I am frequently amazed by the resourcefulness of the people here. Among the many lessons that I have learned during the past 6 years is one about how my Western ‘throw away’ culture is more to do with habit than it is to do with the real necessity to throw things away. People here just seem to make things last longer.

This of course has both its positive and negative sides…

On the negative side, it seems that the involvement of a vehicle in a road traffic accident, causing irreparable damage to the chassis does not necessarily mean that the vehicle will be written off. Anyone who has visited a developing country can testify to this – the site of a bus/oil tanker/truck coming down the road towards you at an angle (or crabbing as it is called here) is somewhat disconcerting. The solution to damage in an accident seems to be just weld it back together and hope for the best!

But on the positive side there are many examples of people being resourceful and recycling things to extend their life. The reality of course is that this is borne out of necessity with people not being able to afford to replace things just because they have some damage.

A great example of this came about as a result of a poor purchasing decision I made a few months ago. In my rush to get a notice board on the office wall I bought a cheap Chinese import. On closer inspection it became clear it was constructed with cardboard, loosely covered with felt fabric material and bound together by a flimsy aluminium frame.

When the frame fell to the ground (as a result of some poor drilling – again on my part) the frame fractured and the cardboard inner came away from the felt. In frustration I ‘placed’ the offending items outside of the office as rubbish, to be taken away.

Said notice board disappeared and I thought nothing more of it.

Until about one week later said notice board reappeared in my office with the following repairs made to the back.

Once I’d got over my embarrassment I was immensely impressed by the resourcefulness of the guys who work for Bridge2Aid. Rather than follow through on my petulant reaction by throwing something out, they just took it away and got it it fixed.

It makes you think – how much is my response in throwing things like this away down to necessity, and how much of it is down to habit?

Suffice to say that I’m a bit more careful nowadays, more appreciative of the things that I do have, and more determined to make them last as long as possible.

Another lesson learned.

Last week was an exciting one in Mwanza as we hosted a visit from the JSP Media Group crew…

Next week I get to meet some famous people.

By famous, I don’t mean X Factor famous, Coronation Street famous or Hollywood famous, but, well, really famous.

I will tell you more about it next week.

It’s got me thinking about what you say when you meet someone and you really want them to understand what you do, and why you do it. I’ll get 30 seconds if I’m lucky.

My good friend Chris Barrow talks about having your ‘elevator speech’ ready – the spiel of what you do and why, that you can deliver in the time it takes to ride an elevator a few floors.

And that’s great, but for this, feels a bit (forgive me Chris) contrived…

Because I can’t package the passion that I work with, the burning desire to get people out of pain, the pride I feel in my team and the sense of fulfillment I get from working my behind off every day to make a difference in a country I love into 30 seconds.

So maybe the answer is not to try, to just open my mouth, and let the heart speak?

No prep, just honesty?

Imagine you’re in my shoes – what would you do?

Last week for me was another fabulous, exhausting trip to the UK. One of the main reasons for going was to attend the BDTA showcase, where we were once again hosted by A-dec on their stand.

The highlight for me of the three days was our Friends’ drinks reception on Friday night.

Over the past few months we have been working on a project to recognise the contribution our Friends, fundraisers, volunteers and contributors make to Bridge2Aid.

We decided that as small token of our appreciation, we would award Bridge2Aid pins.

The aim is to recognise people’s involvement in the organisation through things like DVP, Bukumbi teams, fundraising and membership of Friends of Bridge2Aid.

We have grown enormously in the past 5 years, and are growing fast again this year, and this is all down to the wonderful support we’ve received from many people. As we grow, it becomes even more important to me that we continue to appreciate and recognise the impact that support has made to the organisation. The new scheme we are introducing will hopefully communicate in a small way the huge value that we place on our supporters, and also build recognition within the Bridge2Aid community.

I’ve had the great privilege over the years of meeting and getting to know many people who support Bridge2Aid, and the ability to recognise others who are committed to the same cause and share experiences at events is one which I believe is greatly important.

We hope that our pins will be worn with pride at events where other supporters might be present. We want to give members of the ‘family’ the ability to identify, get to know and build community with others who have also played their part.

I was delighted to personally hand out a number of pins last Friday. If you received an invitation to the event but weren’t able to attend, yours will be in the post very soon.

It’s a small way of saying ‘thank you’.