Corn in Africa!

One of my favourite vegetables. Corn. As soon as I landed (now 2 weeks ago) in Swaziland, I saw a lady roasting corn on the cob on the side of the road...YUMMM- it's everyhwere! I love corn. Maize, it turns out, is one of their main ingredients not only for porridge (maize based) but also for many other specialties..And while I’m on food, I’ve tasted the most delicious juiciest mangoes I’ve ever had!!

I’ve now been in Botswana for 5 days and had the pleasure of tasting their lightly flavoured corn on the cob. It was at Nando’s. Yep, Nando’s flame-grilled chicken restaurant. This country – compared to Swaziland, is more developed. There are sidewalks next to roads, massive shopping malls and grocery stores (including gluten free products!), the sports grounds are more established and the hotel we stayed at even had water sprinklers for the grass! While at the same time, while I was checking out the surroundings on my morning run, I came across a herd of cows just hanging out in the middle of the street! Moo. What decides more developed from less developed? You see smart phones and Coke products, Mercedes’ and fancy hotels, while at the same time, have gaps in education and many in poverty and orphanages. (Though, maybe my 5 day stint is limited to a main city and not quite as rural as I have been exposed to in Swaziland). However, after meeting some Botswana delegates it seems as though, their sporting world (administratively, organisationally, and activity development) is more advanced.

How does one nation, develop faster than its neighbour? What is development? While this is my first experience working in the developing world, I’m finding vast differences between what this word actually means. For me, development should act as a platform or a foundation on which to build from. Thus, my role as a capacity support officer reflects many jobs that I hope will be sustained after I leave; facilitate coaching workshops (you need coaches to teach- not only rules but also life skills), develop strategic plans and policies for future endeavours, high performance planning, create marketing tools (facebook pages), introduce Zeus – a management database for Games preparation and other needs, as well as build relationships within the African nations. Having completed this last 4 day workshop, I already feel as though I’ve empowered other delegates and their needs -meeting people from Zambia, Botswana, Uganda, and Seychelles- how exciting!

Botswana is a truly beautiful country, and I do hope to come back to help with hockey development, and explore more of its game reserves and the Victoria Falls.

Hakuna Matata

Last night I had one of the most spectacular nights yet. As a group we ventured to a game reserve just outside of Gaborone where we saw anything from Zebras, Ostriches, Cheetah’s, Hyenas, Warthogs, Giraffes, Impalas, Turtles etc etc (felt like we were in the Lion King)...WOWZA, and the sounds of hippos in the lake- such a stunning place. While during the day it was around 38 C (15 more than in Swazi) the night was majestic! So this afternoon, after our final day of “work” we’re going back to pet some cheetah’s.. stay tuned!

Pre game-drive champagne + OJ

Zeus training