From Russia with love - Moscow 1

Me, Silvija and Thomas, the first morning out afterr our arrival and admiring the snow.

Beautiful churches and buildings all over Moscoz. Here in front of Christ the Savior. 

 Jumping on the Red Square.

 And being holy in front of St Basils.



Zim-zooming out

So, after almost four years, my time in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa has come to an end. End of contract, and time to move on, to other adventures and new horizons. But that doesn’t make the goodbyes any easier. The past few days and even weeks have been pretty hectic though, with visits and reporting, trying to round it all off. And it seems that even my goodbyes have been a bit rushed, as I was each time on a tight schedule. Maybe not a bad thing, as it allows me not to dwell too much or to get too emotional, but on the other hand, I am a firm believer of giving oneself time to properly take your leave and mourn.

Looking back on my time here, a list of things that I am proud of, or glad that we did, and then a list of some regrets:

• Discovering the region: we traveled over almost all of the Southern African countries, 13 countries in total, excepting Angola and Mauritius. One country that was stuck out particularly was Namibia, one of our last discoveries and splendid.

• Professional achievements: I do feel we did exceptionally well. Numbers only say so much, but in 2 years and a half, we trained over a thousand participants, created 17 training modules and 14 new methodologies using creative arts.

During our evaluation, our partners estimated that a total of 65.000 children already benefited from in one way or another from this improved or more diversified psychosocial support. But aside from the numbers, I was really glad at how we worked and interacted as a team. It had its rough spots in the beginning, and I learned a lot about facilitating rather than coordinating, but I am proud of all we did, and of how we did it.

• Taking capoeira to the next level: this is true for the physical aspect (staying in shape, coordination, acrobatics, work out level), but also for the friendships it created and even the club in itself (that I finished chairing by the way). It was definitely something that shaped and influenced our stay.

• Continuing with video and multimedia: I counted I orchestrated or was involved in around 50 short movies, ranging from fun snip bits from weekends away to have a group of teenagers direct their own short movie. Multimedia is definitely an area I want to continue in. I would love to use it as a tool to evaluate project by beneficiaries themselves. Instead of all these reports nobody really reads, wouldn’t it have a lot more impact to show them how to use camera equipment and send them out with a tool to evaluate whatever change a project brought to them. It teaches them certain skills, will be a lot more lively and interactive than questionnaires and hardly any feedback, and the organisation could use it as documentaries or lobbying tools. A vague dream so far, but these experiences in Zim were small steps bringing me closer…

• Exploring photography and portraits: lucky enough to have some handsome people around which were more than willing to show off, it made for a fun hobby. Some of them just wanted to experiment and have some good pictures, others had ambitions of using it for album covers or as artists, and some even were linked up with casting and modeling agents.

 
 
 

• Skydiving: though we only started in August 2010, with no desire to get really into it, it was a thrilling experience. Jumping out at 4000 feet, and gradually getting more at ease and confident, landing softer and closer to where you want, it is challenging at first (every time we would go up with the plane, I would be asking myself: why am I doing this again??), but by the end we were looking forward to it. 

 Can’t say it is completely harmless though: Thomas injured his wrists, which took forever to heal, and during one of my last jumps, a rope shook my helmet so hard it cut my ear and I was bleeding all over the place. 
We however did end on a high note: our very first free fall! The first ten jumps were all done with a static line which opens your parachute immediately after jumping out of the plane (so even if you do panic, it’ll still open). Gradually we had to use a Dummy Rip Chord, a fake opening cord which allowed us to practice the move. And our last jump, just after I had cut my ear, we got to do it without the static line, which everybody told us was their best jump ever. And I must agree, it was so much gentler, not being pulled in every direction by the wind, the static line and then the chute opening. Just a shame we couldn’t repeat the experience a couple of more times and higher, so we would have had a longer time free falling.

• Couchsurfing: our link to travelers and backpackers, we hosted a total of over 200 backpackers in our house. And when the house started feeling too full, we would just give it a short rest. Some were okay, some were great and left us with memories to treasure, and some with useful contacts and possibilities for the future, but none of them we regret.

