RE: Day 11, Part 2 – Team Beck tilts at windmills in Zaanse Schans
Hmmm...why did I move to South Africa? I ran a technical assistance project based in Zambia on behalf of the Canadian International Development Agency (my company had won the project just before I started working there). The project lasted 9 years, was based in Zambia and covered the whole SADC (Southern African Development Community) region, and during that time I travelled a great deal from Montreal to the region. It was during my stays there that I became increasingly convinced "doing development" from outside the "developing" country was an exercise in false economies, and to be brutally honest, repressive to the local private sector. At the same time, I became convinced that the local private sector would be important to helping countries achieve greater economic equality by growing, providing jobs and reinvesting in their economies, and by contributing to attracting foreign direct investment. Companies "doing aid" were highly transactional which seemed unsustainable to me. Then my company opened an office in South Africa and asked for interested parties to head it up. I expressed interest.
...and was told Johannesburg was too dangerous for a girl.
So they gave the job to a "senior businessman" (that's what they said they were looking for) and I nearly moved to Vietnam. Then the senior businessman left Joburg since his family couldn't take it here, and they asked me if I was still interested. The rest is history.
About the smells? Oh my gosh, they are heady and heavenly. September is such a lovely time to visit Joburg. The beginning of summer can also be a lovely time to visit the bush, once the first rains have come. The grass is green and the smells of the bush are divine - wild thyme, for instance. Mmmmmm....
Hope you're getting ready to go camping this weekend! Cheers 😊😊
Sounds like your job is really interesting and fulfilling! I do not know very much about developmental work, but I agree with you that the local private sector is of great importance for helping a country develop. Have you been able to develop the projects to suit your ideals better since then?
Camping was great! We went up in the mountains and it was so beautiful, even though it was still very dry and not a lot of green. I will make a post about it soon! We had to go back to Long Beach today because a friend of ours is organizing a small live music party in his garden. So the fun continues :)
Hee hee, @mialinnea, I'll let you know how that whole career/ideals thing pans out in a couple of decades! On a more serious note, I met one of my current business partners over two decades ago in Zambia and we started then trying to develop infrastructure privately. Let's just say that lessons were learned and wounds were licked, and we now have a much better idea of our niche - where we can bring value, and who to.
Glad you enjoyed your camping trip! I look forward to that post. Enjoy the rest of your weekend 😊😊
That sounds like a huge task to take on. Your life sounds so interesting, you must have so many stories to tell. Maybe you will write a series of posts about your career in a couple of decades then? 😊
In a couple of decades, when I've managed to do something useful, perhaps 🙄