Paul: When I think of Ethiopia, I still have a Bob Geldof-style image of poverty , famine and drought. Well, it sounds like the poverty still has a firm foothold, but not so much of the drought.Lesley left for Ethiopia on Friday, and got a phone call from one of the team out there the night before to say "Bring Wellies". The area just outside Addis Ababa where she and the team were to be based had just been stricken with flash flooding, and all the joys that entails for areas without good sanitation at the best of times.
Lesley (who has promised to fill in more of the details when she returns!) is part of the design team for a Europe-wide leadership development project. This is their first "experience" designed to throw them in at the deep end (in a number of ways). I've now just about exhausted my knowledge of the purposes of her trip, so will give up before I show the full extent of my ignorance. The details of all she's been involved in will be a better tale from her anyway!
On a separate note, I had the MRI scan as planned and a friend managed to sneak me the results (He's a proper doctor, honest!). As hoped; it revealed nothing sinister (i'm not convinced they found anything inside my head at all). It was quite an experience being conveyor-belted into a giant waffle-iron that makes horrendous noises at you for half an hour, while locked alone in a room that has thicker walls than most nuclear blast shelters. I highly recommend it!
I think I'm starting to feel better anyway, and with that spirit of optimism upon me, I'm off to Egypt on Thursday with some of my HR folk from around the planet (Lesley comes back on Saturday, but has promised to wave as she flys over Cairo). I'll tell you more about that one when I'm back as well!
Thanks for reading!
