From Silicon Valley to Swaziland
By Rick & Wendy Walleigh
As the twin-engine turboprop climbed out of Oliver Tambo airport, we could see the densely packed slums surrounding Johannesburg, but the urban landscape quickly disappeared. It was winter in the southern hemisphere, and the flat terrain below was dry and brown. The land was chopped up into tiny plots for farming, most of them fallow. They looked rather sad, as farmland does when nothing is growing. The flight from Johannesburg to Matsapha Airport near Manzini, Swaziland, took less than an hour, but this was our fourth flight since leaving San Francisco. We had been traveling for thirty-six hours, including two overnight legs.
The journey from San Francisco to Manzini, Swaziland, is the longest. In addition to contending with the long flights, we had to manage our carry-on luggage through the multiple airport transits. Since we were staying for nearly six months, we brought a lot of luggage. The airlines allow you to check two bags per person, so we had four large suitcases weighing a maximum of fifty pounds each. In packing, we allocated them fairly—three for Wendy and one for me. She wasn’t going to Africa without a sufficient wardrobe and a six-month supply of her favorite beauty aids and toiletries.
However, throughout the trip, Wendy was a real trouper. Since two hundred pounds of luggage was not a sufficient allowance for all of our stuff, we also maximized our carry-ons. For carry-ons, the airline allowances are by size, not weight. Consequently, we each carried a thirty-five-pound duffel and a fifteen-pound computer bag. These were heavy for me, and my shoulders ached, but as we slogged through our last transit, I wasn’t sure Wendy would make it. Going through the terminal at Oliver Tambo, she looked as if she was about ready to drop. I helped some, and she pulled through bravely. Later, we saw the rough, red welts she had from the shoulder straps, but they cleared up in a few days.
As our flight approached Swaziland, the topography changed again. We began to see a few small mountains. They looked like the foothills in California but craggier. It rains in the winter in California, and the foothills are covered with green grass. In late spring, the rains stop, and the land turns light brown as the vegetation dies. In California PR terms, the hills turn “golden.” They’re dead brown, like straw, but can still be beautiful in a rugged natural way. Swaziland rains in the summer, and the winters are dry. Like California, the approaching hills looked comfortably familiar, with the dry, straw-brown grass contrasting with the black rock and red dirt.
Genre: Biography
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Rick & Wendy Walleigh
In 2005, Rick Walleigh left a 30-year career in the high-technology industry. During this time, he held executive roles in high-technology companies and was a Partner in management consulting at Ernst & Young for twelve years. During his career, he frequently gave executive presentations and wrote several articles on business topics. Two of his articles were published in The Harvard Business Review.
Biography.
After what he calls “commercially retiring” in 2005, Rick began exploring opportunities to use his skills and give back to society. He discovered TechnoServe’s volunteer consulting program and went to Africa with his wife, Wendy, to work on reducing poverty. Now back in the US, he continues to work part-time for TechnoServe as a Senior Advisor to the Chief Operating Officer and other members of the Company’s senior management team.
Because of his transition from high-tech executive to volunteer in Africa, Rick was featured in a Wall Street Journal online article titled “Second Acts: Career Paths For Worn-Out Executives.” In addition to Ernst & Young, Rick is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Business School.
Wendy R. Walleigh
Before transitioning into the non-profit sector in 2002, Wendy Walleigh’s career was primarily in high-technology marketing and sales. Over the past twenty years, she held numerous positions in computer networking hardware and software companies, including Director of OEM Marketing at 3Com Corporation. Her responsibilities included product marketing and management, branding, marketing communications, sales, and sales support.
In 2002, Ms. Walleigh left the high-technology world and joined Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley, where she held the position of Vice President of Marketing and Development until 2006 when she and her husband moved to Africa to volunteer for TechnoServe, an international economic development NGO (non-governmental organization).
From July to December 2006 in Swaziland and all of 2007 in Kenya, she helped develop entrepreneurship programs for TechnoServe supporting youth, women, micro-enterprises, and business plan competitions, including helping to establish Junior Achievement youth programs in Swaziland. While living again in California, Ms. Walleigh returned to Africa in 2008 and 2009 to travel informally and visit TechnoServe clients in Ghana, Swaziland, and Kenya to document their success stories. She returned to Junior Achievement of Silicon Valley as a Board Member and continues to serve in that role.
Ms. Walleigh holds an M.S. in Communications from Boston University and a B.S. in Psychology from Tufts University.
Rick & Wendy Walleigh
