1 April 2002
No amount of cajoling and hinting has produced anything remotely looking like a newsletter from my beloved wife so I have decided that its time to re-acquaint you with my fair hand. This added to the Robinson’s un-subtle comment at the end of their most recent letter (which incidentally they have been sending very regularly), it is clearly time again to tell you about what is happening with the Herrmanns!
Our last letter was no 16 April 2001 (can you believe it) and at that stage we were still very much established in Chad, although the first cracks were starting to appear as I came head to head with the new country manager regarding (in particular) the pricing policy that had been forced upon me with the network. Sadly diplomacy is not one of my strong suits and in fact the reason for the trip that I had had to Amsterdam was to be rapped on the knuckles for not toeing the company line! (If you recall there was a suitcase that we had lost – we actually did get it back and the cheese was still edible). A couple of weeks later I got a call from the country manager saying that he felt that my French was inadequate for Chad and that I he had a possible position for me in Sierra Leone. Out of the frying pan in to the fire I hear you say. We arranged a trip at company expense to see if I would like it there.
The trip was fascinating. Visiting a country that had been so much in the news and seeing first hand the terrible things that man can do to man in the name of freedom and getting as many diamonds as possible into your pockets. Howard Martindale was the MD there and was really helpful in taking time out to show me around. In fact (particularly when compared to Chad), the country has recovered very quickly from its most recent civil war which was widely publicized. Many of the buildings have already been repaired and most of the injured have been taken to care facilities outside of the capital. Security was still tight with curfews from 10pm in the evening and road blocks being monitored by the Nigerians and the Brits. For me, it was a good opportunity as the system was identical to the one that had been installed in Chad and the population was far richer so it would be relatively easy to grow the market. The difficulties were mostly involved with the danger of expanding inland where things were not as secure.
The people in Sierra were very friendly and the best part was that they spoke English. While I had been able to cope with the French while in Chad and it had improved to the stage where I could understand and could make myself understood, I was looking forward to a country where I could understand everything that people were saying. I found that the way of life reminded me a lot of Zim and I was sure that Fiona would enjoy it there. I made contact with the American School who could take the kids and all was arrange for the forthcoming move.
Back to Chad and the arrangements for the official opening of our new building. Incidentally this had also been a point of contention and I had often been reminded that little money had been spent on the Sierra buildings while the building in Chad had to be considerably extended. This had to do with the fact that I had been told to provide a specific floor area and sent an architect to do it. Bottom line – half of head office liked the building and the other half thought it was too expensive. Anyway, the building had put us very much on the map and had take a long hard road to get it up and operational. The night before my next trip to Amsterdam for an MDs meeting we had a fine party with one of the local bands to open the new building.
I arrived in Amsterdam and briefed the person who was to take over from me and the following week attended the MDs meeting. By the second day, I was concerned that there would not be time to discuss the Sierra Leone move. There was a new MD to be installed in Chad, but no arrangements had been made for my move to Sierra Leone. On Tuesday afternoon, I basically insisted that we should discuss it and I got my new country manager to agree to a meeting. When I arrived at the meeting I was told that there had been a change in plans. While I was “ aware that my position in Chad had been taken by another, unfortunately there was no longer a position in Sierra Leone as they had decided to keep Howard on (and not send him to Amsterdam which is what he had been expecting).” Hard as they had looked for an alternative position, there was none.
So that’s life in the fun world of cellular. We already had plans for a holiday in Kenya so tickets were booked to head back to SA anyway. After taking some legal advise, I returned to Chad after a couple of days to find that my Office had already been taken over by the new MD and my possessions packed in to a box.
While I had been away, the final decision on the presidency had been decided in Chad. In most countries, this would be a formality but in a country where there was little doubt that the choice was more official than popular, one always wonders what will happen. Rumours abound of possible opposition uprisings or assassinations or lash backs against the opposition. On the night, Fiona and family ended up in the main bedroom listening to what sounded like world war 3 just down the road. As it turned out, the president’s mother was having a party and one of the military guests had got a little over – zealous. Apparently he was subsequently reprimanded (so the government claimed!)