• Our series and movies: in the course of our stay here, we gathered about 2TerraBytes of movies and series. It not only made our evenings more exciting and pleasant (yes, we got hooked quite often, there are some really good series out there), but we also shared, which meant our house was sometimes a bit of a library with people copying, but that allowed for more private jokes and bonding (‘Computer says no!’, all conversations starting with: ‘did you watch that item, it was hectic!’).

Though I am generally very happy about our stay and what we accomplished, of course it wasn’t perfect, and there are always things we could have improved. So, some of these challenges:

•   Language: not learning Shona, one of the two main local languages of Zimbabwe, and spoken in Harare and by most of our partners. With almost everyone being able to express themselves in English (often better than we could), learning how to speak Shona proved to be quite complicated and time consuming. I must say, we gave it a fair shot, with classes twice a week for a year and at the end even some private lessons on a more intense level. But I must admit, we hardly got past the greetings and standard question-answers.  It was the first time I stayed in a country and had hardly any idea of what people could be discussing amongst themselves.
• Less networking: compared to my work in Haiti, I feel I could have networked, both for Volens, our network and our partners individually a lot more. Through our activities and developed tools, we had a lot to offer in terms of expertise, capacity building activities and trainings. But for some reason it never really happened. Oh, we had some meetings with like UNICEF or USAID donors, but not systematic and I never felt a real interest of involvement from their part. In a way I would like to say ‘their loss’ but clearly we also lose out on opportunities…
• Smoking: definitely one of my main regrets. Yep, I picked up the nasty habit once again in 2010. Though I had quit for several months if not over a year, somehow I lighted up one at a party, and then another one and another. And I was hooked. A lot worse than previously. But I am also using the end of Zimbabwe and the good years resolution to solemnly declare I’m quitting RIGHT NOW! The freezing-your-ass-of-in-the-snow currently as well as the 5Euro package in Belgium should help ;-)

So, I just finished typing this blog post in the airplane seeing Africa glide away below and leaving it behind, with every km taking me further away, without knowing towards what. We have been so focused on our departure and getting everything sorted out (which I think we managed quite well), our mid term future has a lot of question marks. On the short term, though, the upcoming month is looking good:

• 21-27 Dec: Christmas under the snow in Belgium, mostly family, some friends.
• 27 Dec. – 8 Jan: Russia, to visit a friend of ours, Silvija, in Moscow, and travel up by train to St Petersburg and Murmansk (one of the most northern points of Russia, same latitude as north of Alaska, more to the north than the Arctic Circle) to see the Northern Lights.  
• 8-15 Jan.: back in Belgium, sorting everything administrative out and applying as much as we can for new jobs.
• 15-22 Jan.: Cyprus, to see the girls and Zoélie.
• 22 Jan.: back to Belgium till…?

1 year, 365 places to reminisce or discover

My dad had given me for last year’s new year, a calender with for every day (well almost, Saturday and Sunday were combined) a wonderful place to discover in the world (and then he complains I travel too much ;-). We have been keeping track of them, dividing them into 4 categories:

1. Neither Thomas nor me visited the place: unfortunately still over half: 203 places (though with our upcoming trip to Russia, another 5 would shift categories ;-). 
2. Both Thomas and me visited: total of 47 places (yes, we need to work on this). Some highlights: Bahia (Brasil), Etosha (Namibia), Madagascar, Bruges (yep, we’re in there), Marrakech (Morocco), Kenya. Strangely enough, of the collection, only 1 in Asia (and it’s even the Middle East), 3 are in South America,  6 in Canada, 15 in Africa and a whooping 22 in Europe.
3. Only myself visited: 42 places. Some that stuck out: Evora (Portugal), Antartica (of course), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Rio and 4 other spots (Brasil), Andalucia (Spain) and the Carribean (5 spots). 
4. Only Thomas has been: 23 places (not that we are in any way competiting of course ;-)

It’s sort of nice during one of our last evenings in Zimbabwe, to look back on where we have been, and also dream of all the places we can still discover.

