Africa
Aid Gone Wrong—the CIDA/New Brunswick Malawi Dairy Foreign Aid Project
The CIDA/New Brunswick Malawi Dairy Farm Project As many of you know, my interest in things African, and specifically in Malawi, was piqued as a teenager. I remember the day back in Grade 11 in good old Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada when they came back early. A family had been sent to Malawi, Africa to…
Read MoreCooperatives in sub-Saharan Africa: Supporting and Financing Female Entrepreneurs
Cooperatives in sub-Saharan Africa Most of us, even in the Western world, have heard about how micro-finance is helping people in developing countries to build their assets and wealth and improve their lives. But far fewer of us have heard about the role played by cooperatives in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the role played by women’s…
Read MoreFreddy Is A Nightmare in Malawi, Not Just A Horror Flick Killer
Cyclone Freddy slammed Malawi, the world’s fourth poorest country, not once, but twice. Just over a week ago, the world’s most powerful cyclone (in terms of accumulated cyclone energy over the course of the storm) wreaked celestial havoc in the southern part of the country; at last count, over 500 are dead, and hundreds of…
Read MoreThe Role of Micro-finance in the Development of African Economies
Micro-finance in Action Many people in North America and Western Europe have heard about the role that micro-finance can play in helping people in developing countries. I was fortunate enough to travel to Malawi in south central Africa to research the industry first-hand, and to meet many of its players. What I discovered was enlightening,…
Read MoreHow African Historical Fiction Inspired My Own Writing Life
Heart Of Darkness I vividly remember Dr. Richard McDaniel’s second-year English class at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick. We were studying the classic “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. I loved that book, and it fascinated me to no end. The basic theory blew me away: that we all have a more primitive,…
Read MoreInspiration for Those Who Would Be King
Finding Inspiration I have always been fascinated with development in Africa. In the early 1980s, a family from the farming community of Sussex, New Brunswick, sold their modern dairy farm and moved to Africa. They were the initial family – the pioneers, per se – to be sent to a sub-Saharan African country on a development…
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