We proceeded to make our way down to the river. Now this I was not expecting, a horrendous half hour climb down Batoka Gorge. A few slips and bruises later we reached the river. We hopped into the raft and got some more instructions from our raft guide Cassias (the lead guide). Our start was delayed after a croc sighting but then we all courageously pressed on our way. Now there are 25 numbered rapids on the Zambizi but we started from no. 11. The first 10 were too challenging and were not open commercially, only for experts.

We had the time of our lives! We were all first timers yet we were the only raft not to capsize. Cassias was a great guide allowing us to jump off the raft when it was safe while the other rafters stayed put. And jump we did. We even went down a couple of the rapids with nothing but our lifejackets. What a thrill! Along the way we were also fortunate to do a cliff dive. Nothing too high but high enough to put in a good scare for some. Now I’m not one for heights but I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t even pause a second, as soon as I hit that ledge I was off. It’s the waiting and looking down that scares the hell out of you.

I can’t even describe the beauty of the scenery along the river through Batoka gorge, with Zambia on one side and Zimbabwe on the other. It was breathtaking. I have a 40 second video which I’ll upload when I get back in Canada. After a hell of a ride on the Zambizi we finally made it to the end, no casualties. We drudgingly made our way back up Batoka Gorge. My lower back cramped half way through and my march up was agony, embarrassingly I was the last one up. We were served a nice meal, given a certificate of achievement, and then taken back. We finished off the night with dinner at a nice restaurant with a live band playing. What a day!

The following day we went back to Vic Falls, this time to get up close and personal with it. The day started off with some souvenir shopping. They had a street in Livingstone just lined up with stalls, one after another, at least 50 or so. Man did these people want your business. It was a quick handshake pushing you into their stall and “Come in come in, it’s free to look. Look, touch, I’ll give you morning price.” And everyone had the same pitch! The stuff they were selling was great though and it wasn’t hard to get a good bargain. They loved to barter and the art of negotiation was half the fun of buying the crafts.

We finally made our way to the Falls and guess what was there before the entrance, like a hundred more stalls. With all the shopkeepers hollering at us to come in and get a morning price, they made it difficult to say no. We picked up a couple of trinkets and promised we’d be back after the Falls. I got myself a Nyami necklace.

The Nyami is the serpent God of the Zambizi River, wearing it keeps you safe. Legend has it the Nyami would come down to the villagers in times of drought. They would cut pieces of meat of its body for food. Nyami literally translated means meat. When the villagers were forced to relocate away from the Falls in 1958, they prayed to Nyami who then unleashed the worst flooding ever on the Zambizi to punish those against them. It is said now that Nyami got stuck along the river while its wife got stuck on top of the dam.

We made our way to the Falls and what a sight it was. Vic Falls is twice as wide (1.7km) and twice as deep (108m) as Niagara Falls. We made our way around all the walkways to see the Falls from many angles. The mist from the Falls was everywhere. I was told during rainy season, not to even bother coming out as we would be completely drenched from the mist, but it wasn’t too bad now. Someone told us we can make our way down to see the Falls from way down below and the walk would be a few minutes. Liars! We were expecting a manmade concrete path but ended up walking down a sandy and dirt cliff side and then wading through streams of water for 20 minutes. We weren’t even sure where we were going until we got there, it was like hiking through the forest with no sense of direction. But it was worth the trouble. We made it to the bottom where the Falls met the Zambizi. Between the Falls, the river, and the gorge, what landscape!

After hanging around there for a while, taking in the scenery we made our way back up the rough terrain and back to the shops. Some more haggling and a few more crafts. I struck up a conversation with one of the shopkeepers. He told me that the land was theirs and they paid nothing for those stalls. They were all from the same village which got relocated. There were 300 of them sharing the stalls trying to make some money from the tourists. It was a tough life, so much competition amongst the few tourists looking to buy. I told him I was going to work at an arts and crafts place. He was intrigued and invited me back to their village to meet the chief. If only I could, what an experience it would have been. Alas I was pressed for time and needed to leave for work the next day. I left him with my info and told him to call me.

After leaving the Falls we hurried back to catch a sunset cruise on the Zambizi. It was another great experience with fantastic scenic views. We saw a few hippos, crocs, and baboons and got to meet more interesting people. A nice dinner on the cruise and then a live band playing by camp fire, it was another great day in Zambia.

