One Moment in Time- David slays Goliath

On 11 February 2012 Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room in California.  Listening to some of her old songs, "One Moment in Time" comes to mind as Zambia and Ivory Coast took to the field for the 2012 Cup of African Nations final in Liberville, Gabon on 12 February 2012.  Against all of the odds, Team Zambia wanted only one moment in time to meet their destiny by capturing the trophy.

In April 1993 Team Zambia was on its way to Senegal for a qualifying match for the 1994 World Final.  The military aircraft carrying the national football team, and coaches refuelled in Gabon.  Shortly after take-off the military aircraft crashed off the coast of Gabon.  There were no survivors.  Nearly all of the Zambian football team perished.  Kalusha Bwalya, the 1988 African Football Player of the year was traveling from Europe to meet his teammates in Senegal and was not on the ill-fated plane.  Now 19 years later, he and Zambia are finally able to hold the African Cup of Nations trophy.  Zambia defeated Ivory Coast, a heavy favorite in the 2012 final.  After a scoreless tie at the end of regulation and extended time, Zambia won 8-7 on penalty kicks. 

Team Zambia returned home to a hero's welcome.  Many people took a day off in order to meet the team at the airport.  Some may wonder why all the fuss over a football game; for Zambia it is about building an economy.  The country's main product is copper, but Zambia wants to move beyond that.  With the help of football, it hopes to develop other businesses, such as agriculture and tourism. 

After the lost of a generation of football players, let's hope that Team Zambia and the Zambian economy are now moving in the right direction.

"For American fans it was a shame that the game, and the tournament, was not available on television. But nothing can take away a shred of delight from Zambia on the night they gave their fallen forefathers the ultimate tribute." - Yahoo Sports

Waka Waka

Last year "Waka Waka" (This time for Africa) was the official song for the 2010 World Cup held in South Africa.    The song was sung by Shakira and Freshly Ground.

Indeed it is time for Africa.  While most of the western world is mired in debt, economies across Africa are expanding.  They might not have the rapid growth of China, but the average gross domestic product (GDP) rate for Africa is around 6%.  Compare that to the economies in the US and Europe.  In fact about a dozen countries in Africa have seen their economies grow by 6% per year for more than six years.  Yet, most western newspapers only print stories about famine, aids, civil wars, etc.  Very few articles are written about the successful developments across the continent.  Finally, "The Economist" has dedicated an issue on Africa.  "The Economist" of December 3, 2011 has several informative articles on "Rising Africa".

Last month when Greece and Italy were rattling equity markets because of their financial situations, the Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho met with Angolan President Eduardo Dos Santos.  Why was the prime minister meeting with the president of a former colony?  Portugal is the next country on the list of European countries going bankrupt.  Forecast indicate that the Portuguese economy could contract by 2.8% in 2012, while Angola's economy is expected to grow by 12%.  Angola, a country devastated by a long civil war, from 1975 to 2002, now stands ready to assist Portugal though its financial crisis.  The IMF has agreed to give Portugal a $107 billion bailout on the condition that it introduces a range of economic reforms, including privatizations.  Thus, Angola could buy stakes in some of the companies set for privatization.  In 2009 Angolan investments in Portugal stood at $156 million compared to $2.1 million in 2002.  Angolan companies owned the equivalent of 3.8% of companies listed on Portugal's stock exchange. 

Not many people know the name Aliko Dangote.  According to the latest Forbes Magazine table, he is ranked as the 51st richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $13.8 billion, well surpassing Oprah Winfrey as the richest person of African descent.  He is from Nigeria and the owner of the Dangote Group, an industrial conglomerate in West Africa .  The company has activities in cement, sugar, flour,salt, pasta, beverages and real estate.  It is also developing new businesses in natural gas, telecommunications fertilizer and steel.  The company has a current market capitalization of $14 billion and is listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.  For more information about the group see their website: http://www.dangote-group.com/.

Africa is home to 54 countries and more than 1 billion people, nearly 14% of the planet's population. Its population is also set to double over the next 40 years.  The median age of the population is now 20, compared to 30 in Asia and 40 in Europe.  Yes, it has many diverse cultures and people, but within that lies many opportunities.  It is perhaps too early to say whether or not the lion economies of Africa will challenge the tiger economies of Asia, but it is time to give Africa her chance.   Take time to learn more about the success stories  and opportunities  that are developing across Africa. 

Wi-Fi in the Bush

It has been awhile since my last posting.  The reason is; I was on vacation.  This year our travels took us to Botswana and Zambia followed by some R&R in the Alps. 