Leaving and selling

As we are leaving soon and selling some, please forward if you know anyone who might be interested:
ITEMS FOR SALE   
- Honda CR-V (RD1 model, blue, 1995, 138000 km, petrol, automatic, full time 4x4, documented maintenance, cylinder head needs replacement)    $7,000.00
- Coffee grinder    $30.00
- Blender Black & Decker, + 2 mills    $75.00
- Water filter    $15.00
- 2x 20l water bottles with pump    $30.00
- Electrical Stove (2 "plates")    $30.00
- Laundry basket    $10.00
- Two-bar heater (only 1 bar working)    $10.00
- Hot air heater    $10.00
- 5 batique/african cloths and 4 orange sofa covers (material of +/-15m²)$130.00
- 1 big yellow brown blanket    $15.00
- 1 small grey orange blanket    $10.00
- Hot water bottle    $5.00
- Chicha or water pipe + accessories (tobacco, charcoal)    $15.00
- 2 Harare map books    $20.00
- Snorkelling material: 2 pairs of flippers (size 42) and 3 masks    $40.00
- iPod speakers    $60.00
Contact:   
Bruno 0773026198 brunodeceuk@gmail.com 
Thomas 0772592715 thomas.pouppez@gmail.com
At 3, Silverhaze flat, crnr Chester and Clare Road, Avondale West 04336135   
Collecting: on Sunday 19 December 2010 (if possible)   

Mad about Madagascar

As our last and absolutely final country in southern Africa we would visit, Thomas and me spend two weeks in Madagascar.

We arrived in Antananarivo, the capital (in short Tana), where we went partying with some French Couchsurfers volunteering here.  As it was the 31st of October, Halloween was the theme…

The next day, bit hung over but with no regrets, we went to explore the city, bit polluted but still pleasant, with small alleys, lots of stairs, and hills offering beautiful views over the city. 

Next we headed up north, making our way with taxi-brousses for a total of about 24h. The taxi brousses are minibuses , filled beyond capacity (our record was 37 people in the minibus made for 20). Thankfully, the countryside was pretty enough to take away some of the pain. First stop was the Park Andronafasika, where the Lemurs (a type of monkey indigenous only to Madagascar) roamed. Then we went to the tiny island Nosy Be, the first tourist destination of Madagascar. Beautiful beaches and wonderful snorkelling, the best I have seen so far. We even saw a tortoise and an octopus that changed colours much quicker than a chameleon. And, touristy as it is, a local ‘park’ also allowed us to interact closer with some of the indigenous species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last stop was Diego-Suarez, less touristy, where we stayed in a small fishing village. The nearby sea, called Mer d’Emeraude was magnificent, turquoise…

With the weather being so hot and us spending a lot of time in the sea, I also had the reckless idea of getting a haircut to facilitate my life. So, I walked into what seemed to be a rather respectable barber place, where the woman seemed dumb founded I desired a haircut. Three neighbours were called in for second and third opinions, and explanations on how to operate the shaving machine. She trimmed here, then applied the scissors there, next tried to balance it out but clearly had no idea what she was doing, and it showed… Once she cut my ear I decided the fun was over and bailed. Now, I usually don’t care that much about my haircut, but this time it really was ludicrous. So, later on, in Diego, I called in another barber, this time with the goal to simply shave it all off and start afresh. The young dude showed up with one pair of scissors (meat ones) and one comb, but also with funky tribal designs shaved into his own hair. Considering I didn’t have much to lose, I requested for something similar…. 

But, all good things come to an end, and so did our short holiday there. To close off, a classic, as one of the things I appreciated most about Madagascar, was the sea, and the spectacular sunsets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Namibia: 3. Lüderitz

Suddenly, a taste of Germany. Lüderitz is a quaint little town, with Lutheran churches, bars from Bayern, and Nachtigallestrasse, Kirchstrasse and menus in German. Traditionally a fishing village, it is becoming increasingly a tourist destination, but still keeps that quiet, sleepy coast town feeling.

