I’m down to my last couple of days in Swaziland, and have been spending some time wrapping up work, saying goodbye to colleagues and friends, and preparing for a few of weeks of travel which lie ahead. It’s been a great four months, and September – in which I neglected to write much on this blog – was especially enjoyable. It was then that I started to really appreciate the work for the project which I’ve helped move forward (not as much as I had hoped, but enough to see a marked difference), the community of both Swazis and expats that I’ve feel into, and the relaxed life here in the Swaz. (September, incidentally, is a good month for the working man in Swaziland, as we only had one full 5-day workweek due to a number of holidays.) 
Yesterday was a milestone for The Business Place, as renovations started on the building where TBP will be housed later this year. To mark the occasion, last Friday we held a braai – or BBQ – at the building and a bunch of colleagues from TechnoServe and TBP’s partners came out to help celebrate. Our contractor was there as well, and he brought a sledgehammer for us to take a couple of ceremonial swings on some of the walls that we’re knocking down. (We barely made a dent, as it’s an old building with concrete reinforced walls.) It took a lot to get to the point where we were able to start the construction process, and I’m glad that it happened before my time here is up.
Yesterday was a milestone for The Business Place, as renovations started on the building where TBP will be housed later this year. To mark the occasion, last Friday we held a braai – or BBQ – at the building and a bunch of colleagues from TechnoServe and TBP’s partners came out to help celebrate. Our contractor was there as well, and he brought a sledgehammer for us to take a couple of ceremonial swings on some of the walls that we’re knocking down. (We barely made a dent, as it’s an old building with concrete reinforced walls.) It took a lot to get to the point where we were able to start the construction process, and I’m glad that it happened before my time here is up.
A bunch of TechnoServe colleagues came out to the braai, which was in Big Bend, about 120 kilometers outside of Mbabane. It felt good to include them – I have learned a lot about the work of the horticulture, feed and livestock, handcrafts, business plan competition, and youth entrepreneurship teams in the office, and have collaborated with a few of them. But Sabelo – the Executive Director that we hired last month (a well-connected SME champion and Swazi patriot) to take over the project – and I haven’t had a product to show. Bringing everyone together at the site and giving a short of the building took steps towards that.
I still have a number of loose ends to wrap up before leaving on Wednesday, and am sure that I will have some thinking to do after that. From my experience with my last couple of jobs – with Bike & Build and at Accent – it takes some time after I’ve been away from my work to realize and appreciate what I’ve learned and accomplished. I hope to add some of my thoughts here in a few weeks.
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