As a child my father taught me about photography.  I was a photographer for my junior high school.  I continued with photography a bit in high school and then just took pictures on vacation.  About six years ago my husband bought me a digital SLR.  I had used SLR cameras in high school, but in the digital age I was using more of the compacts.  I was starting to rediscover my love for photography again, when my father decided to give me his professional digital SLR.  If you have never seen or used a professional digital SLR let me just say that there are so many functions to learn, that it takes a lot of time to understand what to do.  The manual itself is over 300-pages.  Once I mastered many of the functions and took pictures of just about everything  I could, I really wanted to go on safari. 

Last year hubby and I almost went, only to cancel and take a cruise instead.  On the cruise we met some wonderful people who suggested that if I loved taking pictures that we really should go to Botswana for safari.  We, of course, knew of Botswana, but were considering more to go to Kenya or Tanzania.  After our friends told us of their visit to Botswana, we investigated and decided to head there for safari. 

My hubby researched and organized everything.  When he told me that we would sleep in tents, I was about to change my mind about going to Botswana.  He said not to worry, these tents are like hotel rooms.  The second issue that was difficult to accept was that we had to fly in small planes.  Now, I don't mind flying and I know something can happen to all planes, irrespective of size, but I prefer those planes that hold at least 50, if not 100 passengers.  Flying over the bush, a 12-passenger  is considered a large plane.  The thought of taking pictures of the "big five" was too strong to let those issues interfere. 

After six months of planning and preparations we were off.  It took us four flights to get to our destination.  We left a balmy Europe for the hot climate of southern Africa.   We transited through Johannesburg, South Africa, before flying to Maun, Botswana.  Once in Maun, our adventure began.  Waiting on the tarmac at the Maun International airport were rows of small-passenger planes to take guests off to their camps in the bush.  Once all of bags were collected, a guide walked us to a small plane, a six-passenger, including the pilot.  There was a couple on the flights from Europe to Maun, who joined us on this small plane.  We were a total of five people.  Our flight to our camp was 15 minutes, but it seemed like much longer than that.  Once my feet were firmly on the ground, I could begin to enjoy our new adventure.

Our plane landed on a small airstrip in the bush.  A 4X4 was awaiting our arrival with our guide, Carter.  Once we had all of our gear, the pilot and the other couple left and hubby and I were standing in the beautiful African bush.  Carter told us that it would take about 40 minutes to reach the camp.  On the way he was pointing out different animals, plants and birds.  We saw a baby Nile crocodile, giraffes, warthogs, and impalas.  With all of this natural beauty, I was way too excited to be tired after such a long journey.  The camera was already in action.

We arrived in the camp to find the hotel staff singing us a welcome song,  We went to the reception area for welcome drinks and check-in.  The manager explained all of the safety rules and ended by saying we have wi-fi in the reception area.  Wow!!! I had never thought we would have had internet services in the bush, never mind that we did not have phone service.  I quickly connected to the wi-fi and sent a text message to my friend.  We were both so surprised that we would be able to communicate easily during my trip.  I was able to send a few pictures from my phone.  Photos from my DLSR were simply too big and they could wait until I returned home. 

The End of a Regime and the Dawn of a New Era

It is a historical day in two countries in North Africa.  The Libyan government has declared national liberation and in Tunisia   more than 3 million people are going to the  polls to vote for a parliament which will lay the foundations for forming a new government. 

Late last year a vendor in Tunisia set himself on fire.  At the time no one paid much attention to this event. No one knew that it would be the start of the "Arab Spring".  Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was the first to go.  The former President of Tunisia fled the country for Saudi Arabia.  Next protester gathered in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt to demand that Hosni Mubarak step down.  Afterwards protesters took to the streets in Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria.  In mid-February Mubarak left and the protest gathered momentum in Libya.  Muammar Gaddafi took to the airwaves in a fiery and defiant manner urging his supporters to resist the countries new leaders, the National Transitional Council (NTC).  First the city of Benghazi fell to the new leaders and then movement moved eastward towards the capital Tripoli.  The NTC were able to convince the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to provide military support.  While NATO did not send ground troops, it did provide significant military air power.  Finally, on Thursday 20 October 2011, Muammar Gaddafi was captured and killed.  While the exact details of his capture and death are still unknown at this point, 42 years of brutality are now hopefully over for Libya.  The future of Libya is unknown.  After so many years under a dictatorship, the country has no institutions, no government, and no constitution.  The NTC have promised to write a constitution and hold elections by June 2012.

In Tunisia 3 million people went to the polls for the first time.  This is estimated to be 90% of registered voters.  Tunisians are electing a 217-seat assembly which will draft a constitution and appoint an interim government.  There are more than 100 parties contesting in the elections, but Islamist Ennahda party is expected to win the most votes.  The results are expected on 25 October 2011. Leaving the polling stations, voters were eager to show the dark blue ink on their fingers. 