A few kilometres inland, lays a ghost town, Kolmanskop. There was a big diamond rush (legend has it you could just pick them off the ground) in the 1908 and this village was build all around that. We didn’t feel it was too impressive though (I mean, most of our houses also date back to the early 1900s), and also because our guide wasn’t very communicative. Maybe the fact that she seemed to sweep any segregation and question whether there were harsh working conditions for the local blacks under the carpet…

Highlight of our trip in Lüderitz (the only place in Namibia where we spend two consecutive nights) was the boat trip. You can go see the penguins, seals and birds on the islands just off shore.

Namibia: 2. Sesriem and Sossusvlei

After a two day drive through Botswana (sleepover in Maún) and one night to stock up and recover in Windhoek, our first real sight to be seen was Sossusvlei, a picture of which actually covers the Lonely planet guidebook. Yep, we took exactly the same picture on the same spot (though the lighting wasn’t a 100% the same). 

It’s one of those place with the image of the Namibian desert which we all have, sand dunes and… well, more sand dunes… and more sand dunes.

  Here, amidst sandy dunes (some up to 300m high) and beautiful sunsets, lies a small vlei, which when it rains (i.e. very rarely) becomes a salt lake. Now, the soil is all dried out and the trees are like rocks. It’s a bit spooky at times, but very impressive.  We camped at the entrance, and had to rush, because of the rules that you can only enter and leave the park between sunrise and sunset, while of course these are the most impressive moments, light wise.  

Off to Namibia

This Saturday 18th of September, we're going on a two week road trip, and when I say road, it really is road (planned 6.000km to drive). As Namibia is one of the only countries we haven't explored properly yet in Southern Africa, we're going for two weeks there, together with Thomas, Pieter and Hanne, my cousin who is currently visiting us. We'll be away from 18 to 4th of October, and (of course) pictures will follow afterwards but meanwhile, there might be a bit of radio silence.

Namibia! – 1. The planning of the trip

Namibia… Of all the countries in Southern Africa, the one we knew least (excepting Angola, but not really motivated to get to know that one). So, before we leave, this was our next destination. My cousin, Hanne, was coming for a visit, and brought her boyfriend Pieter along.

They first spent two weeks in Harare, visiting some of our projects and partners, doing workshops on puppet making and M&E. But then it was time for the holiday, and they seemed quite enthusiastic about Namibia. And I must say, of all the countries, Namibia is actually my favourite. A lot of diversity, desert, mountains, beach, animals. Great infrastructure, and pretty decent roads. And those roads had better be good, because we were all doing it by car. Thomas’ Honda CRV (though already 14 years old) had over a lot of distance to cover.  When we had our initial meeting with Hanne and Pieter, and Thomas explained the project, we all sort of felt over 6.000km was going to be too much. We’d be driving almost every day, with at least two days going there (over Botswana), and two days back (over the Caprivi Strip).

Though we’d initially scratched some of the km, while we were in Namibia, we actually did all of the original plan… and more. In total, we reached 8.300km, roughly two third of the distance Harare-Brussels. And though Thomas’ car had to go back straight to the garage, it was definitely a trip to remember!

Skydiving

After a brief but intense training, over a month of waiting for weather, plane availability and our schedules to match, we finally went skydiving here in Charles Prince airport, just out of Harare. For 150USD, we got the full training, and two static line jumps (which means the chute opens automatically after you drop out off the plane, so you only have a couple of seconds of free fall).

It was my third jump (did two at uni, so ages ago) and Thomas had only done paragliding so adrenaline levels were high. It was quite the thrill, though short (around 3 minutes of flying) and all following the instructions given from the ground by a big arrow. Thomas sprained his wrist landing though, but besides that, no injuries, just excitement. Might do it again soon, as from now on, jumps would only be 35USD each time, quite the bargain compared to western prices.

