Haggis McMutton and LeChuck
I find myself apologising for the tardy Rambles more and more as time goes on. It’s due to a combination of things: taking more work home, Chichewa lessons every other day (ngakhale ndilibe phunziro la Chichewa lero) and finally finding a decently equipped gym. A big reason, though, is that a friend returning from the UK has brought me a couple of computer games, which have gradually started to siphon off all of my free time. This is exactly why I stopped playing these childish things before I came out. Since I got here, though I thought it would be a way of passing the time on the less busy evenings…
Big mistake. The Curse of Monkey Island is now constantly running on this computer, and I find myself wondering how I can get Haggis McMutton to join my pirate crew even while I’m having lunch.
Anyway, this weekend, I’m taking a break from it all and going down south to a lodge in the tea estates in Mulanje, which should be great. I’ve been overcome with guilt at the prospect of missing two Chichewa lessons, though, and to compensate, have organised a two hour lesson on Sunday – but still, the guilt persists. I haven’t felt like this since I was student.
* * *
Things at work have been hectic. I’ve been working on a system to capture all donor aid inflow to Malawi, so I’ve spent most of this week working on how best to design this, while simultaneously coming up with ways of selling the idea to the major donors. We’re meeting next week, when I’ll be giving a presentation aimed at getting them onside. So, my break to Mulanje isn’t exactly ideally timed, but it’s a good opportunity to go, and I’ll take my files with me.
While working on this, I’ve also been using the information we do have to see how we’re performing against our PRGF targets. The main message of this frustrating exercise is that we desperately need a new system to get all this information in, as the current one has more holes in it than the Middlesborough defence (yep – even in Malawi we’re laughing at that 7-0, and the same thing happened to us last year).
Our Director has been away all week as well, with an illness, so the other work we’ve been doing, freeing up resources that are tied up in underperforming projects hasn’t been moving as fast as we’d hope. We’ve got a list of actions we’re recommending she take, but until she okays them, we can’t do anything. So here’s hoping she gets better soon.
* * *
I’ll be moving into my house next week; I just told the lodge staff. I’m going to be very sad to leave my friends behind. Maybe I can take some of them with me…
Big mistake. The Curse of Monkey Island is now constantly running on this computer, and I find myself wondering how I can get Haggis McMutton to join my pirate crew even while I’m having lunch.
Anyway, this weekend, I’m taking a break from it all and going down south to a lodge in the tea estates in Mulanje, which should be great. I’ve been overcome with guilt at the prospect of missing two Chichewa lessons, though, and to compensate, have organised a two hour lesson on Sunday – but still, the guilt persists. I haven’t felt like this since I was student.
* * *
Things at work have been hectic. I’ve been working on a system to capture all donor aid inflow to Malawi, so I’ve spent most of this week working on how best to design this, while simultaneously coming up with ways of selling the idea to the major donors. We’re meeting next week, when I’ll be giving a presentation aimed at getting them onside. So, my break to Mulanje isn’t exactly ideally timed, but it’s a good opportunity to go, and I’ll take my files with me.
While working on this, I’ve also been using the information we do have to see how we’re performing against our PRGF targets. The main message of this frustrating exercise is that we desperately need a new system to get all this information in, as the current one has more holes in it than the Middlesborough defence (yep – even in Malawi we’re laughing at that 7-0, and the same thing happened to us last year).
Our Director has been away all week as well, with an illness, so the other work we’ve been doing, freeing up resources that are tied up in underperforming projects hasn’t been moving as fast as we’d hope. We’ve got a list of actions we’re recommending she take, but until she okays them, we can’t do anything. So here’s hoping she gets better soon.
* * *
I’ll be moving into my house next week; I just told the lodge staff. I’m going to be very sad to leave my friends behind. Maybe I can take some of them with me…
posted by the Maradona of Malawi at 6:57 PM