Fortunately, in a way, there had been an arbitrary change in the air flight schedule and we had to leave earlier. This gave us less time in Chad and more time in Kenya. The next week was spent packing up our house contents and preparing to move back to SA. We quickly decided that Cape Town would be our next destination as the thought of moving back to JHB did not appeal. The new MDs attitude was seriously negative and by on the day that we were due to leave, he personally took an audit of the house contents and summarily removed my car and cut off my cell phone (not to mention removing the SIM card from the satellite decoder) leaving us with no contact with the outside world and unable to say goodbye to our friends in Chad. C’est la vie!
So as you can imagine, when we were finally picked up by our trusty driver late in the evening we were less than relaxed but glad to be on the move again into whatever the future was to hold. Our trip to Kenya was relatively uneventful, although we had more baggage than usual. We spent one night in Nairobi at the Fairview Hotel and then on to Watamu to stay at a guest house called Mrs Simsons.
We could not have chosen a better start to our holiday – particularly considering what had gone before. The guest house is on one of the northern beaches of Kenya and largely cut off from civilization. Mrs Simpson was still there (in body at least) and her history of a tour across Africa in a Morris traveler is a fascinating reflection of how things were in the early days. The accommodation itself was basic but adequate (although we did miss our Chadian air conditioners!). There is a 500m walk and then miles of beach (sadly with quite a lot of weed and stuff washed up from ships but not too bad). Our 4 days there provided a wonderful transition from our old life to a new one and gave us some time as a family to play games and sing songs on the verandah as the sun went down on cold gin and tonics.
After that it was pay back time and the chance to spend some of the hard earned dollars from the previous 18 months. We flew back to Nairobi and met Hilary and Frank (our good friends from Johannesburg). From there we flew to the Masai Mara and spent 3 nights living in luxury tents and being taken to view the most magnificent game scenes that I have ever experienced. Hilary and Frank went the whole hog and did the hot air balloon thing as well but we felt that that was a little over our budget for this trip – especially as we had no idea what the future was to hold!
So it was back to Nairobi, a trip to a glass factory, and then a week with Hilary and Frank (looking for possible jobs) before heading down to Cape Town. It’s not the best time of year to arrive in Cape Town (early July) but we still had plenty of sorting out to do. We established ourselves in Fiona’s folks flat and set about sorting out our lives. Surprise surprise, our goods had not yet arrive from Chad. As it turned out, they had not even been sent, but with a little (legal) persuasion, that was put right and by the end of July we had our goods safely stored in a hired garage.
We quickly decided that Hout Bay was where we wanted to live, and fortunately for us there was an international school there. Having started with the American school system, Lauren now had to join something more advanced than the South African system where kids start school at 7. (Lauren was 5 and already starting to read and write!). There was also a good play school for Guy (run by Montessori teachers and using their system). In the mean time the negotiations with MSI continued and eventually we came to an agreement thus ending that chapter of my life (and limiting my potential for similar jobs until May 2002).
After a few weeks in the flat, we decided that we needed to find somewhere else to live. We would look at houses in Hout Bay to buy in the long term but in the short term we would rent a small house. That was the theory. Our estate agent took us round to have a look to see what was available and by the end of the first week we had decided on a house in Hout Bay.
The house is very similar to the one that we had in Scarborough but a lot bigger. It has a fine entertainment area at the back (with pool and bar) as well as a converted garage which may be used either as an office (as it is now) or as a flatlet. Inside we have 3 good sized bedrooms as well as a small office which Fiona is using. That means one for us, one for the kids and either the flatlet or the spare bedroom (or both) for when you come to stay! All are welcome. Its great to be back in Cape Town and we would only be too happy to share our love of the city with you.
