Food, Food and More Food

Ryan and I have embarked on some pretty fantastic projects in the past two months. (It turns out it takes 2 years to navigate development in Swaziland to have great ideas turn into great outcomes, or really any outcome.) I have great relationships with the women at the camp, however, because they spend most of their time in their home cleaning, cooking and taking care of children, I never was able to successfully get a project started with them – I just couldn’t get them out of their houses.  (They are very dedicated homemakers.) While talking to my friend Yvonne who is from Burundi about what the women might be interested in, we decided to ask Peace Corps for some money and have a week-long food preservation workshop. (Aren’t you glad that for once I wasn’t asking you for money? :D ) The idea behind the workshop was that these women could gain some new skills and maybe even create an income from those skills at some point. While we had them captivated, we also threw in a nutrition lesson, an HIV lesson, and a condom demonstration lesson, which is always fun.

We were able to hire a trainer from Rural Development Areas in Siteki to teach the class, which allowed me to sit back and learn myself. The outcome was delicious - Guava juice, marmalade, apple and banana jam, guava fruit rolls, atcha (canned peppers with chilies), dried apples, dried bananas, dried spinach, onions and carrots! Cakes, swazi buns, and more cakes, and peanut butter!

While we did learn how to create a lot of delicious things, the women in attendance took it a step further and are now currently working with Umphakatsi (the Chief) to raise funds to buy their very own industrial sized peanut butter grinder to start their own business! On their own! Without me! I am not involved at all! I am very proud of them and happy that they have found something they are passionate about. I wish them the best of luck.  Maybe someday Mpaka will have its very own peanut butter brand, like Bulembu does with honey!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the event:

This little boy joined us for the entire week! He was brave enough to be one of the two males who attended.

Peanut Butter!!

Me with RDA's Make Simalene (left) and Yvonne (right).

Swazi Buns!

Another Day...Another Project...that needs your help

Another project!? That's right. As our Peace Corps service comes to an end we are tying up loose ends over here. One project that we are trying to get off the ground is a poultry raising income generation project over at the Malindza Refugee Camp. The poultry raising project is under the helm of the Malindza Refugee Camp Development Committee, a development committee comprised of refugees from the four different countries represented at the camp: Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia and Congo. I have been meeting with this group for about six months in an advisory capacity. I sit in on the meetings and have helped them design a constitution and business proposal (which will be presented below). This a dedicated and SMART group of guys who want to start income generation projects for the benefit of the camp. The profits from this project will go to paying school fees of refugee families who cannot afford it as well helping other refugees set up other income generation projects to help the camp be self-sustaining and self-reliant.

Below is a detailed business proposal that details where your money is going to be spent as well as a link to an indiegogo site with directions on how to donate. Thanks for your time. Any help is appreciated.

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/poultry-raising-at-malindza-refugee-camp/x/2910989

Business Proposal:

My name is Ryan Hall. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Swaziland, Africa. I am working with a group of refugees who have formed a development committee to start and promote income generation projects at the Malindza Refugee Camp. The focus of this project is to lift refugees out of poverty and reliance on the Swazi government by creating a project that will generate income. Their initial project is to renovate a poultry house in order to raise chickens to sell on the market in Swaziland.The generation income will go on to address social needs at the camp such as paying school fees for residents. The profits will be used as seed money for other income generation projects for refugees. A number of these project ideas will come from women in the camp. A big component of this project is the training of the Development Commitee itself so as to assure the sustainability of this project. Below is a summary of their business proposal. You can help by donating money and telling your friends about this great cause.
Introduction

The Malindza Refugee Development Committee is an association comprised of refugees whose aim is to help the residents of the Malindza Refugee Reception Center. It aims to establish a variety of sustainable income generation projects to assist refugees in Swaziland to become self-sustainable. Our first project aims to raise chickens to sell on the market in Swaziland.
Refugees seeking asylum in Swaziland come from hardships including war, genocide, economic catastrophe and xenophobia. When they arrive in Swaziland they have little to no earthly possessions or means for employment. Many go hungry or rely on outside charitable organizations for food and assistance. The community is full of young parents who are not employed.
The Malindza Refugee Development Committee is a pioneer group working to change this paradigm by starting income generation projects that provide gainful work as well as emergency assistance to those in need. The profits from these income generation projects will go to a variety of ends including: assisting other residents to start income generation projects and paying school fees. This project has the potential to improve the general standard of living at the Malindza Refugee Reception Center. Our long term vision is to be a leading chicken producer in Swaziland to expand our operation to renovate other poultry houses on the premises as our business grows.

