to Flora Okuku who sent this video to me on Facebook. Flora was a Multimedia lecturer at FCTVE and is now on her way back to Kenya with her family. Great stuff! Look out for more videos when I have time.

Four flights and 29 hours later ...

... and I am home again - and only 4 hours late! Flying around Africa on tin-pot national airlines is really not the way to do it. (I hope John doesn't read this otherwise I won't be able to stop him from rushing out to buy an aeroplane!) We were delayed for 2 hours out of Kigali on Rwanda Air ... got to the hotel in Entebbe at 11pm ... up again at 4am ... SAA to Johannesburg (that one worked ok). Then a long wait for Air Botswana who were nearly 2 hours late leaving JNB (and through a mega thunderstorm) but it didn't matter because the Air Botswana Francistown flight was delayed due to a breakdown of the incoming aircraft from Kasane. That flight arrived about 3 hours late so were delayed 4 hours in Gaborone. Gaborone airport must be the hottest airport on this earth ... there are no fans, no AC and no thought went into the design to ensure air flow through the building - it is dreadful.

But it's great to be home even though I've only been away 10 days. Everyone missed me and now we are on the countdown to the final week of the FCTVE project and then Christmas. Still haven't decided whether to stay in Francistown (not the favoured option - it is just too hot) ... go to Cape Town to see Desna and Miranda (and where John might have another hospital procedure) or to join Daniele and Tom in Zanzibar ... decisions, decisions. We'll let you know what the outcome is!

Phew!

The presentation is over and I can relax a little now ... although it sounds like the work is only just about to start. The Ministry Management Team bought my ideas and I am requested by the Minister to start working on a new ODL institution for Rwanda tomorrow - he's given me an interim project team and told me to get on with it! Oh and I'm not allowed to go home on Thursday ... yeah, right!

I'm pleased they agreed with what I had to say - although at dinner last night it became patently obvious that the Minister had already made up his mind that what he needed was distance learning. Consequently my presentation was far too long as I went through the whole 'selling' bit. Nevermind ... as Laurence said, they must have liked it or I wouldn't have been offered the job. Of course there's a little thing to sort out like a contract - but at least the first hurdle has been crossed.

This evening I will meet up with Paul again and together we will try to plan out the next steps of action. More from Kigali later ...

Retail Therapy

Just got back from a mega-trip around the new Kigali with Paul. First we went to change some dollars into spending tokens. No more queuing up in banks or getting ripped off by street exchange merchants - there are little 'cambio' offices everywhere. Apparently all the street guys have been forced to get offices. But it is great ... no queue, no fees, good exchange rate - excellent!


Then we went to the Trade Expo for Artisans ... it was totally wonderful. About 80 stalls from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania selling fab stuff. Paul was the most effective 'financial adviser'. The sellers took one look at the muzungu and doubled their prices. Paul promptly beat them down to half - and then started negotiating. I bought TONNES of stuff (not sure how I'm going to get it home) for very cheap (don't worry John :-)


After we were shopped out, we went on a tour of Kigali to see all the new buildings and gardens - it's certainly a lot more developed. We went to a big new, modern shopping centre - the like of which has never been seen in Kigali. It even has a supermarket - a proper one! The traffic is absolutely crazy - there are just so many cars on the road. There is a huge area in the centre of town which used to be full of shacks and dwellings - it has now been totally cleared to make way for a new business park. The people were given compensation but of course they say it is not enough. All the land owners in the centre of town have been told to either build a multi storey building or sell the land.


OK, I still love Kigali.

Greetings from Rwanda

It's great to be back in Rwanda! It's cold and wet and there is still red mud everywhere - but I love it! I haven't seen much other than the inside of a conference hall and the hotel but certainly there are lots of (huge) new buildings around and the roads are all repaired with good pavements at the side and the central reservations have well-tended gardens. The whole of Kigali is being fitted with fibre-optic cable so that the ICT revolution can really take hold. For the past 2 days I have been in a workshop to discuss a national ICT in Education policy for Rwanda.

I've spent 2 evenings with my old counterpart, Paul, from Kigali Institute of Education - he's been updating me on all the news - there is certainly a lot going on here. Over the weekend I am meeting informally with several of the Ministry Directors who I knew from before ... to find out more about what is happening in education. On Sunday evening I am to have dinner with the Minister and the Education Adviser from DFID. On Monday morning I make a presentation to Ministry Senior Management meeting on my ideas for open schooling in Rwanda.

Not entirely sure what I am going to say yet ... but inspiration will come as I talk to people over the weekend. Tomorrow morning Paul is taking me to a Craft Expo ... looking forward to that. Oh .. and a message for George and John - the dawn chorus is just as loud as it ever was - wonderful!