That night it was time for goodbyes. The girls were continuing their trip up to Chobe National Park and then the Okavango Delta. Lucky them. It was time for me to report to work. I got up in the morning, caught a taxi back to the border and got swindled by the cabbie for a few extra bucks. Not uncommon when you’re a tourist I suppose. I got to customs which was a complete mess. After passing through I had no more local currency but had to pay for the ferry to get back to Botswana. I spotted a tour operator taking care of a bunch of Italians and managed to catch a ride in their boat to get across. Tito was a nice guy and willing to help me out. You find a lot of people like that when you’re travelling. As much as you can get ripped off, there are enough people out there willing to give you a hand. With my faith in the goodness of people restored I jumped into a cab in Botswana and made my way to the bus rank (station).

The cabbie told me all the buses had already left for the day. It was 9 in the morning! Being the long weekend I wasn’t the only one stranded. He dropped me off on the side of the road where a hundred people or so were there looking to hitch a ride as well. It wasn’t going to be easy to get a ride! Again I struck up a conversation with someone and he said he’d help get a ride but we could be here all day.
About 2 hours later I finally managed to catch a ride. It was a combie(mini minibus) and he fleeced me along with everyone else. Let’s face it, a hundred people and only a few cars passing by, he could charge whatever he wanted. Did he ever stuff people into that combie. We were 17 people packed into what would seat 10 people comfortably. Another uncomfortable ride but hey, at least I was sitting down this time.

I left the combie at Nata, a small crossroad town to catch the bus to Maun. It was late but I managed to catch the last bus. 5 minutes later and I would have been stranded for the night. I got onto the bus and three quarters of it was kids, well teenagers. They were coming back from a conference and were happy to talk to a “white man” as they called me. They taught me some Setswana, the local language of Botswana, and I taught them some French and Arabic. We did have to stop as the bus driver was driving a bus with no headlights, crazy. An hour and a mechanic later, we hit the road. We all had a good time on that bus.

I got picked up from Maun from my local WUSC rep, spent a night at a very nice hostel and then left the following afternoon to my destination town of Gantsi. My travelling time was over and it was time to get working.

A typical weekday for me is getting up at 7am, way too early. Start work at 8, have lunch at the hotel restaurant, finish at 5, go to the grocery store, cook dinner, watch satellite TV, and then repeat 5 times a week. The weekends are something else though. I have a fellow Canadian who works here too and the staff at work are a great bunch so while it might sound boring, it has been a lot of fun.
Gantsi is a small town of 10 000 people and is considered to be the capital of the Kalahari. There are many San people (the Bushmen) here accounting for half the population. The story of the San people is remarkable. They are called the first peoples as they have been around for 15 000 years. Being hunters and gatherers there way of life has definitely changed now. I can only hope it’s for the better but they are still the most marginalized community in Botswana.

I work here at San Arts and Crafts. San Arts and Crafts (SAaC) is a wholesaler of traditional arts and crafts made by the San people. Their aim is to create more channels for the distribution of San crafts to bring more money back to San producers and communities. I am impressed by what they have done here. SAaC works with 7 other ngo’s to form the Kuru Family of Organisations. Collectively they work towards improving the lives of the San people. While there are many political issues and some bad blood between Kuru and the San people, they find a way to work together. What has impressed me the most from working in the crafts sector is to see the immediate impact of the work being done here.

This is how it works; the San make the crafts from materials donated by Kuru. Within a week or two someone from Kuru goes up to their isolated settlements and purchases the crafts from them, instant cash being injected into those communities. While those producing the crafts tend to be a minority in the village, there still is a dedinate and immediate impact by injecting cash into those communites. There are currently close to 800 craft producers working with Kuru. The opportunity definitely exists for increasing that number exponentially however the marketing channels are still lacking. Those crafts are then divided between a retail and wholesale distributor. The retail distributor sells the crafts to tourists passing through Gantsi. The wholesaler (SAaC) sells to buyers from across Botswana. With a long-term marketing volunteer working at SAaC presently they are exploring getting these crafts into South Africa, Europe, and the States. The biggest challenge is finding a reliable agent to distribute with and then high cost of shipping. Botswana is land locked so transporting goods is difficult and costly no matter what business you are in.

This system does work greatly while it does have its flaws. Kuru currently is dominated with ex-pats so the San have still not found their way into the upper ranks. What this means is they are highly dependant on the ex-pats making this initiative not truly sustainable. Cultural and political issues are dominant here and until the San are given more involvement at higher levels, this project is not sustainable and would disappear should the ex-pats ever leave.

However the system is really remarkable. The settlements participating in this project would otherwise have no means of bringing this economy into their communities. Of the few other craft producers I have seen and talked to elsewhere in Botswana and in Zambia this system doesn’t exist. I believe that introducing this type of system to other craft producers in other regions would have a similar impact. Bringing money and economy into remote regions where few opportunities exist. You can’t believe how many marginalized people in Africa depend on selling arts and crafts as a livelihood. Creating opportunities and channels for them to produce more and sell more can certainly help in aiding marginalized communities find a way to prosper and bring hope for the future.