Our weekend in Vic Falls

This weekend was along weekend for us in Southern Africa, with Monday and Tuesday off for respectively Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day. Thomas and me decided to go back to Vic Falls where in two and a half years’ time, we had gone only once, and get some adrenaline rushes. We bussed (for 13h!) there but got very quickly absorbed into the backpacking-touristy vibe of things, which was a big change from how we usually live (or survive) in Zimbawbe. Two French friends (Cecile and Helene) travelled with us and we met up there with two more friends who had also come for the weekend (Charles and Kudzi). The Sunday we went on the gorge slide,where (and I quote the adventure agent) we were “traveling at a speed of 106 km’s, hurtling 425m across the gorge, while suspended 120m above the breathtaking beauty of the Zambezi River below”. Quite the adventure, and I was trying to film it ;-).

The Monday we went on our real reason for being in Vic falls: the white water rafting. A must-do as we were told. And it was impressive, though by far not as scary as we’d thought. Seems currently the water level is still too high, because rain season lasted late, and the Zambezi is still pretty full (it’s supposed to be another 30m less end of September). Currently we could only do from 11 to n°23 of the rapids, with delicious names like ‘The Terminator’, the ‘Washing Machine’, or the ‘Three Ugly Sisters followed by the Mother’. Less water means more rapids and more fun. So we might do it again end of September, to get the full experience of the rapids.

What does the future hold for us?

Well, the month of July is gone, and we have entered the last five months of our stay here in Zimbabwe. First visit to Harare in October 2007, selected and hired in January 2008, finally arrived in April 2008, and now been here for over two years.

End of December our contract ends and so does our stay in Zim. We liked it here, but time to move on, as there are other exciting places in the world. So, we're often getting the question what our plans are, so I thought I would share some of our (vague) ideas and dreams here.

Well, my eyes are drawn to the Arab world. I've done 4 years in South America (2003-2006: Haiti and Brazil), now four years in sub-Saharan Africa (2007-2010:South Africa and Zimbabwe) and next region in the world that I would love to explore is the Middle East or the Maghreb countries.

And of those countries, Lebanon stands n# 1 for us, followed by Syria. This is partly because I really liked Lebanon when I was there (and regret not having been able to visit Syria), but also because the girls and Zoélie are now living in Cyprus, where Ingrid is working for the EU. And Beirut is only a short boat ride away. And talking about boats, that would be part of my dream: living on a boat and being able to just sail away whenever we feel like it, spending holidays sailing round the Mediterranean. Dreams and ideas, but we'll see where the winds blows us. Especially since the beginning of the end has started today: applying for jobs! We had said we would only start looking and applying for jobs starting August, since we want to properly round off our current projects in Zim. So, it will be hard to find something for both Thomas and me, so we made a deal that whoever finds something first (which provides enough for the both of us) takes it, and the other will follow. Then we'll swap in two or three years time...

But though I hope to quickly find something, I would also like to spend some time in Belgium, as it's been a long time since I've been back and babies grow up so quickly...

But we'll keep you posted!

Capoeira solos in and round Harare

For our Ubuntu performance, we also started making a little video that we could show during the break. It started out quite modest, just doing some moves, but then we started heading out to more special locations, looking for landmarks for Harare, and soon we winded up getting up at 5.30 in the morning to shoot some moves on these busy roads.

Anyway, this little video was the result, and Morena, dear pen for the Capoeira Folha Seca newsletter, even wrote an article about it:

Capoeira April Filming Sessions

Bruno the self employed and appointed video footage person and editor/chief in charge/ head producer held a series of Capoeira photo and video shoots at various locations in Harare. The footage served to create a Capoeira Folha Seca portfolio comprised of snapshots and videos of EVERY single member of the group. It was a tiring exercise but he prevailed with his meticulous methodology and eagerness to complete this task.

