Oh... and where am I traveling...

My friend from Northwestern, Brennan, arrives in Johannesburg this evening. We're off for 2 weeks. Oddly enough, my roommate from Northwestern, Tony, also happens to be in Africa right now on a Management project for his MBA program at U Chicago, and as luck would have it, has been working with a bank in Johannesburg for these last few days. The 3 of us are all going out tonight in Joburg... from Evanston to South Africa, the world is a small place.

Week 1 of my travels includes Joburg, down to Cape Town, drive the Garden Route (stops in the Winelands of Stellenbosch, then to Knysna, Tsitsikamma National Park, Jeffrey's Bay) to Port Elizabeth, then fly back up to Durban and drive out to the Drakensberg Mountains before returning to Joburg...

... where we will meet Brennan's girlfriend for Week 2 - 4 day safari through Botswana's Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve, and Chobe National Park. And finishing off in Zimbabwe and Zambia at Victoria Falls.

I realize how fortunate I am to take in all of these places, especially to top off an experience like this! Come to southern Africa, you will not regret it! So much to see and do.

My work is through

So here I am in my full Pondo outfit - scarf on my head, the vest, the pants, and the decorated stick as an accessory. You should have seen the reactions the folks of the Municipality were giving me when I unveiled it yesterday before our sendoff party. And if you're wondering about all that smoke, that's from the huge braii they threw us at lunch time.

In true Mbizana fashion, they threw Heather and I quite the sendoff, with a celebration in the Council Chamber - highighted with speeches by Managers and by Heather and I, of course everybody joining together in song, and a champagne toast. And then it was out for the braai!

It is really hard to believe that I've already come and gone from Bizana - what a fast 3 months. I really have learned so much and met so many unforgettable people. We have been welcomed into their community and their family, and I hope that I will see some of them again at some point in my life. I hope that I can return to see a flourishing Bizana.

I spent a lot of the week transitioning with the people of my department, having last training sessions. And I spent most of Thursday morning transitioning with my Manager. Words can't express their gratitude to us - it has meant so much to them that we have come so far from our homes and our families to a place we didn't really know before - but now a place we appreciately immeasurably. The Municipal Manager told me I must return home to tell my family that I have a new family now in Bizana, and their homes were open to my family... so when I brought my family and friends back, we always had a place to stay. I really believe that we did accomplish a great deal in short time on the work front. But even more so, we built personal relationships and friendships that I hope can uphold, over email to start (assuming they keep it up after our training!)

By the way, this is where I've been sitting for the last 3 months writing most of these posts - this is the trailer which is my Manager's office... I usually sit right there at the table.

With Hlangabezo, Ncumisa, and Nwabisa - 3 department officers - before I left yesterday

Last few things... we went out during lunch the other day to the village of Nkantolo close to Bizana, which is where OR Tambo is from and where his Heritage monument is located. I drove out with Heather, Tanya (UN Volunteer) and Tanya's husband Scott. About halfway there, we thought we were lost, so I told Heather to pull over and I would ask the woman on the side of the road. They thought I was crazy because she probably didn't speak any English... and I rolled down the window and completely in Xhosa greeted her, asked her where Nkantolo was, and Thanked her and finished the conversation as she pointed us on our way. When I rolled up the window, Scott turned to me and said, "That was amazing. You didn't speak any English!" By far, one of my crowning moments here in Bizana - and the department LOVED it when I told them. Their lessons paid off.

Had dinner and a few drinks at The Estuary last night and said goodbye to all our local Port Edward/Estuary friends. This morning it was up at 530 and driving the hour and a half to Durban Airport. Seeing the sun rise about the Indian made in a memorable drive - I am sad to not be returning to the Estuary. I landed in Johannesburg this morning.

Spent today in Accenture's Johannesburg office - major shock! A proper office. Good lighting. High speed internet - who knew! Talk about a contrast from one day to the next.

So with that, I am done. I am off to travel for a few weeks before my return home on April 15.

I've really enjoyed keeping up the blog and thank you all out there for reading and continually corresponding with me. I hope you've enjoyed as well. I hope it has painted a picture of my few short months here - and it will certainly serve as a timepiece for me years from now when I read what I wrote.

Hope to check in from my travels - and please do check this still in a few weeks. When I have more time, I will probably post one or two more times, and have more time to share a load of pictures.



Cheers! - Brian

Pondo pants for my last day

The Municipality is sending me off in style. Like with Colleen, Mike, and Cathy, I am getting a traditional Pondo outfit to take back for to the US.

Vuyo (my Manager) had me go to the local crafter to be fitted so that everything fit well. Here I am standing with Radi (pronouced Hadi) who crafts and hand makes all of Vuyo's traditional clothing. Radi had me try on my new beaded vest and also the Pondo pants that I will take with me. Basically like khakis, but all sorts of patches and strings hanging from them. Radi has hanging over her shoulder a couple of the skirts that they are going to present to Heather too.