The elections in Tunisia are being watched closely around the world because the country is the first to hold elections after the fall of an authoritarian regime.  The events in Tunisia may set the tone for other countries who have ousted leaders and are looking to hold elections in order to form a new government.  Many voters have expressed the desire to have a government based on Islamic law, but emphasized that they want a modern Islamic society, not an ultra-conservative one.  They feel it needs to be tolerant and open to in its dealings with other cultures.

The events of today will have ramifications for years to come, not only for their respective countries, but also for the global society .  Therefore it is crucial that both countries make the correct decisions in these early days of democracy.

The Business of Education

Today, I read two articles on education. Now while, I am neither a parent nor a teacher, I still feel the need to comment on those articles. 

The first article was from the BBC website titled "Digital textbooks open new chapter".  The article stated that by 2015 South Korea plans to have all its curriculum material in a digital format.  They call the project "Smart Education".  Already South Korea is one of the world's highest rated education systems.  The country is second in global rankings for reading, fourth for math and fifth for science. Family spending on education in South Korea is the highest in the world in proportion to family income.
According to the South Korean government, the program is not just about cost-savings.  They believe this initiative will reach more students in rural areas.

At the same time as the South Korean educational system was rising in the global ranks, the US educational system was declining.  President George W. Bush had a program "No Child Left Behind".  The title of the program was clever, but the results have been not been satisfactory.  The program required all government-run schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test annually to students.  At the end of the day, it seems the program is only about more testing to students.   The purpose of the tests is to determine whether the school has taught the students well.  This is nothing about learning or helping more students to succeed.  People are amazed when I tell them the statistics about the percentage of college graduates in the US.  It is a cute trick that one way of presenting the numbers is to say the percentage of the adult population who attended college. This number is a far cry from those graduating from college.  However, according to the census data in 1940 5% of Americans 25 and older had a bachelor's degree.  In 2009 nearly 28% hold a bachelor's degree.  The rate for black Americans is 17% and 13% for Hispanic Americans.

If those statistics are not dreadful enough, the next article was just shameful.  The article was titled "Chinese Lose Promise for $52,000 as US Schools Exploit Need".  With the economic crisis private schools, especially, are experiencing financial problems.  The weak economy has reduced the number of well-off American applicants.  Many private schools are using agents with misleading sales pitches to recruit students from wealthy Chinese families.  The number of Chinese students  attending private US high schools increased more than 100-fold to 6,725 in 2010 from 65 in the 2005-2006 school year. 

It is not that I am against Chinese  or any foreign students studying in the US, but using the "bait and switch" tactic is outrageous.  Chinese students are interested in studying in the US to improve their English and some want to attend US universities.  The article states that one school has a $55,000 fee, including $9,600 for English as a second language and $1,800 for orientation.  Additionally, in some of the private high schools there are more Chinese students than American students.  Chinese students traveled to the US to room with other Chinese students.  This by no means will  help their English.  An even sadder point mentioned in the article was in some schools 70% of the American students  had some type of learning difficulties, including  attention deficit disorder (ADD),  attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or Dyslexia.

From the two articles, one can see that the two education systems are going in different directions.  South Korea seems to be preparing the next generation to use the technology that will be in place when the children are adults.  On the other hand, there are schools in the US which are looking to cushion the bottom line.  At the end of the day, it should be about the student.  It seems some have understood this point and others have different agendas.

Housing

Every move is a pain, but an international move is even more demanding.  It has to do with everything from size of resident to appliances.  Normally, in the US when one moves into an apartment, everything is there except furniture.  Kitchen appliances, and in some cases washing machines and dryers are in the units.  In France and the Netherlands, usually all one has on the first day are bare walls. In some cases even the paint is coming off of the walls.  On the other hand, in the United Kingdom it is rare to find an apartment without furniture.  Most flats, as they are known there, are furnished.

Before moving to the UK, I knew that my flat would be smaller than my apartment in the US.  I was moving from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom flat.  Usually, a two-bedroom residence is larger than a one-bedroom unit, but this was not the case.  I donated the furniture that I did not want to take with me.  I tried to take only what was needed.  Since the company was paying for the move, I took everything in that shipment.  It was either leave it behind permanently or take it along.  I had a bed, a couch, a small table with two chairs, two individual chairs and the rest were small items such as dishes, books, and clothes.  And yes, it was too much for my flat.  I had to ask the landlord to remove his living-room furniture and a bed. 

Once I had all of my belongings in the flat, I quickly found out that I did not have enough closet space or shelves.  Some items stayed in boxes the entire four years that I was there.  I had to go to Ikea to buy bookshelves.  Not knowing how long I was going to be there I did not want to invest too much money in things I might not need in the future. 