Objectives
The Malindza Refugee Development Committee hopes to:
            (a) raise 2,000 chickens per month to be sold on the open market with an emphasis on butcheries and restaurants that sell Halal meat products. A total of 500 chicks per week can be reared in our deep litter house.

Beneficiaries
The residents at the Malindza Refugee Reception Center will benefit from this project. Unemployed refugees will benefit by working as casual laborers. We hope to employ 12 people for the initial project. When this project is fully operational we will employ more refugees. After the project has shown to make a profit the Development Committee will hear and attend to the development ideas of other refugees in the camp. This project will address the camp concerns of idleness, food security and lack of gainful employment.

Input (in Emalengeni 1E = 9USD)

ITEM	QUANTITY	RATE	COST
Chicks	400	5.80	2,320
Starter Feed	4	265	2,120
Grower Feed	12	255	3,060
Finisher Feed	12	255	3,060
Vitamins	2	35.35	70.70
Fosbas (vaccination)	1	153.90	153.90
Casota (vaccination)	2	33.65	67.30
Gumbora (vaccination)	2	57.25	114.50
Feed Tray	8	39.90	319.20
4Liter Fount	8	40.50	324
10 Liter Fount	8	79.80	638.40
Tube Feeder	8	101.50	812
Sawdust	2	160	120
Wiring	2 x 100 m	300	600
Lamp holders	60	5	300
Globes	60	7	420
Heater	5	150	750
Gum Poles	10	50	500
Corrugated Iron	20	75	1,500
Doors	2	250	500
Bag of Cement	1	75	75
Nails	1 bag	25	25
Cleaning Supplies	5	50	250
Lulote Business Management Training	1 course	12,000	12,000

Grand Total Input:                                             30,000 (3,333 USD)

Return

Total Cost: 30,000 (3,333 USD)

Total Revenue after first five week rotation: 87,500 (9,722 USD)

Total Return: 57,500 (6,388 USD)

Every week through the production the project can manage to sell 500 broiler chickens (five weeks old) for the amount of E35 per chick. The total amount will reach E70,000 per month.
With this income after five weeks of our rotation the company will be able to raise 87,500 (9,722 USD) amount with 57,500 (6,388 USD)  profit. This will allow the company to pay its employees E350 per week and to establish a base of customers before expanding to meet the needs of an expanding market after the first harvest.

Community Group Contribution

The Malindza Refugee Development Committee is committed to a sustainable structure that will give long-term employment to Malindza refugees to ensure financial independence and nutritional improvement. To this end the residents of the Malindza Refugee Reception Center have contributed.

ITEM	QUANTITY	RATE	COST
Electricity			1,000 per month
Land	Held	In	King’s Trust
Structure	3	20,000	60,000
Water	1,000 L	15	1,500 per week
Labor for Rennovation	50	5	1,500 per month

A previous poultry project has afforded the Malindza Refugee Reception Center with a poultry house. In order for this to be operational it needs to be renovated to raise the chickens to sell. Otherwise, all other contributions have come from members’ private resources and outside private donors.

Timeline

April: Submission of proposal                      
June: Receive Money. Renovate and complete structure for chicken raising. Start raising chickens
July: First five week period. Sell first batch.
August: Second five weeks period. Sell second batch.
September: Third five week period. Sell third batch.
October: Fourth five week period. Sell fourth batch.
November: Fifth five week period. Sell fifth batch.
December: Clean poultry house. Start first batch for 2014.

Request
We are asking for donations to fund the start up costs of this project. After careful market research we are certain that after selling 2,500 chickens this will be a self-sustaining project and all incurring costs will be paid directly from the group’s profits.
Part of the start up costs include business management training by Lulote BMEP, a business management training organization that will provide training to the Development Committee and will oversee and monitor the project. This will ensure transparency, sustainability and wise management of resources.
The secretary, in liaison with the donor agents, will ensure proper project development by delivering a six month and annual report, as well as any reports the donor may require as the group’s constitution stipulates.
The Malindza Refugee Development Committee hopes to receive any assistance possible to ensure the livelihood of this project. This includes both cash and in-kind donations. We believe that implementing a successful income generation project we will change the paradigm at the Malindza Refugee Reception Center from one of helplessness and victimhood to hope and entrepreneurship.

Malindza Refugee Development Committee

Bushfire Music Festival Refugee Project - We Need Your Help!

-->Family and Friends –

Greetings from Swaziland! Once a year at the end of May the world descends on Swaziland. I am not taking about the Umhlanga ceremony (which if you google Swaziland will probably be the first image you see…try it), the Incwala Ceremony or the ever popular Marula festival, I am talking about the MTN Bushfire Music Festival which has the distinction of being one of the biggest music festivals in Southern Africa. About 5-6,000 people attend from all of over the world to see great international musical acts. This year we have a very special opportunity to make an impact in the lives of refugee women during the Bushfire festival.

