I decided to try a blog this time with smaller, more frequent entries, rather than write one or two longer letters. I hope it works out. In case you're not aware, this upcoming trip will be my third time to Africa in a year. I was in Zambia April, 2010, Namibia in August, and this coming Saturday I leave for Nigeria. Each trip was/is two weeks. I also went to pre-earthquake Haiti. The trips are consulting assignments from a U.S. Government-funded project called SCMS, for Supply Chain Management System. They buy pharmaceuticals and medical equipment with money donated by the Government, and distribute them to developing nations. The Government wants the countries to become more self-sufficient as far as carrying out the purchases and deliveries, though, and I help them do that by working with small teams from the countries to evaluate local vendors. We choose the ones that have the best value to offer, so the country purchasing teams have a well-defined and reasonable-quality supply chain for their products. There are actually several other things on the agenda, but that's the work that's really getting me down there.
It's a lot of work, but the people have been great, and I've taken opportunities to get to know the countries a bit. In Zambia, I traveled to Victoria Falls, on the border with Zimbabwe. In Namibia, I went to game reserves and walked around the capitol city, Windhoek. I also tried some of the local foods. All in all: really good experiences.
Namibia pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jg2adventures/Namibia?authkey=Gv1sRgCLGA1cOMotD85AE&feat=directlink
Zambia pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jg2adventures/ZambiaMarch2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCInG-6PH7JuQ9wE&feat=directlink
Haiti pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jg2adventures/Haiti?feat=directlink and http://picasaweb.google.com/jg2adventures/HaitiTrip2?authkey=Gv1sRgCPXNgMT70t2fuAE&feat=directlink
Weather and time in Abuja, Nigeria: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=742
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