Chiperoni ku Basel

Day: April 8, 2005

  • white Landcruiser phenomenon

    No where is the white Landcruiser phenomenon more prevalent than in Zambia or Malawi. In the city of Lilongwe, Malawi, you can find a typical African town with dodgy mini-taxis held together by pieces of tape, bustling markets and poor people. However you can also drive three minutes into the new city centre and find a brand new glass building that wouldn’t look out of place on the streets of Manhattan, where the car park is full of new 4WDs, courtesy of European donors. I wonder what the Africans to whom the aid is supposedly directed must think of these circuses that roll into town, buy new vehicles and laptops, and just as quickly leave without much tangible progress.

    Source: http://matthewroach.blogspot.com

    I know of at least one African who wouldn’t mind having a white Landcruiser job with a salary paid out in US$. I remember we used to discuss the perks and benefits of a job at the IMF or WHO while we were at school.

    I agree that there’s something amiss if the brains of Africa prefer working for NGOs and international organizations. Africa needs entrepreneurs that create jobs and build industries. But issues such as widespread corruption, high crime rates, bureaucracy, and volatile political systems don’t make building a business any easier. And like everywhere in the world, people weigh the pros and cons based on their personal life situation and then decide.

    Some of the funds would be better spent on grass roots projects with mid- and long-term goals… such as education.

  • Otitis Blues

    I was grounded this week. No day job. No blogging. What felt like a bad cold was diagnosed as otitis media, a severe infection in the middle ear, which can lead to meningitis or can rapture the eardrum or cause hearing loss. It is – may I add – somewhat painful. But I’m back online. And feeling much better.

    Just a note on the sideline, it’s great when you have a doc that cares. My doc has been very caring. Yes, I know – that’s what doctors get paid for. But it’s not the norm. It’s the little things that count like explaining the medication or offering telephone standby after hours. And judging by the very few encounters that I’ve had so far (and may they remain few), the Swiss medical system is more patient-friendly than on the northern side of the border.

    Dogs
    Here’s my contribution to keep blog content more balanced…

    While traveling back from the doctor’s, I sat next to an elderly lady holding a poodle-like dog in her arms, which had obviously just been to the hairdresser’s… The dog, not the lady. I made one mistake: I commented on the dog’s appearance. Too late. The lady seized the opportunity to tell me all about the dog breed.

    “It’s isn’t a poodle”.
    “There’s only 2 Bedlington Terriers in the whole of Basel”
    “No breeder in Switzerland. We had to go all the way to Germany.”
    (much shortened version)

    Hmmm – well my idea of a dog is somewhat different and looks more like the one in zkoo’s excellent photos [1] [2] [3]. Needless to say, dear readers, I politely listened. Thankfully our common journey was only a couple of stops long. After the lady had disembarked, another woman sitting opposite said that nearly everyone on the bus had heard the story at least once! Well, that’s one bus to avoid.

    Nyambadwe Hill
    Found a photo of Nyambadwe Hill in Blantyre. I used to scramble up this hill with all of my dogs. There’s a splendid view of Blantyre and the surrounding Michiru, Soche, and Ndirande mountains from the top.

    NZZ on blogs
    I just saw that another article about the recent blogger meeting in Basel has been published at NZZ online (in German only). There’s a summary at blog.ch.