So what has my work here entailed? I have been involved at an operational level. With a marketing volunteer present, SAaC wanted me to help manage and implement controls for their inventory, purchasing, and oreder fulfillment systems so when markeing increased demand, they would have a capacity for it. I have also been tasked with creating job descriptions and consultancy contracts for those working with SAaC daily.

Only outdated job descitpitons and expired contracts were in place, so this was definaelty needed. Plus a manager was hired, taking over as I left so his duites needed to be outlined. After using a collaborative approach I wrote up the descriptions and contracts to everyone’s satisfaction. They are to be submitted at the next board meeting where I am told they are sure to be accepted.

Often, volunteers are tasked with producing work and reports that would not be used once they leave. NGO’s are happy just to show on paper to their donors that they are brinigng in thses volunteers. Its unfortunate but then again most volunteers are young students with no work experience and a few years into university, I suppose its understandable. In fact many people I have talked to here are convinced the volunteer system does not work and often does more harm than good. After meeting many volunteers and NGO’s I am afraid this can be true for the majority of cases. This doesn’t mean I’ve given up hope. I am stilled convinced there can be a mechanism for bringin in masters students who would have a tremendous impact. These are skilled and knowledgeable people with years of work experience. The challenge is to match up the right people with the right organisations at the right time. My experience here has shown me this is possible and I will continue to work at making this program, the iCOP, into a reality. Giving other students the chance to gain what I have gained and help marginalized people benefit from the great skills they possess.

Getting back to my work, I was happy to know the documents I created will be used. I did not come out here to be patronized or marginalised. Maybe a young kid would be happy just for the experience to be out here but I wanted my work to matter. The second part of my mandate was the creation of inventory management systems. Thankfully, a software was already in place and a system was being used, at least I wasn’t working from scratch. I created extra layers of controls and continued to stress to everyone the importance of balancing manually inventory controls with those in the software. By being more accurate and creating more controls, they would be able to vastly reduce billing and shipping errors and reduce the heavy amount of lost inventory stock every year. After much work, I balanced manual and inventory counts and implemented the system. Everyone was made aware of the new inventory polices, from when a product arrived in the door to when it was shipped to the customer. They were all eager to use it hoping a little extra work now would save much more in the long run.

I feel my time here was a success. I had addressed priority issues and now the rest was up to them. I met with the new manager and it was up to him to make sure that this system was being used and they didn’t fall back into old habits. You do what you can in a short time but in the end, it’s their responsibility to use what they’ve been given. I must faith they will practice what I preached. Otherwise my work would have been pointless, but I refuse to believe that.

So what’s next? I finish here in a few days and then I’ll do a week of travelling. Either in Botswana or Namibia, there’s still plenty more for me to see. Finally Paris for 2 days and back home.

So enjoy the pictures that I’ve put up and I’ll see you all soon.

As it was a long weekend in Botswana, I decided to head to Victoria Falls in Zambia to do some sightseeing before starting work. As I previously mentioned I had met a few Canadian volunteers while in Gabs. They were planning a long trip and invited me to join them up to Zambia. We headed down to the bus station to meet another volunteer. As we arrived we met up with the third member of our group heading down to Zambia. The bus station was something else! You see it was the long weekend in Botswana so everyone was hoping on the buses, the only form of transportation if you don’t have a car, other than hitchhiking. The line-up for the bus was at least a few hundred people long, with everyone pushing and scuffling trying to get their spot on a bus. We did the only thing a bunch of tourists can do, pay a local to cut us in line and get us some seats. After cutting in line and hearing an earful for it, we managed to get seats quickly.

Fives hour later, we arrived in Francistown, the second largest city in Botswana. We met the last member of our travelling posse, and spent the night, the 4 of us sleeping in her one person bedroom. Sleeping on the floor was a pleasure as far as inconvenience goes, as I would soon learn. The next day, another trip to the bus station, yet this time it was very different. With sun not yet on the horizon, we waited for the early bus to Kasane, the bordertown with Zambia, huddling for warmth from the freezing cold Botswana mornings. Well, as it is common in Botswana, the early bus came over an hour late, and then a stampede erupted. What was once an orderly line became a stampede of people storming onto the bus to secure a seat, once the door opened. Not expecting this mad rush, we found ourselves on the back of the line and worst yet without any seats. What did this all mean? Well the bus ride to Kasane is seven hours long, so that meant standing for seven of the longest hours of my life, squished into an aisle, not even able to move a muscle. Seven hours! And every time the bus made a pit stop and came past a checkpoint, it took a half hour for everyone disembark and then squish themselves back onto the bus. I’ll never think twice about riding a greyhound bus for hours on end after this!

