Beer Chicken

How can you be so glum with a beer can up your bum......

Yesterday I went round to an old school mates place for a Braai ( A BBQ to the rest of you ) Normally its a all beef affair but not this time. Jacques was going to introduce me to something new. Something that has taken South Africa by storm. Now I am not sure if its a typically South African dish or if it came from Zimbabwe or Australia as my search on the web could not clear this up for me. But not to worry about where it originates from all you have to know is it was dam tasty.

So what is beer chicken.

Basically its a whole chicken that is roasted with a can of beer up its do da ;-)

the basic recipe that I had at Jacques was as follows.

Ingredients.

1 chicken ( whole - no giblets etc )
1 can of beer ( Cobra in our case but you can use any thing - just a small can not the long)
some olive oil with salt - pepper and other spices to spice things up a bit.

Baste the chick with the olive oil mix.
OPEN the can of beer ( very very important! )
Sit the chicken on top of the can - See my photos.

We put the birds into a Webber BBQ oven with the coals on eather side of the bird but I am sure an ordinary oven would do the trick but I think you will miss the smoking process in a kitchen oven.

We served the chicks up with salad and garlic bread.

The chick was moist and tender and you could taste the beer in the meat. It was fab.

Here is a link to an official recipe.
And some more info on Beer Chicken/Beer Can Chicken
A link to buy some accessories for the professional beer chicken connoisseur.

Hope you enjoy.

Photos of our chickens not looking so glum with a beer can up its .......

T.I.A (This Is Africa)………….

………..Or should it read …… OIA (Only In Africa)

I think one can write a book on things that you can’t make up but do seem to only happen in Africa.

Thought I would share a few that I have had the joy to experience and just feel like I want to laugh or cry over.

There is an advert both on TV and radio. The advert is for a whistle blower phone number to report Telkom (Telecommunications provider like BT in the UK) cable theft. Theft of phone cables is costing industry here millions and it’s also costing life where people can not place a simple phone call to the emergency services. This has been going on for years so nothing new there. But the bit that does make me laugh about this advert is at the end of the advert it says “Call 0800 ….. from a landline” hang on a moment from a landline – the very landline that your reporting stolen ? HOW! Someone did not give that much thought I feel. I am sure it can also be phoned from a cell (mobile) phone but why emphasize the landline bit I really don’t know.

Mom told me a sweet story the other day about a labour at the complex they stay in. My dad answered a knock on the door the other day to find Simon with a parcel in his hands. The parcel was wrapped up in paper and masking tape. As Simon’s English is not too good my Dad could not work out what he was on about. Dad’s first thought was that Simon was trying to sell him something. This was far from the case. Simon had been given some ice-cream and he was looking for somewhere to keep it till he went home. Mom explained to him that they could not keep it long as they were going out. He was happy with that. When it came for Mom and Dad to go out they found Simon to give him his ice-cream. As they were going out the saw Simon knocking on doors looking for another place to store his ice-cream. The story just reminded me of a scene from “Ice-Age” where “Scrat” it trying to keep hold of his cherished wall nut.

Been walking around the shops and meeting people here and every one seems to be so happy. Yes there is a lot of bad things going on. Crime is off the scale inflation is at 10%. But people here seem to just get on with it and smile. I got to experience load shedding the other day. Load shedding is Eskom’s way of trying to save on fuel for power. Basically Eskom is in a bit of a power struggle at the moment with the country not having enough power. They were warned years ago that this would happen but did not react. The power went off from just after 11am till around 15:30. People who had laptops carried on working till there batteries died. Others made appointments to see people who had power or did not need power to do what ever it was that they wanted to. But I did not hear any one complaining about it. Its just a way of life. Actually someone said to me that this was a good way to show that South Africa was growing too fast that Eskom could not keep up with demand. One way of looking at it I guess. Always the African way – look to the positive.

As a result of all this development South Africa is having to import cement to aid in the building of stadiums and infrastructure for the 2012 football world cup. Southern Africa has a shortage of cement as a result.

I think you will find that as the rest of the world try and find ways of taxing people for the power they use and there CO2 footprint and the likes. It will be a power saving/ clean energy idea that will come out of southern Africa and it will save the economic crisis and solve all our ecological power issues in one go. Just you wait – after all – THIS IS AFRICA! Stranger things have happened. PowerGen Wind up radios are made here (or where) Ok it’s a UK invention but South Africa helped make it happen and I think they will make it happen again.