Look close enough too and Radi's skirt is made of cloth with Mandela's face on it.

My family would get a huge kick out of seeing this fitting and Radi's shop that I went into to be fit. My grandmother was a seamstress and a crafter of her own for about 60 years - tailoring clothes, making clothes, pillow cases, dust ruffles, curtains, etc etc - such an intricate skill and art that is dying out. Anyway, I walked into Radi's shop and I felt like I walked into Grandma's sewing room - it was surreal. Sewing machine, large rolls and random pieces of fabric all over the place, clothes hanging everywhere, yarn and string on the table next to sewing machine. I told Radi about my grandmother and we talked a bit more about their similar skill - she enjoyed that.

This morning, I presented everyone with 1 CD of photos and 1 CD of all the files and templates we've created. Success was marked by seeing them opening their CD-ROM drives after handing it to them.

Sendoff to start around lunch today... my last day in Bizana.

Seeing progress

I had a really great moment here last Friday. I think I wrote about how a few weeks back, I worked with the department Admin Clerk, Phamela, and taught her how to create folders and a file structure on her computer. Her computer is the main repository for department docs, and it really was about 600 unorganized files all in My Documents. So I taught her to create a folder, how to drag a document into it, etc. And then I asked her if she felt comfortable enough to do it on her own, she said yes, and I let her be to finish it on her own. Over the next week, I'd ask her how the the filing was going, and she'd say "Good, good, I'm learning Brian." But as I've experienced all too often here, they say they've learned or they say they've done something, but then when you go back to get a finished product, there is no progress.

So last Friday I walked into her office... and she and I have a great relationship, always laughing and joking... and I say to her "Hey P! How's the project going? You file all of your documents?" and she said yes and asked me if I wanted to see. And so easily, she navigated through her folders and wouldn't you know it, 20 neatly organized and appropriately named folders - for all the different types of docs she has. It put a huge smile on my face, and I just told her how great of a job she'd done, and now could better manage all the department files. I know this all sounds so easy and basic, but you should have seen the smile it put on her face and the confidence it built in her.

So this morning was my final training session - we reviewed all the templates we've created so that they have a refresher in how to use them - project concept template, detailed project plan template, meeting minutes template. As a way to end it, I put together a slide show of photos I've taken here in the Municipality with them, at each of the events, and even a few of the videos I've taken. As many of them don't have cameras, they LOVE seeing photos. And I'm going to burn a CD of the photos for each of them before I leave tomorrow.

Then after the photos of them and us, I showed some photos of me and my life back home - family, friends, Boston, what 3 feet of snow in a blizzard looks like, Fenway Park, and all my other favorite things. They also loved that and got a kick out of it! Some of you out there reading this definitely made the slide show too!

Last week, if you can believe it

I'm not quite sure if anyone out there is still reading this... but I'll keep posting.

Hard to believe, but this is my last week on the project - our contract with UNDP ends this Friday, March 30. So the transition process has begun, and Thursday is the last day at the Municipality. Friday morning I fly to Johannesburg and work from our Accenture office there. I've started to complete all my final documents to hand over to the Municipality and to UNDP. And when I started to reconcile all the documents we've created, and summarize all of our activites, I realized that in short time, we've actually accomplished a lot. Sometimes it doesn't seem so in the daily chaos around this place. But I am organizing files, templates, documents, reports, a transition plan, and everything else to handover to my Manager, Rodger (UNDP Project Lead) and the Municipal Manager.

I spent my last weekend locally in Port Edward and had a great one. Friday night, Heather and I joined Tanya and her husband Scott, and Christina, for the Friday curry buffet at The Estuary. So good. I think it might be the third Friday I've done it. Scott laughed when we walked in because everyone knew me and Heather, we were greeted by everyone. We have become regulars. So a huge Thanks to Gavin (the owner), Sara (manager) and her boyfriend Doug, Sacha, the chefs (including my sports watching pals Des and Boyd), Gugu (receptionist) - just a great bunch of people there who have all made our stay easy, comfortable, and worthwhile. If anyone ever comes through Port Edward on a trip through South Africa, a stop at The Estuary is a must.

Saturday added to the weekend, I certainly had an active day. I was up at 6:00 and on the golf course for 18 holes with Scott by 7:15. Then came home, regrouped a bit, then went on a strenuous yet scenic mountain bike ride through the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve with Heather and Tanya (about 14km, a good balance of up and down hill... I ached on Sunday). I had gone on the trails once about a month ago and loved it, so am glad I was able to make it there a second time before I left. Also a big thanks to Natalie and Jan at Clearwater Trails. And ended the day out for dinner, a few Castle (my favorite South African beer) and a chance to watch the biggest match of the Cricket World Cup thus far - South Africa v. Australia. Unfortunately, SA lost pretty badly.

Stay tuned for updates on the work front through the week...