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The Banana Biz Blitz

For those of you still interested in the how the banana craft business has been fairing these last few weeks, here's a brief and final update on that front.

My time with the women pretty much wrapped up before I went to Zanzibar, but I've still been around and visiting them to plan ahead for the future. The business is now in the hands of the women, Mr. Shija, and Robin.

I saw the Mama Machumba group for the last time on Tuesday of this week. There were some nice little speeches to officiate my parting, a happy photo shoot and a few sing-a-longs. On Monday, I saw the Mama Nazareth group. They're a separate group of women who we were introduced to in the first few weeks of February, but haven't really dealt with until now. We're involving them in the banana craft business, because its been going so well – there's enough demand to involve more women, which means more families can make money.

Basically, our plan for the future is this:

The Mama Machumba Group will continue selling crafts to Massai Wanderings Safaris. They will also been trained by a professional craftswoman on how to make banana fibre lunch boxes, to also sell to Massai Wanderings.

The Mama Nazareth Group – a group of 12 women – starting Monday are being trained in the creation of the same two products that Machumba have been making and selling: coasters and bracelets. Once the products are of high enough quality, they will be sold to Soko Adventure Safaris.

Robin performed the admirable feat of recruiting this large safari business (Soko) into our cabal, which means there's going to be even more demand for these banana craft products soon. For now, Mama Machumba Crafts will sell to both Massai Wanderings and Soko, but ideally both groups of women, in a few months time, will be selling to one business each.

And that's that. Evidently, things are getting a lot more complicated and ambitious – but Robin has a month left to try her best to ensure that it all goes smoothly. I'm confident she'll manage this well, and that the results will mean more economic stability for more people – around 17 women, in fact.

As for me, I'm done, and feel like I've left the business at a good time – when we have success under our belts and a promising future ahead.

Books I've read while in Africa

Paul - Alan Clayson
John - Alan Clayson
George - Alan Clayson
The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
Tarzan, King of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Remains of the Day – somebody Kazuo
American Gods – Neil Gaimon
Cat's Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
Disgrace – J.M. Coeztee

There were a couple more but I can't remember them right now.

In transit

I write from Amsterdam Schipol airport, and am flying to Toronto this afternoon. It's been a terrific experience, being in Africa, and one that has no doubt performed small but significant advancements upon my character.

Often I've heard from people that I would come back “a different person” and that the trip would “completely blow my mind” - and not just from people who have been to Africa. Being blunt, I don't think that the experience has had any sort of life-changing impact on me. If I came back a different person, then the guy who left Canada two months ago probably didn't have much tenacity to his personality in the first place. I'll allow myself the immodesty to suggest that I wasn't susceptible to total transformation because I've already done some growing up already. No matter how heavy it feels, two months is just a drop in the pond after 24 years. Still, as I've said before and tried to make clear in this blog – the ripple has been significant enough to make me feel like its been two months incredibly well spent.

I'm not sure if I'll ever come back to Africa. Though I've had a great time here, if I ever had enough money to travel again in the future, I'd go somewhere different – like South America, or east Asia. I was often being asked by Tanzanians I met and worked with while in Arusha, “When are you coming back?” It seems that most volunteers promise that they will return, but then, of course, don't bother. I tried to be honest with people, telling them that I didn't imagine I would ever come back. Though it is a beautiful and adventurous country, I didn't “fall in love” with Tanzania, or at least I don't think I did. Perhaps, if this trip revealed anything about me, it's that I dislike romanticized cliches placed in quotation marks.

Anyway, thanks for reading and see some of you soon in my heartland. For "home is where the heart is".