News today from a friend in Pemba that (FINALLY!) KPMG is following through on its commitment to help the people of Kiuyu Mbuyuni achieve the Millennium Development Goals. She writes, “MVP is now taking off based at the PHL as from your suggestion.” Ah yes, and I made that suggestion a mere 20 months ago [...]
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Just got a note in response to my holiday card to a wonderful man I met in Zanzibar in September 2009, when I was there launching the Millennium Village Project that was to be sponsored by KPMG.
“Hi, Beth, Wonderful to hear from you. I apologize that I didn’t follow up with details after my [...]
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I’ve long been an advocate of corporate social responsibility and a believer that the corporation can be an agent for good in the world. Yes the goal of for-profit organizations is to make money and not to give money or time away. But reputation matters. According to BusinessWeek (July 9, 2007) “Reputation is a big [...]
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It is now two weeks since my return from Tanzania and I am just getting my New York mojo back. I have a way to go before I shake the aura of disillusionment that hangs over me these days. Egos, corruption, the incredibly slow pace at which the project moves forward and the fact that [...]
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I was truly sad to leave Pemba this morning. And what an ordeal it was – weepy goodbyes and last gazes at the mango trees, laden with fruit but still not quite ripe enough. The only reason Stephen and I made our flight this morning was that we were the only two passengers on Indigo. [...]
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On Friday I made my last trip to Kiuyu Mbuyuni (for now), stopping by to talk with the District Commissioner and the District Planning Officer on the way. I went with Adi from the JP5 program and was happy to see that after all the discussions and tension about his expectation that I would [...]
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Dar again. Today Jot Dhadialla and I had breakfast at the Palm Beach and then walked over to KPMG so I could introduce him to Michael Ward. Jot and I have been having a long conversation spread out over the past few days in Tabora and then back in Dar about how to ensure that [...]
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I am sitting in George Sempeho’s office at the UN, and we are going through hell just to make a phone call – land line to land line. I had to take a cab here because no one in Tanzania can make a conference call; the technology doesn’t exist here! (Or so I’ve been told.) [...]
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Yesterday afternoon George Sempeho, who heads MDG initiatives in Tanzania for UNDP, Michael Ward from KPMG and I met for the first time. And George, who is smart, genial and politically astute, brought the missing ingredient to the table: a powerful political network. George made a quick phone call and got the Commissioner of Finance [...]
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Today is Saba Saba, the seventh day of the seventh month – a national holiday. I’ve heard different stories about its origin: that It began as a market day, when all the farmers would bring their harvest to the city; or that it celebrates the founding of the TANU party (Tanganyika African National Union). But [...]
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Once again I woke up in the middle of the night, sure it was morning. Ended up in an email exchange with Jeff about my day at KPMG and that guy who works for Michael – Norwegian, with a PhD in Political Science, who is working on a project for DFID. When Michael had introduced [...]
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The air when we landed in Dar was hot and humid and smelled like open fires – the kind of smell you might kind of like on a cold autumn night if it wafted by for a moment but seems relentless and oppressive here. Body odors hang in the air in any place where people [...]
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