A little bit of luck and a carrot. November 04, 2005

Being at the right place at the right time has proven to be everything here on this trip.
As our good luck would have it, Jason Firmin and Kirk Jobz (the CEO of mailman) and I were invited to Nerissa Pope's house for tea on the same afternoon that the Programme Director from SOS Malta was invited, as well as some reporters from the BBC. SOS Malta is a non-profit that is focused on helping poor people in commonwealth countries get back on their own feet, and most specifically, in rural areas that are underserved. So when Nerissa introduced us to Claudia and then asked us to share our project's news we gladly regaled her with the objectives, successes and challenges of our mission to date.
Within a matter of 5 hours ( no we weren't blabbing for that long) Claudia was on board to provide us with 3 brand new boats and 3 brand new engines for our needy fishermen/divers. What a coup!
We were ecstatic! As Kirk put it "Malta ROCKS!" Indeed the boats would not only come in handy for current reconnaissance diving trips, fishing for the villagers, but also in the future to be used by researchers, students and tourists alike. So we decided it would make the most sense to put the 3 boats into the villagers use as a cooperative. Teams would be assigned to specific boats for care and maintenance, young divers with experienced fishermen,so people could take turns both teaching and learning new skills from one another. We want the villagers to be accountable and responsible for these boats, and eventually their own livelihood. We hope to not only make the system sustainable but to also cut out the middle men. Currently Thusita, the head 'diver' of the village not only risks his life to collect ornamental fish for a pittance, but then has to pay the evil fish company a leasing fee for the decrepit boat they have him using. So not only is he not getting paid a fair wage, but to add insult to injury they are gauging his miniscule wages. For this reason alone we are thrilled to have new boats so the fisherman can start to take home more money.
Of course, as a good teacher I have created an incentive program for this as well. There is a big test coming up on Saturday - so I have been teasing my students that they will only get the new outboard engines for their new fiberglass boats when they pass this final academic test! A little carrot never hurt anyone :)
We had two more media interviews today in colombo -- a follow up with the reporter from the Sunday Times ( Marissa De Silva) and a first time interview with John Atwell, who is the editor of Machang Magazine and a writer for Reuters. The more press we can get the more awareness and funding we hope we can raise.
Being away from the water training sessions today has made me antsy! I am dying to know what progress my students have made. Yes, I am turning into a bit of a mother hen but I can't help it, those smiling faces have all snuck their way into my heart.
Francesca
November 04, 2005