By early September, after lots of chasing, our container of furniture finally arrived. As you may recall, one of Fiona’s favorite stories is that of packing the 40ft (12m) container in the pouring rain prior to sending it to storage. The container was being stored by a company that subsequently went out of business and it was pure luck that I was able to contact the original person who had worked for the company. Fortunately the owners of the storage area itself were still in business and after some failed efforts we found a company to bring the container to Cape Town. Finally at 8pm (also with a bit of rain and having been promised the container at 8am that morning) the container arrived and we (that is myself and Fiona and the neighbor’s VW combie, hauled what we could of the boxes from the container into the house. The job was finished the following day by us and a couple of local workers and the container was duly removed and sold.
The next stage was to get some work. Fiona found a job quickly with Groote Schuur hospital assisting in the training of students. More recently she has also taken on some contract work with a medical company talking to doctors about a new training plan being offered.
I have been less successful. Sadly the engineering profession in Cape Town is at an all time low so I had to look to other ideas.
One of these came about when Lauren had her 6th birthday in November. We decided to get a jumping castle and had great difficulty. Finally we found one in the northern suburbs and so we decided that Hout Bay was in dire need of such a service. By early January we took delivery of 4 jumping castles and have set up a business hiring them out to people having childrens’ parties. Not a bad business although a fair initial outlay. The worst part is when you have to deliver them. The next worst is having to either dry or clean them.
The other came about when I was visiting my friend Chris and he had a friend of a friend there who was in Financial Services. Within a week I was officially selling financial services and have learned a great deal in the process. Unfortunately the income is purely commission and as yet I have not managed to get any actual income (plenty of leads though). It does keep me busy though and there is great potential.
My main objective is to set up an import export company although this takes time to set up. I now have a cc (Flame Lily Trading) and I have applied for the export license next week. Once that is done, I am hoping to use my new found knowledge of the West of Africa (which I have found scares most full blooded South Africans) to do some export deals. Let me know if you have any contacts looking for goods!
Oh yes – lest I forget – the final money making plan is one that I vowed I would never consider. Need a diet or is your skin all flaky – don’t fear Paul and Herbalife are here. Yes I have become a herbalife dealer and plan to make millions – not only rand but dollars and pounds. Ha Ha Ha – I hear you scoff but you won’t laugh so loudly when I fly in to visit on my new lear jet! Yes it does seem strange that I may have delved into the realms of network marketing but when you look at it, it does make considerable sense so what’s the harm in giving it a go. If nothing else, I have lost about 12 kgs since Christmas so at least I know it works!
Final stage – you guessed it – the family had a few new additions. The first were two ducks. Their real names are Quack and Moonlight (or as Hilary and Frank renamed them – lunch and dinner), then the three pond fish – Goldie , Splodge and Fishie in the deep blue sea. Next came the cats – Victoria and Mystopholies (who incidentally used up 2 of his 9 lives through serious illness jus after he arrived) and finally the children’s fish – bubbles and pretty tail. And we don’t even have the dogs yet! In addition, we have regular visits from large families of guinea fowl, squirrels and visiting pigeons and cats.
So here we are in April 2002 comfortable and happy but in need of some real income before the golden eggs run out! There are still quite a few irons in the fire from the external contracting side, but I suspect that if I do that again, Fi and the kids will stay here. First prize for me is the export company and possibly some external consulting but we will see what happens. There are also a whole lot of farmers looking for things to do from Zimbabwe – who knows what the future will bring. Fortunately its quite a while still before there is need for real panic so we continue to learn about the new challenges out there.
As the weather cools and the clouds come in, it is autumn in the Cape and soon the days will shorten and the rain will fall. That’s what keeps people up in Joburg but the changing seasons are part of what we love about Cape Town. I have been putting together a web site that you will hopefully soon be able to visit. It will have this and our previous newsletters as well as some advertising for many of my other hair-brained schemes. We think often of our friends in Chad, Zimbabwe, America, Canada, UK, Holland, France, Australia, New Zealand and many other far flung parts of the world as we hope that you do us. Hope that you are all well and we’d love to hear how you’re doing.
Lota love
Paul, Fi, Lauren, Guy – and Quack, Moonlight, Goldie, Splodge, FITDBS, Victoria, Mystopholies, Bubbles and Pretty Tail