As you know Addy and I do most of our work at a refugee camp. These refugees come mostly from Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo. These refugees live in destitute conditions at the camp, often not getting enough food to feed themselves. This multiplies if they have children, with many mothers skipping meals so that their children can eat. We are announcing a project that can help women put food on the table in a sustainable way.

If you have never been to Africa, it is massive. Each country has its own distinct culture, language and cuisine. Bushfire celebrates music, culture and cuisine from all over Africa and the world by renting stalls to vendors to sell their unique food. Last year there was Italian, Indian, American, German food being sold as well as stalls from Mauritius, Mozambique and South Africa. With my help, camp residents applied for and were accepted to sell food at one of these stalls provided by the festival. The stall will feature a unique dish from each of the major countries represented (Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo). This is an extremely exciting project. This project piggy-backs on a week-long income generation workshop that Addy is doing with the women at the camp to learn canning, baking and peanut butter making. The stall will be run and the food will be cooked 100% by refugee women and all of the profits will go back to refugee women themselves and to help them start a co-op to implement these income generation projects.

With that said selling at a festival of this size is a bit daunting. We want to make this funded 100% independently by outside donors or investors. This is where you come in. These women are refugees and we as Peace Corps Volunteers do not have the kind of capitol to raise this amount of money. We are looking to you to help cover the cost of the ingredients, serving trays, transport and decoration of the stall. We know this is going to be quite expensive. If you can donate anything, a little bit (thanks to a generous 1:9 exchange rate) goes a long way here. For example if you donate twelve dollars you have donated 108E this side. 100 dollars is close to 1,000 E.

The best way to donate is through my paypal account. It is easy. Click on the send money tab and type in my e mail address: dontsignanythingyet@gmail.com

I know you are probably sick of getting hit for money from your Volunteer friends but without your support there is no way we can pull this off. If you have any questions on donating or how to use paypal to send donations please let me know.

Ngiyabonga Kakhulu (thank you tooooo much)

Ryan and Addy

2013 – You are very welcomed.

The New Year came and went and 2013 has brought with it a jubilant ease and change of attitude that the last couple of months of 2012 was holding back.  This year has so much possibility, inside of Peace Corps and now the chance of looking onto what is after Peace Corps. I have been given way more than I could ever give from this experience and I need to thank the other Peace Corps Volunteers, my host-family, my ever-patient husband and my amazing and close counterparts from the refugee camp and else-where for these great experiences.  While not every project (or any project) was a decisive success, I came out of each one of them stronger, smarter, and ultimately a better future-volunteer.  I hope in 2013 I can navigate the ever-tricky waters of development work and contribute to projects in a more sustainable way.  While I am not sure how much success I have had in the last 20 months in building the capacity of others, I can say that my capacity has been built, and although sometimes I wish I could see even a sliver of change in my community from my presence, the change I see in myself is the best gift Peace Corps could give me.

How to wrap up 2012? My husband loves best-of lists.  I love making to-do lists.  This seemed obvious.

2012 Swaziland Favorites & Bests

Favorite Quote from a Swazi Child

“This one, he is poofing all the time!! Help me!” – Adelyn

“This white family is so smart with technology” (spoken while watching Mission Impossible) - Ryan

Favorite Memory

Swimming in the river with the Dlamini family

Worst Memory

The diarrhea that ensued from swimming in the river with the Dlamini family.

Favorite Restaurant

Fancy = Swazi Candles

Not Fancy = Tutsi’s Swazi Kudla in Manzini

Favorite Vacation Spot

Inhaca Island – Maputo, Mozambique

Best Food in 2012

Fish Market – Maputo

Favorite PC Memory

Christmas in June with G8/G9

Favorite Project 2012

GLOW

Favorite Swazi

My host-babe, obvious.

Favorite South African Saying

Is it? (An exclamation of surprise, shock, or question)

Favorite Swazi Holiday
Umhlanga (Reed Dance)

Favorite Place to Chill

Our hammock on our homestead

Favorite Swazi Animal

Sipoko

Senator John McCain

Favorite Vacation Spot in Swaziland

Hlane National Park

Favorite Albums I listened to in 2012 (Some are not from 2012)

Bon Iver - Perth

Iron and Wine – The Shepherds Dog

The Weeknd – House of Balloons

Frank Ocean – Channel Orange

Okkervil River – The Stage Names

Hammock – Departure Songs

Jay Z and Kayne West – Watch the Throne

Johann Johannsson – Fordlandia

Best TV Show in 2012

Boardwalk Empire

Best Books in 2012

War

The Mole People

The Pyschopath Test

What I Will Miss the Most

Host family, Camp family, and the wild lightning storms

Favorite Swazi Children

Our homestead neighbor bo-bhutis, Miso and Titsetso

Favorite Scary Creature

Flying termites that burst open from the ground after the rain, and only live through the night

Favorite object on the homestead

Babe’s Whip (Goodbye snakes!)

