From
SILICON VALLEY
to SWAZILAND
How One Couple Found Purpose
and Adventure in an Encore Career
From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose and Adventure in an Encore Career
Copyright © 2015 Rick and Wendy Walleigh. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or retransmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Wheatmark®
1760 East River Road, Suite 145, Tucson, Arizona 85718 U.S.A.
www.wheatmark.com
ISBN: 978-1-62787-185-3 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-62787-186-0 (ebook)
LCCN: 2014954651
To our children, Adrian and Diana,
who are already working to make
the world a better place.
Acknowledgements
Many people have contributed their support to us over the seven years that we worked to publish this book, and we would like to give them at least some small level of recognition and thanks.
First must come all of the people we worked with in Swaziland and Kenya, both TechnoServe employees and participants in the TechnoServe projects. Some are mentioned by name (real or pseudonym) in the book, and others are unfortunately too numerous to mention. We were new to international development and they informed, coached, and interpreted for us so that our work could be useful.
Next, we’d like to thank our friends and colleagues who read our book at various stages of refinement and provided feedback to make it better, including Holly Marvin, Holly Krueger, Tim McLellan, and Simon Winter. We are especially grateful to Bruce McNamer, George Schutter, Leslie Johnston, Debra Dunn, and Ron Boring for giving us feedback and writing endorsements.
In the professional arena, Arielle Eckstut was a great editor and coach, and Lori Leavitt and Grael Norton have been our able guides throughout the publishing process.
Thanks to all. Without them, this book would not have happened.
Contents
Swaziland
San Francisco to Mbabane
How Did We Get Here?
Settling in—Familiar Work in an Unfamiliar Environment
Smelling the Roses—Exploring Our Surroundings and Understanding the Culture
Start-Up Challenges
Observations and Lessons Learned, so Far
More Exploring and Cultural Immersion: An Aborted Trip, a Braai, a Wedding, the Reed Dance, and South Africa
Business Finance and Other Challenges
TechnoServe in Maputo, Johannesburg, and Nairobi
Junior Achievement
Photos of Swaziland
Businesswoman of the Year Award Dinner
Producing Cotton, Milk, and Pork, with Insights on Race
Tasty Meals Business Plan and the Bank
Wrapping up in Swaziland
The Interregnum
Kenya
First Impressions of Nairobi and TechnoServe in Kenya
The U.S. Embassy and Other Concerns
TIA, but Some Things Work Quite Well; And Africans Can Be Very Resourceful
Uganda
Believe, Begin, Become in Kenya
Photos of Kenya—Part One
Nakuru, Lamu, and Tsavo
A Quick Visit to the United States and Going Home to Nairobi
Matooke in Uganda, Genocide Memories in Rwanda