On the subject of making it happen – it’s a very African thing that – “Boer maak ‘n plan” (A farmer makes a plan)

To see some views of South Africa click here.

Photos taken from Ballito and en route back to Johannesburg just past Harrismith on the N3

Click here to see where Ballito is

Click here to see where Harrismith is.

Slight Change of plan.

This should have been uploaded last week ( 10/03/08)

Well there has been a bit of a change of plan to my assignment with North Star Foundation. I am pleased to say I am still going to SA on Saturday and the main goal is still the same. That is the goal to set up Wellness Centres to provide HIV/AIDS prevention and education still stands.

Originally the plan was to setup Wellness Centres at Bietbridge and Chirundu to target the long haul truck drivers at the boarder posts. Well this has changed slightly with the plan now being to setup 7 centres targeted at the courier industry in the major centres of South Africa. Already some of the major courier companies have joined forces in this initiative along with SAEPA (South African Express Parcel Association) to put together these centres at locations like airports or close to there depots. To me this makes a lot of sense. Although some of the big names in the courier industry have large long haul trucking divisions out side of South Africa there key business in SA is courier both domestic and international. This means that they are all playing a part in something that is mutually beneficial to themselves. They will be helping protect their investment in their own staff.

I am very excited by this new development as I come from a domestic (South African) courier back ground with Dawn Wing Couriers. So I now can play quite an active part in ensuring that staff in this industry that, has and still does play a big part in my life, can have the best possible care and education when it comes to HIV and AIDS.

I have been tasked with two objectives. Project manage the project, and looking at the IT infrastructure to ensure that we can get data back from the centres so we can monitor the performance of them and report back to the stakeholders. I also hope I can add more to this project with my knowledge of the domestic courier industry in South Africa.

I am now really getting excited about getting into SA and getting stuck in. Next week is going to be a week of meeting people and just getting as much info into my head as I can. It’s going to be tough yes but I know there is a team behind me all the way that I can count on. My meeting with Robin and Francesca yesterday has only enforced this support.

Support is important in any thing you do. With it you can do anything!

Swazi Wellness Centre (Chevron/NFS)

On Thursday 12th March I visited the Swazi Wellness Centre at Oshoek, near Mbabane, the border between Swaziland and South Africa.

The Swazi Wellness Centre at Oshoek was setup with a partnership between Chevron and North Star Foundation back in September 07. Chevron is the sponsor for this centre and has committed to its running costs and has even hosted it on its forecourt of the Caltex Service Station. The drivers, sex workers and local community benefit from this very well located centre.

I got to meet the staff of the centre and the first thing that struck me about them was how enthusiastic they were about there work. The staff consists of an Out-reach worker and a Nurse. The Out-reach worker does basic sex education and HIV/AIDS awareness and the nurse does basic heath care with the patients that come to see her. I got the sense that they were very proud to be doing there part in the combat of the spread of HIV/AIDS and STD’s in the community and with the long distance drivers. We, the North Star Foundation team, got to speak to the local’s that were around the area and it does seem that the centre is a very welcome addition to there community. They all knew what it was about even if they felt they did not need to visit it they were aware of the message it was sending out.

Swazi does seem to be very jacked up HIV/AIDS awareness program. On every lamp post and just about every sign post there is the red ribbon symbol for HIV/AIDS awareness. Posters and billboards all have some form of awareness message on them. It was great to see so much awareness and campaigning for the fight against HIV/ AIDS. But it’s not just the Kingdom of Swaziland but I have seen a fair bit of awareness going on in South Africa too.

I am fully aware that we will not eradicate the spread of HIV/AIDS but it is refreshing to see that people are trying to do there bit to stop the spread of this pandemic.

Photos of the Swaziland Wellness Centre can be found here.

Air Travel

I write this in the departure lounge of Frankfurt Airport (FRA) as I wait for my delayed departure to South Africa. – (Was meant to depart at 20:45 – now departing at 00:15 (Sunday morning))

Gone is time that air travel was for the selected few. When it was exciting just to get onto a plain to visit new destinations and go on exciting adventures. Now it just seems to be a mundane thing that people do. Security is now just a formality. Delays are just part of the norm. The only people you see excited about the prospects of getting on a plain to travel to far off places are young children. There parents are only worried about getting to there final destination with there children on the same plane as them. People bustling around, with a sense of purpose, but not really going any where. Just to the exit gate to find that there plain has been delayed do to unforeseen circumstances.