Best Moments from America in 2012

My brothers wedding

When Dan presented himself to the unexpected Potter’s out of the trunk of our car and Atlas screamed with fright/delight

When Dallin was forced to spend an extra 2 days with us thanks to Hurricane Sandy

Pizza from Roco’s with Corey and Katie in Brooklyn

Skyping with Wendy after the birth of her first baby boy, Conrad

Seasons Greetings!

It is safe to say that Ryan and I (unintentionally) dropped off the blogosphere for an indefinite period of time -  but we are back! In the last three (!) months of not updating, a lot has happened. We went to America and celebrated the union of my brother and his beautiful wife Caitrin in NY, we saw our nephew Noam for the first time, Ryan shot a few birds with my sister’s boyfriend Kyle, and we caught up with family and friends  while huddled together trying to stay safe from Hurricane Sandy.  After clearing the Atlantic without incident, Ryan and I spent a few days is eJozi taking the GRE and trying to re-acclimate to life in Africa.  By the time we strolled up to the Tsabedze homestead with kakhulu presents and emasnacks from America, Ryan and I were definitely grateful to be back on Swazi soil. 

While it took me about a week of sleep to get back in the Swaziland time zone, Ryan and I hit the ground running once we got back to site. We were each approved for our Books for Africa applications, which means we will receive 1,000 books each for the camp and the school.  I have been organizing a GLOW counterpart training which will take place in January, and Ryan has been doing manly things like painting and mortaring the library and preschool at the camp to get it ready for our book delivery in May.  While the last few weeks of school term were extremely busy for us, school term ended this week, which means I see hiking, reading, and lots of mango eating in our future. 

My goal for Christmas break is to teach our homestead pup, Senator John McCain, how to run with me on a leash.  The first attempt ended with me in a mud puddle and Senator free from leash and collar down the road, along with 3 of our other homestead dogs following enroute, but I am determined to have a running partner if it kills me! (Which it might.)

I cannot overstate how nice it is to have free time – to take in the sun rise and sun set, to swing in the hammock while listening to the oncoming thunder rumbling through the valley of Mpaka, to sit outside with the family and read while BoMake shuck maize and discuss matters in SiSwati that still go past me; this is time that I cherish and will miss while immersed in the chaos of American culture. 

As Ryan and I apply to graduate schools and plan ahead for the future it is definitely clear to us that our time in Swaziland is coming to an end faster than we anticipated.  While 7 months is still some time, it is nothing compared to the 27 months that we signed on for, and our Swazi bucket list is creeping up on us and making us both a little anxious.  We have gorges to see! Waterfalls to swim in! Mountains to hike! Wonders of the world to visit! Thank goodness Swaziland doesn’t move in December or January so we can relax and enjoy its beauty in the next couple of months. 

I can’t help shake the feeling that while I miss my family and friends greatly back at home, there is a constant inward struggle thinking that going home to them means leaving my home here.  I know I am not leaving tomorrow, but I have a great appreciation for the family and friends we have made here that has made Swaziland a 2^nd home.  I couldn’t get time to speed up our first year in Swaziland, and now I can’t get it to slow down. I guess that is part of Peace Corps charm – it isn’t always pleasant, but it opens your eyes to see a world bigger than you and leaves you with a dual appreciation for your own culture and the culture of others. It’s pretty cool.

Oh, and in the past 3 months Obama won office – that was win. (Ncesi to my entire family who voted otherwise. Except (I’m assuming) Dallin.  Good for us!)

Until next time,

Happy Holidays from the Hall’s! 

 

SiSwati to English Translator

Kakhulu – a lot

Emasnacks – Snacks

BoMake – Mothers

Ncesi - Sorry

Sweating and Swearing

Addy’s last blog post brought you up to speed with some of the projects and trips we have been on. We haven’t updated this blog in a criminally long time. Ncesi. One of the things she mentioned was that I was working on some pretty manly stuff like renovating a library. Truth.

Manly is one way to describe it. But the project, in fact, only has little to do with men. Most of it involves women, children and a couple of dudes doing most of the grunt work. Sweating and swearing a lot. Most of it in languages I don’t understand, but with a few choice expletives that cut across any language barrier.

