Snakes, Cakes and Rain

Woken up to pouring rain which may explain my visitor last night....

Found  a Black Mamba in my room and as I wasn't staying anywhere near to film it just for your viewing pleasure - found a video on You Tube for you to see what all the fuss is about!

Talking of scary it wasn't the only frightening event... trying to make a cake in a microwave from a recipie that a friend texted me did not go to plan. If it was a cake competition then I certainly wasn't going to win!

My attempt

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The masterpiece!

Finally this is my friend Arthur who runs the internet cafe. He didn't want me to bring him any cake.

And so to work - I had a great sleep despite the snake and was ready to face another day with Grace working through the job in hand.

Settling in, cookery lessons and microwave cake

Settling in to life here in Mzimba and I am being made to feel very welcome. Thought I would share some photos with you and take you on a tour now that I am getting to know my way around.

Firstly the office - this is Grace my lovely colleague.



Grace hard at work

The office toilet

The office kitchen

Walked into Mzimba for a look round and managed to find an Internet Cafe - see I said I would be able to ;-)

Now we move on to my Mzimba family and my cookery lessons :-)



Gorgeous Macy



Macy sound asleep



Tezzie Cooking the corn

The Kitchen

Making 'hard porridge'



Me ruining it!


Tonight I am going to attempt to make a microwave cake - I can't cook at the best of times so it should be interesting for all concerned.






Day One

I am here safe - it is 47 degrees and it was a journey and a half.

I am staying with Patrick, his wife Tessie and their gorgeous 4 month baby.

Tessie has already booked me in for a cookery lesson with her - although the 'hard porridge' has hopefully got lost in translation!

Not a typical day in the office for me. Have spent the day with Grace who is 24, very sweet and works on the accounts for COYIDA. I have been helping her put basic accounting practices in place whilst learning a bit more about Malawi and the NGO COYIDA.

COYIDA stands for Community Youth in Development Activities. The registered as an NGO in 2005. Here are some of the key contributions: Water Sanitation, HIV, Nutrition, childrens rights and sexual protection.

Water Sanitation: To build a shallow well costs £200 and this will sevice 250 households.

HIV: Support groups linked to health care and educating people to eat the right foods.

Children's rights: Funding protection workers who promote children's corners to get children to talk to each other and sort out their problems - giving them a voice.

The Malawi population is 721,000 17% of which is under 5 years of age.

Another interesting chat with Grace was about Netball  - Malawi ranks 5th in the world at Netball and will be at the Olympics...

Making lots of friends here and have been invited to Grace's house for lunch which I am really looking forward to.

And we're off!

And so to Mzimba...

Radio show and quick coffee :-)

Here is the link to the radio show from Monday BBC Northamptonshire it's around 00:40 if you don't want to listen to the whole show. Just listen out for Sade track.

Gorgeous sunshine today - took the chance to grab a nice coffee between meetings - I'm dwarfed by all the buildings surrounding me in Canary Wharf.  Hoping it isn't too much of  a culture shock when I get to Malawi...

My first Radio Interview

Great to speak to the BBC - if you want to listen in John Griff show here it is!

Map of Malawi (I'm going to Mzimba)

Found out today that I am going to Mzimba.

John Griff

What a lovely man - enjoyed my interview with John Griff @BBC Northamptonshire.
Such fun being on radio.
Also brought home how little I know about where I am heading.
Think this is probably a good thing as there are so many mixed emotions about leaving my family.
Off to get organised with my packing.

BBC Northampton

Looking forward to chatting about Malawi to the lovely John Griff at BBC Northampton on Monday.
Will be live around 2:30 and will post a link just in case you miss it!

Being a Mummy

Going to make the most of my last weekend before I leave for Malawi with my family and my beautiful little girl.

I know how lucky I am and I know that at times my adventure is going to be very emotional especially as a mother. Even giving birth in Malawi is a risky business. The maternal mortality rates from 2008 that I read this morning blew me away. In 2008 the UK ratio per 100,000 live births was 8.2 in Malawi it was 1140.1 

I am getting focussed on what I can achieve and know that in the two weeks I will be able to make a very positive difference even if it is helping to set up simple processes in order for things to work more efficiently. It is my accounting skills that I need to use to make a difference. Think this quote from Barbara Sher sums up my thoughts nicely:

'Being gifted creates obligations, which means you owe the world your best effort at the work you love. You too are a natural resource.'

Annie Lennox

Good to see that I am following in fantastic footsteps.

Annie Lennox visited Malawi last month and has said: "My recent visit to Malawi was both inspiring and encouraging, despite the fact that there are still so many challenges to be faced."

Lennox visited the impoverished African country as special envoy to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Scotland Branch (CPASB).

Mr Fergusson, who is president of the CPASB, said: "Last month's visit was a truly humbling and moving experience for me.

"It was clear from what we saw that a little can go a long way. The donations Scots have made over the years, both in terms of time and money, have made a very real difference to people's lives in Malawi."

Since 2005, the Scottish Parliament has been working in partnership with the National Assembly of Malawi to establish working links to help share ideas and ways of working. A pilot scheme which saw 10 MSPs twinned with Malawian counterparts was set up last April.

 I have been tweeting @AnnieLennox hope that she comes back with some packing tips :-)

http://www.annielennox.com/

Injections

Have had my Yellow Fever today and my lovely nurse was happy to be photographed with her instrument of torture.
My departure is drawing closer and the nurses parting advice - to try not to get bitten (I am a mosquito's dream feed)  made me a little bit nervous.

I am swapping my Mulberry  for a backpack and high heels for sandals, have volunteered as part of AfiD (Accounting for International Development) and am heading to Malawi.  

Malawi is the tenth poorest country in the world. It’s the most densely populated country in Africa with few natural resources: HIV/AIDS, low educational attainment and deforestation are some of its more serious challenges and poverty is showing no signs of improvement. 

I will be part of the finance team for a non-government organisation COYIDA for two weeks helping them to improve their accounting systems and make the most of their charitable donations. The main pull for me being a Mummy first and foremost is the difference that the charity money is making to the Orphanage.

In many developing countries the role of the accountant is still completely alien to the local population. My fundamental objective is to help elevate the profile of local finance staff, ensuring they have the confidence and the ability to become a key feature in the organisation’s decision making process and to help create new role models within their local communities.