Maybe it’s the time of day, I don’t know. But I just seem to see tired people, stressed people.

Why is this?

Has low cost air lines made it as normal to fly to a new destination as driving to the shops? “Every one does is now.” So that if you have not been on a plane you’re the odd one out? It does seem that way I as sit here watching people running around with no where to go.

The Person,

Over the past few days it has become clear to me that it takes a certain type of person to volunteer to go on a WPF assignment.

 

On the training course there were people from all manor of backgrounds. Male, Female, young and old alike. Just about every bit of land mass was covered by these people in some shape or form. People that are currently residing in Australia, India, UK, Chilly, Argentina, Italy, France, The Netherlands. Other countries like South Africa, Malawi, Switzerland, and Germany have all had a part in these people's lives at some stage.  

 

One thing that became very clear during our time together was that we all shared the same ambitions in life. We all wanted to make a bit of a difference in the world. No matter how small and insignificant it might be as long as we made a small contribution it would make a big impact on us.

 

I really enjoyed my time with these people. New friendships have been made and bounded together though this common ground we now all have. Language, gender and cultural differences have been left back home. We are now all just one…..

 

Members of an elite group of people with a common goal. To make, what might appear to be small to some but massive to others, a difference in the world.

 

As I sit at Frankfurt airport typing this up, I can not but wonder what adventures lay ahead of them with the School Feeding Program and Me, with North Star Foundation. All our adventures will be different but one thing is for sure they will all be memorable.

 

I wish them all the best and I look forward to reading there stories and seeing there photos.

 

Blog's for the teams that are going, and have gone, on the WFP School Feeding program with TNT can be found on the "Moving the World" website.

 

The Partnership

For the past few days I have been at the World Food Program (WFP) Head Quarters (HQ) in Rome. The reason for my visit to the WFP is to do some training. This training is done by all TNT members of staff that go onto the “School Feeding Program” and “Emergency Response Stand By Teams”. It covers all manner of things from basic health and safety issues down to managing stress while on assignment. Even though I am not going on a School Feeding Project (Food for Education – FFE) I have found it very interesting. The one of the aspects of this training was about the partnership between TNT and WFP.

Back in December 2007 TNT and WFP celebrated its 5th anniversary. In doing so both TNT and WFP extended this partnership indefinitely so long as the partnership remained beneficial to both parties. Being part of this partnership makes me incredibly proud.

TNT is WPF largest corporate contributor. In 2007 TNT donated US$ 9 million ($2 million in cash the rest in services (trucks, planes, manpower etc)) As a result of this TNT has a department called “Moving the World” that facilitates fund raising exercises and awareness (Walk the World/ Colour the World), coordinating manpower for WFP projects. (School Feeding Project, etc)

In the past 5 years Moving the World has aided the following.
30 Emergency Situations (supplying resources)
10 Air Lifts (Food, manpower etc)

Why does this partnership work so well?

Both TNT and WFP have a common core business entity. We are both in the logistics business. TNT moves freight from point A to point B. WFP moves food and aid from point A to any where it is needed. It made sense to form this alliance.

This partnership is not exclusive. Anyone can play a part in it. Not just TNT Staff, family and friends in Moving the World projects. Any member of the public can help WFP raise the nearly US$3 billion (yes BILLION!) needed to feed people around the world.

Here are some very impressive stats for WFP

2006 WFP fed 88 million people in 82 countries.
They did this with:
12 000 staff (World Wide)
80 aircraft
40 ships
5000 trucks
and a bit of help from TNT !
WFP is the largest humanitarian agency in the world.

Why is it important to help?
800 Million people suffer from hunger in the world. Most of these are women and children.

1 child dies every 5 seconds from hunger.

Hunger claims more lives than AIDS, TB and Malaria combined.

So what can you as an individual do to help?

Well seeing as you’re on the internet reading this why not go to the following websites to see what you can do?

WFP – http://www.wfp.org
Or for a real practical and fun way of helping raise some money you can always play the “Free Rice Game” where you can earn rice by playing a word game. It’s FREE and addictive! – http://www.freerice.com

If you are a TNT staff member, or know of TNT staff, go and pay the Moving the World site a visit for more news on WFP fund raising projects. You can also find blog’s of staff members that are both currently on assignments or have been on assignments – http://www.movingtheworld.org

Every bit helps!