A couple of us went to the ‘Kopje’ one afternoon. ‘The Kopje’ is a small hill that overlooks the city of Harare and has one of those ‘panoramic’ views from the top. Half way to the summit of the Kopje, expert photographer, Bruno decided to stop to get some air, ask for directions or just look for trouble. The minute Bruno stepped out of the car, a soldier jumped out of the bushes carrying a gun- an old AK47 with a rusted end part. The guy looked like he had not blinked in a couple of weeks and the veins in his eyes were visible from the car. We remained intact. To cut the long story short, Bruno played dumb and innocent but with underlying tones of sarcasm whilst the soldier was very agitated having not blinked for so long and was keen to deport Bruno after pushing him around a bit. The rest of us were silent not eager to witness a sudden shooting by the unblinking one; although Bruno was more likely to contract tetanus with that gun. Bruno sensing danger like a true capoeirista, snapped out of his play acting role, apologised quickly, made a small bow and macaco-ed back into the car. Before the soldier could register that he had let us go we had driven of.

Another group of capoeiristas was summoned by Bruno at 5am in the morning to do capoeira in ‘Leopard Takawira’ which is a picturesque road bordered by Jacaranda trees. (One of those roads that is worthy to be put on the front of a postcard). Bruno closed of part of the road with a red triangle and the crew began the photo shoot. The only near accident that eventuated was when a car (refusing to believe a bunch of guys and a girl in white pants resembled anything similar to a broken down truck) went through the red triangle sign in an attempt to run over Bruno. Luckily Bruno did a back flip over the car just in time and is alive to continue filming. (Okay the back flip was not really a back flip rather simple move to the side)

The National Heroes Acre is a sacred burial ground for declared war heroes that were involved in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle and some others. The tombstones made of black granite and other exciting structures designed by artists from North Korea and some Zimbabweans made this site suitable for some capoeira footage; bringing capoeira together with Zimbabwe’s rich history. However, Ed ‘Formiga’ still managed to evade Bruno’s filming escapades. But Bruno had another idea.

On Independence Day, 18 April, a picnic was organised at Paradise Pools in honour of the 30 years of consistent rule by th.....oh, sorry I mean to commemorate 30 years of Independence. Incentives offered to Formiga included lots of food and transport. Formiga who thoroughly believes that water is for drinking and washing only, was not overly joyful about

the prospect of frolicking in the rock pools but capoeira in the wild, coupled with food and a music session was enough to make him sacrifice his computer on this particular Sunday. And that is how Bruno managed to get Formiga and the remaining video evaders on video. So a big applause to Bruno!

The ZAVSAP Fair

Wednesday 14 July was THE big day of 2010 for the other Volens network, the Zimbabwe Added Value on Sustainable Agriculture Produce programme. They were organizing a fair on processed food, where they would display all the products they had learned to make, have them taste, exchange recipes, link up with donors and retailers etc. Caroline and Thomas had rented the nelson Mandela Hall in the Harare Showgrounds, a huge hall, and all 9 members set up a stand.

I was there to film and document this entire event, as well as lending a hand and generally just seeing how this went. It was the first fair for that network, representing the highlight, almost one sixth of their total budget and for Thomas a step back into the organizing of salons and fairs. You can also read about it in the Herald, the official newspaper of Zimbabwe here.

It meant getting ten farmers from each member of the network (often from very rural and far away places) to Harare, put them up somewhere and arrange everything logistical for them. They all set up stands and would promote their products, as well as visit the other stands and see what other farmers made. In total, over 700 visitors came, from general public, over NGO and donor representatives as business men. I was happily filming away and doing interviews.

One thing that came back regularly was that visitors appreciated that some products were actually traditional, things their grand parents made before commercial and imported crops took over.

No other similar fair exists, other fairs focus mainly on raw crops that are sold, or livelihood. In rural areas, one hardly finds these products, it is often the same, unprocessed things that are everywhere: tomatoes, rape, spinach and onions. While in other parts of Africa, markets are flourishing everywhere and the informal economy is vital to the survival of many families, maybe even the backbone to the entire economy, in Southern Africa, the British seemed to have left a legacy of regulated markets and formal business, often leading to supermarkets (an interesting blog on this, from two of our couchsurfers).