this is me

The chefes das brigadas (brigade chiefs - the ones in charge of the hundreds of locals working in the field) at training on how to effectively spray the insecticide:

things i'd like to remember from the past couple days: getting to see the faces of the people who go out to the field and ensure that the hundreds of people hired for the spray season get the money they deserve. it's a thankless job, arriving on-site by 5am and dealing with argumentative and dishonest people. i'm really impressed. sitting in the kitchen at lunch time, being given the seat of 'honor' and choosing my food first, observing the camaraderie among the staff. dinner poolside at the municipal pool - it's an amazingly well kept restaurant with gorgeous food presentation. wish i had brought my camera to dinner. not super excited that the red wine they brought me was chilled, but the stuffed pork i ordered for dinner and the fried banana with amarula and ice cream for dessert were awesome. watching Juno on TV after dinner and marveling at the power of cable tv to bring things i'd never expect to Africa one of the office helpers going out looking for ...

Monday morning began with a hotel breakfast promptly at 7am and a stop at the office before we headed out on the road. We rent the first floor of a house and all the necessary equipment and technology for about 5 months out of the year. There are 4 full-time staff that stay primarily at the office – an admin assistant, an office manager, a cook, and a cleaner. There is also an office for the finance staff, one for logistics staff, and one for visitors. Everyone was very gracious and I was happy to recognize most of their names since I manage the budget that has their salaries included! We then headed out to Mocuba, one of the 6 districts where we are responsible for paying the local staff hired throughout the spray season, which was about a two hour drive. A car and driver have been hired for the office staff throughout the season and he drove myself and two colleagues to various construction sites throughout the region. The driver looks like he can’t be a day over 20 (alt...