Co-Op Week

Growing up in Killarney, Manitoba, surrounded as I was by aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family, was an idyllic setting for a young man with limited means and big dreams. It was an era of little crime (no one locked the door to their house or car) and the price of a quart of milk or loaf of bread changed little from same year to year and inflation had not yet reached public consciousness.

I have been inspired by the positive change and empowering work of the people of Vancity for years. The list of contributions and incredibly valuable innovations that Vancity is directly responsible for is huge – not the least of which is unending support and help to build the Co-operative Auto Network.

I’ve always known that I need to repay that debt.

After 30 hours of travel our last flight descended into Lilongwe through beautiful blue skies with large puffy white clouds. The terrain between Nairobi and Liliongwe had been mostly green grasslands and we could see Kilimanjaro rise in the distance. The airplane landed, did a U-turn on the runway (thankfully no other planes landed!) and drove back to the airport. We were here!

Professors Stefano and Vera Zamagni laid out a lavish feast for us on Tuesday. Their summer home is in a small village in the mountains overlooking Bologna. A short distance as the crow flies; the bus required an hour to negotiate the steep switchbacks.

June 28th, 2010

I now have a tan on my brown, bald head. Never did occur to me that it could happen. But the sun was merciless today and generally sapped the energy. So today`s blog is going to be short. I think. I need to get some sleep.

We visited another consortium and 2 amazing co-ops today. My caption to today`s blog refers to the first.

Maybe Neptune went fishing in the nude. I can find no other explanation for the statue in the Piazza del Nettuno. At the top of the fountain/sculpture/monument stands Neptune totally naked, Trident in hand, stomping on a dolphin. It gets weirder after that. At the next level below, there are four cherubs.

A few of us ran more than 5 kilometers this morning. There is something awe inspiring about running on sidewalks that are under vaulted porticoes and periodically encountering a 12th century church or a tower, one of which is leaning. (Pisa’s tower is not the only one with a soft foundation).

The 3 hour drive from Bologna to Trentino in Northern Italy today was a feast for the eyes. Old homes and businesses on the outskirts of this medieval town gave way to fields and vineyards. Periodically a fast flowing river or stream carrying snow melt from the Dolomites would appear nearby only to disappear from view a few hundred yards later.