How the Walleighs Found Purpose & Adventure

Rick & Wendy overlooking Lewa Downs' savannahBoomers Rick and Wendy Walleighs’ book details their inspiring move to Swaziland and then Nairobi, Kenya for a total of 18 months. These are documented on this website and in their book titled From Silicon Valley to Swaziland: How One Couple Found Purpose & Adventure in an Encore Career. It is available on Amazon, all online book retailers, and some Bay Area bookstores. Go to Media Coverage to see all the media featuring the Walleigh’ adventures.

ALL ROYALTIES ARE DONATED TO TECHNOSERVE, the international development organization for which the Walleighs worked, to continue its “Business Solutions to Poverty” in Africa and Latin America, so please buy this book for friends and family!

Meanwhile, enjoy the photos and descriptions of our many travels to nearly 60 countries on six continents.

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Across NY through Hudson Valley–Breathtaking Colors Everywhere

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New York...
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Kenya Successes: Aspen Orchards & Dairies

Wendy and Rick met with this participant who was definitely making progress in TechnoServe's Upscaling program. Starting in 2003 in his home, Joseph Njer’s growth-oriented yoghurt processing business by 2007 was on a US$170,000 run-rate for annual turnover.  The...
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U.S. Snow Country–Winter 2013

National Elk Refuge in Jackson, WY. In January 2013, Rick and Wendy flew to Jackson, WY to spend a week with their son Adrian and his girlfriend Kallie.  While there, Wendy and Kallie visited the National Elk Refuge via sleigh.  It is truly amazing how:  large the elk...
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Victoria on Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Our four days in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island AND British Columbia (BC) gave us a feel for the history—human, geological, and cultural—of the southwestern-most province of Canada. Upon our arrival into Victoria, we checked into the historic Empress Hotel....
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Uganda Successes: Buikwe Dairy Cooperative

Starting late 2007, TechnoServe Uganda significantly expanded its country projects to include dairy, horticulture, cotton, and women entrepreneurs. In the fall of 2008 Wendy and a couple of TechnoServe business advisors drove 50 kilometers for 1.5 hours over battered...
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Swaziland Successes: JA Swaziland from TechnoServe Youth Program

In 2006 while living in Swaziland, Wendy and a TechnoServe colleague established a School Age Youth Entrepreneuship (SAYE) Program that was to encourage Swazi young people to become entrepreneurs rather than depend on government or large companies for employment. ...
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Swazi Culture: Annual Reed Dance–Umhlanga, Real Wedding and Tourist Wedding

Umhlanga – Reed Dance. Once a year, Swazi maidens from across the kingdom come to the Ezulwini Valley to gather reeds that will be used to "repair" the Queen Mother's traditional kraal.  They walk for a day to find the best reeds (younger girls are not required to...
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Swaziland Successes: Livingstone Protective Clothing Company

By the late 1990s Swaziland’s once-thriving textile sector had been reduced to mostly producing zippers and yarn due to the dominance of the Asian textile and clothing industry as well as the influx of high quality second-hand clothing into Africa.  However, as clever...
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April 26 to May 8, 2012 Botswana Experience

It is always challenging to coordinate two people flying from different places to then fly to a third, but imagine doing that in Africa! After a week of visiting and working in Nairobi with friends and colleagues from the TechnoServe Kenya office, Wendy flew to...
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Swaziland Successes: Eswatini Swazi Kitchen and ESK Honey

One of the churches in Manzini, Swaziland founded Eswatini Swazi Kitchen in 1991 to create a source of funding for the Manzini Youth Center. They process mostly local and/or traditional jams, chutneys, and hot sauces including orange marmalade, marula jam, ginger...
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Western New York in Autumn

Western New York in Autumn

by | Jan 14, 2014 |

The Walleighs’ 2013 road trip was with good friends with whom they had traveled in New Zealand.  In late September 2013 after traversing Quebec Province (go to Quebec or Montreal, etc.  for details on the Canada portion of this trip), they crossed the border into New...

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“If you are nearing the end of your business career and wondering what’s next, you’ll find Rick and Wendy’s experience both illuminating and inspiring.”
Debra Dunn

Consulting Associate Professor & Former Senior Vice President, Stanford University, Hewlett Packard

 “Rick and Wendy Walleigh are my down-to-earth heroes. At the end of Phase 1 of very successful careers–still healthy enough to spend their retirement days skiing, golfing, lunching, traveling in style–they chose instead to take their energy and considerable skills and apply them in some of the poorest communities in the world.
Bruce McNamer

President & CEO of The Community Foundation for the Nation's Capital Region (Washington DC) & former CEO of TechnoServe

“For those seeking an encore to their professional lives, Rick Walleigh’s account of the adventure he and his wife, Wendy, began is as energizing as it is useful. This remarkable book summarizes the factors they considered before volunteering in Africa to foster economic growth through small business development. More importantly, it records their experience with cultural change, new applications for honed skills, the nature of contemporary economic development work in the face of poverty, and the sights, smells, surprises and encounters found in living and working overseas. This is not a “how-to” book for those of us wanting renewal; it is an “I did this and so can you” story that is unique, thought-provoking and encouraging.”

 

Ron Boring

Former Executive Vice President, Vodafone-Japan