Saturday, September 20, 2014

Study Abroad Excursions


Our weekend adventures consisted of:
1. A trip to the Island of Mozambique —This island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site! So if you ever go, be prepared to learn about slave trading and Portuguese settlements. Besides the rich history, the island was very peaceful and beautiful. Overall, we spent the weekend touring the local historical buildings, swimming in the Indian Ocean, laying on the beach, exploring the island, taking a boat ride to the next closest island, and observing what life is like for the people of Mozambique  who depend on fishing and tourism rather than farming for their livelihood.



2. Another trip to the beach -- I am convinced that all the beaches in Mozambique are absolutely gorgeous!
 
 
3.  A South African Safari – We went to Pilanesberg National Park. There we saw 4 of the "Big Five". The Big Five consists of: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant, and water buffalo. (We saw everything besides the leopard.)


 



 

 

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Adventures in Cape Town!




If you ever get the opportunity to visit Cape Town in South Africa the following things are a must do!

1)      A Tour of Cape Point because of the penguins on Boulder Beach and the spectacular view of the Cape of Good Hope National Park.

 
2)      Hike Table Mountain & Lion's Head!
Below is photo from the top of Lion's Head with a Table Mountain in the background!

Reflections on Mozambique

The people I met in Mozambique had the greatest impact on me. Before traveling to Mozambique, I knew that I wanted to work in the international development field; however, I was not sure what that would look like as a lifestyle. I imagined it would be a life where I would have to compromise having a family or decent living conditions for the sake of helping others. However, I am pleased to say I was wrong in making that assumption. In Mozambique, I met Andrew, the founder of Novos Horizontes, and his family and got to visit their house. I saw that Andrew had a great family life and a nice house! I would even say that the quality of his life was better and more satisfying than a lot of other people’s in the United States. Overall, from Mozambique I gained role models and more confidence in my decision of pursuing a career in international development.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Team Projects in Mozambique

Team CrossFit:
Walk at 3.5-4.3 mph each day to take a photo, collect the GPS coordinates, and collect poultry data from about 149 outgrowers! All data collected is being used to make an interactive ArcGis Map of the region and to do regressions to see if there are any correlations between mortality rates, location, feed-conversion ratios, etc.

Water Crew:
We visited about 80 water sources that are used by Novos Horizontes and the outgrower. At these water sources we tested for:
Coliforms












Nitrates












Salinity
We also collected GPS coordinates that will be added to the ArcGIS outgrowers
  
Business Planning and Marketing:
This team supported Eggs for Africa by creating a mission statement and short and long term goals for the company. Also, they analyzed existing competitors in the eggs business to develop a marketing plan would help Mozambique Fresh Eggs beat their competitors.

Poultry Consultation:
The poultry team consisted of 4 poultry science students. They spent most of their time on the farm working with employees to develop a culture of best practices that can help the company improve their poultry yield and lower mortality rates.

Solo Projects:
The Effect of Chicken Litter vs. Chemical Fertilizer on Plant Yields:
A masters in agronomy student measured soil salinity and created test plots to determine the effects of chicken litter vs. chemical fertilizer on corn yields in Mozambique. If the experiment shows that chicken litter as fertilizer increases corn yields this would give Novos Horiztontes a reason to start packaging and selling their chicken litter. 
 

Social Entrepreneurs Make Great Bosses and Roommates

The Boss: Andrew
Andrew is the founder of Novos Horizontes. He is from Zimbabwe and has a heart for developing Africa through intentional and sustainable economic development rather than unsustainable foreign aid.
Fun fact:
As he was starting Novos Horizontes, he lived in a tent for 6 months with his wife and 2 children in the bush of Africa. (Pretty admirable!)

What is Novos Horizontes?
Novos Horizontes is in the business of chickens! They are partnered with Eggs for Africa and Mozambique Fresh Eggs to produce chicken feed, chicks, eggs, and chicken meat. These companies are an example of social entrepreneurship because:

1.       Creates jobs and opportunities for those without any: They created over 250 jobs in the city of Nampula. About 190 of these jobs are outgrowers. Outgrowers are rural farmers who raise chicks for 6 weeks until they are ready to be killed. Before New Horizons these out growers only worked as farmers and made 500MZN a year now they make anywhere from 5,000MZN-15,000MZN per each 6-week cycle (30MZN = 1USD).
 
2.       Products with purpose:  A problem in Mozambique is a lack of affordable protein in their diet. This lack of protein can cause Kwashiorkor, a severe form of protein malnutrition. (Kwashiorkor is the bloated stomachs you see sometimes see on kids.)  For at risk populations, kwashiorkor may develop when the kids go from a nutrient/protein-rich diet of their mom’s milk to a nutrient-lacking diet that is high in carbohydrates such as cassava, corn, etc.
The Roommate: Abby
Abby just finished her Masters in Economics and is an aspiring development worker! She is married to Charles, the founder of the non-profit Forgotten Song. The purpose of Forgotten Song is to sustainably improve communities in war-torn countries. They do this by partnering with community leaders to start sustainable and replicable businesses. Past projects include: starting a pre-school that offered subsidized child care in Iraq and granting poultry farms to orphanages in Uganda. If you would like to support their cause you can purchase chocolate from their for-profit chocolate company that they started called Hello Cocoa at Onyx, the Homemade Market, and Arsaga’s. They make all of their chocolate by hand from cocoa beans they purchase from their contacts in other countries.



Thursday, June 5, 2014

First Impressions of Mozambique


Their mountains look like they fell from the sky!













Carrying water on your head is tough!
















Without machinery and the luxury of a supermarket, all the Mozambique farmer are ripped!


Layover in London


If you ever have a layover in London here’s what you do:

Take the tube to Westminster

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Within 10 minutes you’ll see..
The Eye of London
 
Big Ben
 

 

 
St. Margaret’s Church 
A double-decker bus (and a lot of other fancy European-made cars)
 
If you walk a little ways you can also see:
 
Buckingham Palace

Gun-and-knife yielding guard (and the people with the most boring job in all of London)

 
Piccadilly Square


 

And maybe if you’re lucky.. One gravity defying Yoda!