After four years, I moved on to Paris.  It took nearly two weeks to find a decent apartment.  I was working with an agent, just like I had done in London, but it did not go as smoothly.  I even had to change agents, because the first one did not seem to understand what type of apartment I needed.  I visited apartments all around Paris and none suited me.  Finally, I took the lesser of all evils.  The apartment was in a great location.  The building had character, but that was it.  There was no furniture, no curtains, no light fixtures, and not even kitchen appliances.  The one good thing was that the apartment was freshly painted.  I did not have to do that. 

Having just arrived in Paris and not knowing how long I would be there, I was not about to spend a lot of money on things I could not take with me.  However, I at least needed, an oven, a dishwasher, a refrigerator,  a washing machine/dryer, a micro-wave and a TV.  The kitchen cupboards and light fixtures would have to wait.  I bought portable lamps instead. Additionally, I needed a dinning table and curtains.  There were only three closets in the three-bedroom apartment, but since one bedroom was empty, I used it as a storage room and many items stayed in boxes. 

In Paris I had more space than London, but less storage and no appliances.  I enjoyed my time in each of these wonderful cities, but I am happy to be on the shores of Lac Léman fully-equipped. 

The Five-Year Hurdle

In the preceding post, I mentioned that the five-year mark is the moment of truth.  This is the moment to decide whether to stay abroad or to return home.  Most corporate assignments do not last more than five years.  There are some reasons for this.  First, the longer you are away from headquarters/home office, the more you are perceived as no longer a member of the department, team or group with whom you previously worked.  Second, you have moved from a domestic career track to an international career track.   Third, many US corporations send employers abroad just ahead of retirement, thus at the end of their assignments they are more likely to return home than stay abroad.  Fourth, the cost of an ex-pat package has become extremely expensive and corporations are looking to cut costs.

But, if the decision is to stay abroad after five years, then you will have many more new experiences.  The first five years are more about not losing contact with the home country and friends, and little about learning the nuances of the local country.  Often during the first five years, one is traveling around the region and spending only a small amount of time in the local country.  For example, I lived in United Kingdom for four years.  I believe I visited Scotland and Wales each only once.  Additionally, I did not visit many areas outside of the London area.  Now that it is ten years since I left the UK, I still have not visited any of these areas.  That was truly a missed opportunity.

A year before reaching the five-year date, my employer requested that I return to the US.  I had worked for this company 11 years and the last 4 were in the UK.  At that point, I was not ready to return to the US, so I took the decision to look for another job.  First, I moved to Paris, and then a couple years later, I came to the shores of Lac Léman and I have been here ever since. 

Living Abroad

Every year thousands of people leave their home country and move abroad.  Some go for professional reasons, and some go for personal reasons.  But if you had the choice would you leave your home country? What factors would impact your decision to go or to stay?

Moving to another country is not an easy decision and one that should not be taken lightly.  If family members are going, then situation becomes even more complex.  How will the children adjust? What schools will they attend?  What will my spouse do?  How will my spouse adjust? 

Living abroad is not for everyone, but for those who are willing to try it then it can be a remarkable  and life changing event.  Of course, there are negatives and positives about one's home country and one's new country.  Each person has to decide which is more advantageous for him or her.  One important point to note is that traveling abroad and living abroad are definitely not the same thing.  Think of traveling abroad as the summer internship, where companies roll out the red carpet.  Think of living abroad as being employed by the company. 

For the first five years one still feels more acquainted to one's home country, but once one passes the 5-year mark, one belongs more to one's new country and the international community than one's home country even if one moves from one country to another during these five years. 

In the beginning everything will be new from understanding the postal system, the transportation system, the social culture, etc.  After 5 years it will all be rather routine, but when you return to your home country the challenges begin again, you might not even know how much it cost to mail a letter or to use the local transportation. 

With all the challenges of living abroad, there are many wonderful experiences from meeting new people to seeing new places.  If you are considering living abroad embrace it and the experience will be life changing.

The Journey Begins

For some time I have debated about writing a blog.  Actually, more than two years ago, I started a blog, but it is mainly a photoblog.  Now I am endeavoring to write/develop a real blog.  Why? Recently, I have been reading blogs by others and some I really enjoy.  Some of the issues I read about are very important to me and I believe they can be developed further.  I am going to weigh in with my two cents. 

The name of the blog is "La Voyageuse" (The Traveler).  I choosed this title because in one word it decribes me.  While there will be entries on traveling, there will also be discussions on multi-cultralism, books, photography and many other dynamic topics. 

The journey starts now from the shores of Lac Léman and who knows which paths and trails it will follow.