 To bring you up to speed in the camp lies a derelict building that contains three rooms. Two small ones designated for a pre-school and nursery and a larger one designated for a library. UNICEF has promised to fund the running and operation of the pre-school pending renovation of the buildings. They have partnered with Swaziland’s acting partners Department of Home Affairs and their acting counterparts CARITAS. A E6,000 grant was approved to purchase some of the supplies to renovate the buildings. Jenny Hammond, a local businesswoman and former refugee agreed to kick in any additional funds.

Here is where Peace Corps comes in. Due to our extensive time and relationship investments at the camp we are pretty good at mobilizing the community to do the hard work. Replacing broken windows, painting, mortaring cracks, constructing a fence, replacing doors and building shelving (to come). This has been a unique and ultimately rewarding experience for us. The other day while installing the fence around the perimeter I looked around at the guys working. Somalians, Rwandans, Burundians, Congolese, two Swazi professional builders who are working only for in-kind food donations and the ubiquitous American twenty-something working together to construct a fence that, due to the refugees transient stay at the camp, may not be of any direct benefit to them in the present. Instead, for nothing but a scant meal of samp and beans they were working in the dead heat of a lowveld December afternoon.

This is, I think, where the Peace Corps shines. We are able to mobilize communities by integrating into them. I was sweating and swearing along with the refugees instead of sitting behind a desk trying to raise “awareness” about literacy or early childhood education.

I asked one of the residents early in the morning if people would come and work. He said, “if they see you, they will come”. That was cool.

After we finished I sat under a tree and played Scrabble with some Rwandans. It was a lively game although I killed with Kuwait on a triple letter space.

Merry Christmas!

Candy Beans

It’s hot. I’ve been sick now for four days. Puppies are everywhere and my phone will not stop “buzzing”.  I pack up with Ryan and decide it is time for a nice relaxing trip to town.  After some scuffling around and a mentally draining phone call from the camp, Ryan and I fetch a ride with our host family to the bus station.  We board the bus after only 5 minutes of waiting.  We take a seat. Ryan gets comfortable with The Economist and I with my book.  All of the sudden screams come out of the television set on the bus; they have decided to turn on “The Punisher.” Anyone familiar with this movie would be surprised that a conductor with a bus full of school children would decide to play such a movie, as I am under the opinion that people should have consent before having to watch such a terrible film.  Pouring salt into the wound, Ryan and I are right below the speakers. After listening to the screams of a man getting his teeth pulled out and a woman getting thrown off a building, I have had enough.  Enough of the constant noise.  Enough of the chickens.  Enough of the poverty and lack of efficiency and poor quality of every single item I have ever bought in the last 14 months. Enough of being so far away from home.  Enough, enough, enough…

Ladies and Gentlemen, I had hit my one-year-mark-what-in-the-hell-am-I-doing-here blues.  

Peace Corps has this chart called the “Peace Corps Volunteer Re-adjustment Chart”. It maps the highs and lows of most volunteers and when to expect the rough spots and how to deal with them.  I would call it ridiculous if it wasn’t so spot on.  I am sure anyone ever involved in development work, whether in or out of the States, has reached these re-adjustment points, and as our PCMO says, you either adjust or you go home. 

After getting off the bus from Mpaka to Manzini, we boarded a sprinter bus (what Swazi’s call a khumbi) and headed off to Mbabane.  We were jammed in the back but I was relatively happy because the window was open. Sitting next to Ryan was an 8-year- old girl.  She was eating jellybeans and I will be frank, I was staring watching her eat them.  I see her catch my eye, we smile at each other, and I look away.  A couple of minutes later, she turns to Ryan and says, “I saw your wife looking at me, she smiled and I thought it was cute, can you please give her these sweets for me?” My. Heart. Melted. Maybe it was the sugar high, maybe it was the adorable little girl showing me what I considered a very real act of kindness, but all the tension and frustration left me.  We sat together eating candy beans and talking about our lives here in Swaziland.  She lives in Manzini and is going with her brother to visit her family.  She asks about America and sees our big bags and asks us about camping.  “I think camping would be scary because of all the sharks, snakes and alligators.  Do snakes ever get you when you are camping?” I show her American money and give her some coins to show her friends.  She seems excited and gives me a “haibo!” when I show her a U.S. quarter, although she does exclaim, “No, it’s ok. I have real money. (Pointing to her emalengeni coins).  She gets off the bus and we waive goodbye and my “enough of this” attitude vanishes and I am left thinking that maybe we could just stay here forever. Maybe J