This is it!

I'm tired, I'm hot and I need a break. December is always a busy month, and particularly busy in the world of humanitarian aid work. Proposals are due. Reports are due. Staff leave the field. This year, we are implementing a new system and training new staff, so it seems especially tiring. Nothing seems easy. If you aren't fighting tooth and nail for funding, you are holding disciplinary panels for staff who are in breach of policies. Having only a few days left until I have a bit of a Christmas break, I can manage (thanks only to the peanut butter M&Ms received in the post - thanks Mom). But I have to say, I think I hit my breaking point when I opened my desk drawers this morning to find rat droppings! I discovered this when our cleaner was in my office. She gently said "A rat is living there." "In my drawer?" I non-gently said. Funny, I don't remember receiving rent. This could be what pushes me over.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, not so much in Sudan, but it IS beginning to feel like Christmas. I decided last Sunday was the official start of the Christmas season - clearly far after American Thanksgiving and on the eve of the start of advent. So, I decided to begin the celebrations by watching the classic - Christmas Vacation (love that movie!) and listening to my most favorite Christmas album in the history of Christmas albums - Alabama Christmas (it brings me back to so many childhood memories).

Living in Sudan for the second Christmas season, it made me realise how, at home, I easily lose focus on the meaning of Christmas. I get caught up in gift giving, sweater-wearing, fire-starting, hot chocolate-drinking Christmas activities. I love all the festivities - the Christmas parties, the decadent food, the TBS 24-hour marathon Christmas Story, the egg nog and Christmas lights. As I am sitting in my office with close to 100 degree temperatures, these things don't really apply and I'm forced to really go back to the meaning of Christmas and focus on Jesus' birth. Clearly, the birth of Jesus is fundamental to our religion and important in so many ways. However, what I often forget is the Christmas story's message of Faith. How faithful were Mary and Joseph? Will my faith ever be as strong as Mary's? When things go right or I feel that I can handle everything on my own, I am not too faithful. Often times, only in desperation do I listen for God. To be in Mary's shoes would have been both extraordinary and terrifying at the same time. I'm so thankful for her faith and her part in the Christmas story. As Christmas is upon us, my wish is for increased faith this season.

Election craziness

So you don't have to spend any time in Kenya to know that the Kenyans are fanatical about Obama! I mean, seriously. After Obama had clenched the elections, the Kenyan government declared a public holiday to celebrate his victory which means our Nairobi office closed for the day. So, yeah - I was in the bush in Sudan working while my Nairobi staff took the day off to celebrate my president-elect.

When I arrived at the Lokichoggio airport and awaited my passport processing, an Obama calendar was hanging in sight. And today, when I was getting my morning coffee (oh, the joys of Nairobi!), I passed an art store with a poster-size portrait painting of Obama - it was impressive! I'm telling you - no time has been wasted.

I hope the expectations we all have for him are not too high. Honestly, I think they would be too high for anyone.

Hippos, weight loss and guilt

Sometimes, I feel guilty. I had a nice trip to one of our fieldtrips, Kodok the week before last. It was quite eventful. I could hear the hippos grazing from the Nile uncomfortably close to my tent. I watched as the watchman killed two snakes (one of which was a black mamba – FYI very poisonous!) and I lost some weight – due to both a relentless stomach bug and a 3 hour walk through the nothingness which is rural Southern Sudan when our car broke down.

As I mentioned before, I’m not one for “roughing it.” Despite always retrospectively loving my experience in the field, part of me always counts down the days I’ll be back in Juba. When we run out of water or have to eat ugali 5 days in a row in Juba, I count down the days until I’m back in Nairobi, and when we have the day-long power outages or I get hassled for a bribe because the traffic police insist my seatbelt isn’t on (when it’s been fastened for 30 minutes!) in Nairobi, I count down the days until I’m in the US or visiting friends in the UK.

I have the advantage of escapism that comes in a few months, a few weeks or a few days. The Sudanese don’t. The Africans don’t. Each hardship isn’t a hardship – it’s life. There is no looking forward to a flight to the UK, a cocktail on the East African coast or a holiday in Paris – there is the knowledge that the same hardwork exhibited today to provide your family the necessities of life will be required tomorrow – the knowledge that the borehole is a 10k walk, that your child could die from something that is entirely preventable in other countries or that your opportunity of education is hindered by lack of teachers and teacher payroll.

This “temporary-ness” of my time in Africa brings me immense joy and immense sorrow, and as we approach Thanksgiving, I’m thankful that I am from the United States – that I’ve had every opportunity life has to offer. More than that, though, I’m thankful that I’ve called Sudan my home for over 15 months. I’m thankful that I’ve crossed paths and formed relationships with some of the most inspiring and resilient people in the world.

Will you marry me?

I received my first marriage proporal today. I was visiting a health clinic and one of the workers asked me if he could marry me. He was probably around 40, Sudanese. He said he would give my family 10 cows. I told him I thought my father probably felt I was worth more than that. He didn't increase the offer.

Bugs, the purpose?

So, I'm not a camper. I don't like getting dirty. I particularly don't like bugs so my close friends and family were very worried about me moving to the Sudan. Bugs are just annoying, though. I often think if we just cut the food chain at a certain level, could we all survive without bugs? Ultimately I guess not, but surely without mosquitoes (I'm going to ask God about this one day).

