Following the most eventful week of my life, during my first
week in Chilomoni, Blantyre, I thought it appropriate to begin a blog about my
time here as part of such a wonderful development project. And I would like to
start by giving a bit of background on who I’m actually working for, and what
I’m doing here.
Krizevac is the development project that recruited me to
work in the Mother Teresa Children Centre (MTCC), which was set up using funds
from a centre of social enterprise called Beehive. I hadn’t appreciated the
sheer scale of the various Beehive enterprises until I arrived and saw the
centre, it has created hundreds of jobs locally and is literally changing the
face of Chilomoni. Beehive, was set up by a very successful businessman called
Tony from Staffordshire. I was lucky that I got to meet him during my
interview, and yep...he was nothing that I expected: old, quirky and with such
an admirable vision. And his inspiration? Well, about 10 years ago, on his
visit to a religious site in Herzegovina, Bosnia called Medjugorje, he had a
religious experience, and I’m guessing quite a profound one.
A significant development initiative began in Medjugorje after
an incident in 1981 where approximately six local adolescents had claimed they
had a vision of the Virgin Mary on a mountain. A cross was laid at this place,
a church was built, and ten years on, now a popular pilgrim-site, Medjugorje is
unrecognisable following the investment in the region from pilgrim donations.
Weirdly, I happened to have visited Medjugorje in October
during my Croatia and Bosnia holiday. Anyway, Tony was so inspired by this, he
decided to continue the legacy elsewhere. When he visited his nephew called
Vince (who was a Children’s Centre Manager back in the UK), and his wife in
Blantyre who initially came to Malawi as VSO volunteers, and saw the mountains
in Chilomoni, he found his opportunity. He laid down a cross, he built an exact
replica of the church in Medjugorje, and he built a school. Although the locals
in Chilomoni were extremely excited by Tony’s arrival and the millions he had
spent, it very soon came to a head that with regards to the socio-economic issues
of the area, the church and cross were going to have little impact in the day
to day lives of local Chilomonis.
It was at this point that Beehive was conceived. Tony, along
with other significant pioneers went on to set up non-profit viable and
self-sustainable enterprises, being quite vigilant with regards to the ones they
chose to financially support. All surpluses generated are being ploughed back into the
enterprises and into projects that meet wider social need. On an
arduous task of bringing across plant and vehicles and IT equipment from the
UK, he set up a plant and vehicle hire and IT equipment hire called Torrent.
Torrent is Beehive’s most successful enterprise, they are currently making over
a million and 250,000 Kwatcha in profit, respectively, and it’s this money that
has been used to set up the children’s centre. The discovery of Hydroform was key
in allowing for cost-effective construction development at Beehive. A worthwhile
investment in just a few conventional construction machinery, allowed for a
simple and economical brick making technique to create extremely cheap compressed
earth blocks using just soil cement and water.
Other enterprises include Beebikes and Beebooks...and as you
guessed it thousands of books and bikes have been shipped across from the UK
(apparently Beehive received thousands of royal mail bikes) that have been
refurbished and sold. Again both have been relatively successful. You can buy
any book for 50 Kwatcha, that’s 20p. I found the entire works of Oscar Wilde and
Shakespeare in the bookshop the other day. A tomato also costs 50 Kwatcha.
Other not so successful enterprises include their knitting and sewing. The
competition from the local market of second hand clothes is too high
(apparently anything you leave at Oxfam back in the UK, ends up here). It means
you see half the boys walking around in British football shirts, and many women
wearing an interesting combination of traditional chatinjees with contemporary
logo shirts.
And their most concerning enterprise especially when
considering the investment that went in, is JP Academy, an adult learning
centre that provides IT and leadership courses. JP is in deficit, and because of
how much it’s costing Tony, it has apparently been the reason behind the
current hold-up on further construction.
And here it is, the fundamentals of starting any long term
community development initiative! Financial sustainability, once external
donors cut off the supply! It means you have to set up according to a business
model. A social-conscious business, but a business nevertheless, (as oppose to
a charity), if it is to be viable.
This vision of empowerment is consistent through all enterprises
affiliated to Beehive. The only possible consideration for regret with regards
to maintaining a cohesive identity, are the various names that have been
adopted by Beehive organisations. It means many people outside the Beehive
community are probably not aware that they are linked.
True to traditional work customs, your week at Beehive kicks
off with an assembly which all members affiliated to Beehive should try and
attend. All new members have to introduce themselves in front of the assembly,
and it’s always the same few questions they have to answer: who are you, why
are you here, where are you from, and first impressions of Malawi? It’s been a nice way to begin employment here,
to be able to walk around the site soon after and to be instantly known.
So, Beehive in a nutshell? This isn’t just teaching a man to
fish; it’s teaching the man how to make the rod...hook, line and sinker, a
truly humbling vision. I consider it one of the most cost-effective ways to intervene in the
long-run. We
have to be mindful of the
consequences of long-term provision of certain kinds of aid, to prevent a
community becoming reliant on hand-outs, without bringing about any long-term
social change.