Food for Education (School Feeding Program) fed 20 million school children in 71 countries (55% of children in Africa) in 2006.

When in Rome ……

Yesterday (03/03/08) was my first official day in Rome. I have never been to Italy before so it was all very new and exiting to me.

The morning started off with me having some breakfast and a bit of an impromptu meeting with Robin Landis and Francesca Duffy from WFP (World Food Program). Both Robin and Francesca went into some detail about the partnership between WFP and North Star Foundation.

The partnership is quite simple really. WFP move tons of food and aid around the world. The main means of transporting this relief aid is by truck. HIV/AIDS like any other epidemic is spread by the movement of people from one area to another. What easer way of spreading a disease than by sex workers and truck drivers that utilize the services of these sex workers? This means that the backbone of the WFP is under attack from HIV/AIDS. WFP and TNT are aware of the impact that this can have in there own organisation and felt that more needed to be done to ensure the longevity of there own drivers but that of others in the same field. This has in turn lead up to the forming of North Star Foundation. More and more companies are seeing the benefit in what WFP and North Star Foundation are doing and are coming on board to help aid and fun this project. More info on this can be found on the North Star Foundation’s official website (http://www.northstarfoundation.org)

After the meeting I felt I had to see a bit of Rome. So when in Rome….

I did not venture to far in Rome as after all I am here on business and not on a sight seeing trip so I only really went to the Colosseum and some of the other ruins around it. One of the things that did strike me about Rome is the carefree attitude of people here. Very laid back I found. At the train station there was a lady that had climbed off the platform to carry her bag and children across to the other platform. (There was a subway she should have and could have used) but no one seem to get upset about it or even offered to help. Lucky for her the hi-speed train came though the station about 5 mins after she had got every thing across. But no one seemed to care.

Rome its self is a bit dirty, again no one seems to care. Graffiti! Now I have seen graffiti in the UK but not on this scale. It’s every were! But the monuments are left untouched. I guess they do have some respect. The people are very friendly and will talk to you no matter what, even if you can quite plainly show them that you don’t understand. My taxi driver rambled on for ages despite me telling him I did not understand what he was on about. On the subject of taxi’s, well driving, I can clearly see why some of the best race car/ motor bike racers in the world are Italian. Any one that can drive like these people and get away with it must be world classed! I am yet to see a smash. Every road seems to be a race track. Just glad I don’t have a nervous disposition.

The Colosseum was amazing. I did not go into it but just walked around it and up the road a bit to the other ruins. As I did not do history or geography at school I am bit ignorant to what is what. Also as I did not get a guide book I kind of felt I was missing out on a lot. As a result I think I will come back with someone a bit more knowledgeable on the subject of Rome. I have taken some photos of where I went to as well as some video. The photos can be found here. The videos will take a bit longer to upload to YouTube as I have restricted internet access at the moment.

So far I have enjoyed the start to my assignment with North Star Foundation. But there is still lots to learn and a fair bit of hard work ahead of me.

The start of things to come

oooh sounds bad don't it ? Well I hope its not all down hill from here on in ! I am sure it wont be.

Been a bit of a bumpy start that's for sure.

A few weeks of hell at work, dealing with emotions that just dint seem to fit and a hotel shuttle that did not arrive. Great so far!

Well I am now in Rome. First impressions are not good so far. But it is early days. So far every thing I have been told about this place is true. You do take your own life into your own hands here just stepping out onto the pavement - never mind the road just the pavement can be a bit dangerous. I now know why Italy makes such fine sports cars. The car is god here - it has right of way and its a law unto its own. In the hour that I sat out side the airport waiting for the bus that would not arrive I saw so many road violations it was unreal. Cars driving over the pavement to get into another road as it was the shortest route I guess. People just stopping where and when they like ( but never to let you cross the road at a pedestrians crossing! ) madness! The taxi drive to the hotel was almost as hell raising as the landing.(Any landing you walk away from is a good one !)

Tomorrow I hope to get to see a little of this fine country and I hope my views on this place changes from it being so laid back every one is horizontal with out any respect for any other road users ( pedestrian or vehicular alike )

On the whole I am happy to be here as it means I have started my journey.