Finally the nightmare was over and we arrived to the Kazungula border crossing. We made our way through customs and onto the banks of the Zambizi River waiting to catch the ferry to Zambia. Another remarkable sight awaited us there. A line up of trucks as far as the eye can see. With trouble up in Zimbabwe, everyone now chose this as their route into Zambia. That meant trucks trying to get their goods across were waiting 4 weeks to get across. Yes, a month to cross the border, unbelievable! As we boarded the ferry we befriended by a local Zambian. He was happy to make Canadian friends and promised us safe transportation once we arrived in Livingstone. We were slight creeped out by how forward he was, not sure whether it was hospitality or someone trying to rip us off, so we kept our guard up. We cramped ourselves yet again, this time into a combie (mini minibus) and made our way to the Jollyboys Backpackers hostel in Livingstone, an hour’s ride away.

After a quick change, we decided to head up to see the Falls. Yes it was nighttime but as our Zambian creep/friend told us, on a full moon a rainbow forms over the Falls. Yes the world’s only nighttime lunar rainbow. As I was waiting for the others to get ready I found our Zambian creep/friend come up to me as I was just sitting down minding my own business. Arrghhh, the creep had found us! A friendly discussion later, it turns out the guy wasn’t so bad and he arranged a private driver to chauffer us around, to dinner, the Falls and then back. There is no walking around at night around here. The Zambian creep was now our Zambian friend.

He took us to a nice restaurant filled with locals, you know it’s good when the locals eat there. He yanked the waitress by the arm and ordered a local meal for us, that’s how you get service around here. Five full stomachs later, we made our way to the Falls. Now you couldn’t see much of the Falls as it was night time. Victoria Falls are the largest in the world, spanning 1.7km across and are considered one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. However we were able to see one side of the Falls and lo and behold there it was, a rainbow at night, quite an incredible sight! With my camera out of power, we all tried desperately to figure out each other’s cameras, to see how we can capture this miracle. After trying in vain, we met with a group of picture takers who filled us in how to take it. Guess what, another bunch of Canadians. Hopefully I’ll get a copy of the pictures soon and upload for them everyone to see. Now it was back home with our escort to get rest for tomorrow’s battle with the Mighty Zambizi.

My first night was a jetlagger’s nightmare. I had dinner with a few other Canadian volunteers and my local guide, then straight to bed. The next day was spent getting oriented about Botswana’s history, culture, and of course the AIDS epidemic and its disastrous effect. The infection rate here is like 18% overall and 37% for adults, the worst in Africa.

My third and last day in Gabs, I got see some more of the city, the malls, and had a chance to sit-in on an orientation for 80 Botswana students heading to study in Canada. Every year the government there sends students abroad to pursue their entire university degree overseas. Fully paid for and even with monthly living expenses provided, incredible! After sitting in on this, I suddenly realized I had become part of it when the presenter announced there was a Concordia student present here ready to answer questions. I was swarmed with a dozen eager youngsters bombarding me with questions about life in Montreal, studying at Concordia, and ofcourse futball in Canada. After an hour or so of 20/20 questions, I made my escape (c’mon I was happy to answer them!). I made a phone call and was off to have dinner with a stranger. You see, while in my 15 hour marathon stay at Jo’berg airport I made a few friends. Someone overhearing I was going to volunteer in Botswana, immediately invited me for dinner when I arrived there as I didn’t know anyone. I tell you, the people you meet at airports! And that was its for Gabs, I was now heading for a half week trip to Livingstone, Zambia, home of Victoria Falls.

I have had the opportunity to work with many nonprofits and what I learnt is that a small dedication of my time paid off huge dividends to them; a few moments of my life to help change someone else’s.

Currently I am attempting to develop a volunteering program at my business school. My research has led me to one conclusion; that very few opportunities exist for highly skilled and experienced graduate business students to apply their skills to help organizations in developing nations. Simply put, there is a gap that exists in volunteerism overseas that I and my fellow students would like to fill.

This summer I have chosen to work with San Arts and Crafts as an assistant manager. They are located in rural Botswana and cater to the indigenous communities there. I am expected to fill a managerial role that will be taken over by an incoming staff manager upon my departure. The tasks are numerous encompassing many different business capacities such as accounting, finance, human resources, operations management, administration, and governance. I chose this project because of the diversity of tasks needed which will give me the grass roots experience I hope to gain in working with developing communities in the future.

In volunteering abroad this summer, I am looking for an opportunity to continue applying my skills and build on my experiences all the while making a significant impact for those in greatest need. They deserve nothing less than the aid promised to them from first world countries for far too long. I believe we can deliver on that promise, even if it is one project or one person at a time.