James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Mike Hughes is the Head of Business for the Evening Gazette. He will be blogging on all matters of importance to Teesside businesses - and some that are just worth knowing »
Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
Jeremy Middleton is a venture capitalist and the co-founder of FTSE-200 company HomeServe » 
Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » Well after another omelette-free breakfast and hot shower I am back in the Shared Interest office. It feels strange that you can be in central Africa one day and in NewcastleâÂÂs Groat Market the next â the wonders of Boeing 777âÂÂs!
This week is already a whirl of email catch up, paperwork and chatting with colleagues.
The reaction of people we met in Rwanda spurs me on. They are clearly keen to work in partnership and push forward the plans we proposed.
We now only have one day to go until our successful candidate formally accepts the role of Project Co-ordinator (although according to Joan from COFTA, the initial reaction we received leaves us little cause for worry.)
But then, even though IâÂÂm back in the UK, my thoughts are never far from Rwanda.
After reading RwandaâÂÂs national newspaper, the New Times over breakfast this morning (old habits die hard so I brought a few home with me!) I was drawn to an article headlined RwandaâÂÂs Food Crisis.
It made me think of the current economic downturn here. Do we consider poorer countries like Rwanda and how they may be crippled by the effects of rising world food prices? Sometimes we forget that the impact is global.
By creating, maintaining and strengthening handicraft businesses in Rwanda, the Shared Interest and COFTA project will serve to help establish âÂÂoff-farmâ income so that people arenâÂÂt relying on the land to secure a livelihood and feed their families.
The next few months are going to be vital in helping this take shape.
And with that in mind, back to the emails....!
- Post to:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
Nowpublic
Reddit
« Previous | Home | Next »