Bugs are annoying. If you are familiar with the 80's comedy - Uncle Buck, you'll remember that Tia's boyfriend's name was Bug - why - I'm sure because he was annoying. Hence the comical exchange between he and Uncle Buck:

"You're not a gnat are you, Bug? Wait a minute, bug, gnat. Is there a little similarity? Whoa, I think there is! Ha ha ha" - I love this movie.

I've been suffering with many bugs this week including a stomach "bug" and the plethora of bugs in Kodok. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, I guess.

I hope Jesus hurries.

I am sitting in a place called Kodok, Sudan - a 2 hour boat ride up the Nile River from a bigger place called Malakal. You probably can Google earth-it. More on the trip later but I was sitting with my team having devotions this evening and in response to a passage shared from Titus, our Area Coordinator, a wonderful Sudanese named Dr. Chol said "I hope Jesus hurries." This made me think.

What a statement! So many times I think that we (either aid workers or people wanting to help, in general) try to right all the wrongs in the world - try to fix or correct the injustices. We can't. We never will. Just when we make some progress in one part of the world, something horrific happens in another part. If it isn't hunger in Afghanistan, it's extreme flooding in Vietnam or rebellion in DRC.

Because we are a broken people - a broken society, we will never be able to fix it - we will never be able to rid the world of suffering. The only true relief we will have is in Jesus Christ. I'll patiently await him - not in fear but in awe and excitement. In the meantime, we can keep living each day like it's our last - work as hard as we can, persevere and hold strong in our Faith in Jesus Christ.

The effect of travel

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

From Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad, this quote brings me to American election time (just over 2 weeks and counting, people). Voters could be categorised in many ways: Pro-life, pro-choice, big government, small government, environmental, not-so-environmental, Democratic, Republican – but what I find interesting is that this quote splits our population, in a way, also. I could guess we could almost split the population into foreign travellers and non-foreign travellers and see fairly distinct voting lines. Why is this? because something about travelling makes you view the world differently. Something about travelling connects you to another part of the world. Something about travelling enables you to empathise with people - and this knowledge, empathy and compassion impacts our vote. Sure, not all of us go off the beaten path, not all of us have the ability to work in developing countries, not all of us find ourselves in the most remote villages of the world. I would argue that even vacation in a popular destination – Rome, London, Paris - can teach us about the world – can reduce our prejudice and narrow-mindedness.

When we are able to do this, we can see our place in the world a little better. We can see our appreciation for the country which we call our home. I’ve never loved America as much as when I’ve lived away, but my frustration with America has also grown since I’ve been away. I see how blessed our country is – for many reasons, including the hardwork of it’s founding fathers and everyday citizens but how we are becoming self-centered in so many ways. I see how Americans are becoming concerned and consumed with the price of gas, border security and the falling stock market despite the fact that people are dying from starvation, women are raped, children are orphaned and governments are cheating their own people out of funding and good governance in countries around the world.

As the election approaches, let’s research. Let’s look at views on policy, diplomacy – things that will bring the world together, not policy that separates our country from all others and despite the looming recession, let’s set priorities. Let’s put a value on travel as Mark Twain has. Surely travel trumps a new plasma TV, a new boat and an upgrade to an SUV.

Bless him

We currently have two Sudanese colleagues from our fieldsite, Motot, staying with us. They've been in Juba nearly a month as they were set to attend an IT training which got delayed and now a peace building training - so they've become permanent residents of our compound. The thing I've found about Sudanese is that when given the option, they like to eat. Who can blame them? - many times in their home communities they don't eat much. The Juba team house must seem like Golden Corral. It slightly gets annoying, though, when one of us goes to eat and the food is finished. I've slightly been frustrated when this has happened to me because I, once again, try to relate our cultural norms to the situation - (don't take seconds or thirds until everyone has had firsts) which don't really apply.

Most of the expatriates are out of Juba at the moment at various workshops or in the field so Simon (one of the visitors) and myself were eating lunch together by ourselves. I made a comment about how excited I was to have salad (the cooks had prepared a fresh salad partially from our garden and everyone knows how I love to show excitement for my food) when Simon says to me. "When I came here, I was having trouble with my eyes, now, I see better because I have all these vegetables." Bless him. This just made my heart melt and eyes tear up. Of course we've all heard that carrots are good for your eyesight - and maybe it is a myth, but I doubt he's heard it. Maybe this new diet is making a difference. This is why I love Sudan - a meal can revolutionalise a life. Kids, eat your vegetables.

Time on the hands of law enforcement, apparently.

I received the following in my inbox today (a forward from our Logistics Manager). The title of the e-mail read:

Fwd: women in trousers / "inappropriate clothing"

"There are a lot of stories singing around on yesterday's alleged spree
of arrests of foreign and Sudanese women wearing trousers or being
‘otherwise dressed inappropriately’ by police and army in Juba.

Is there any government explanation on these actions? Is UNMIS or any
other agency talking to the county government about this? Can women go
outside today without running the risk of being arrested on such
charges?"

I never knew trousers were synonomous with inappropriate clothing. I'm glad the local law enforcement are spending the time eradicating this very serious issue. I feel safer, now.

Sudanese banking at it's finest

One of my least favourite parts of my job is banking. I’m just not a cash person. I’ll use my check card on a $.69 pack of gum at the gas station if I’m allowed. I don’t like cash – if you have it, you spend it so in always having less I aim to spend less. I definitely don't like withdrawing huge sums of money. It’s just cumbersome, tedious. Unfortunately for me, 99% of expenditure (personal and agency-wise) in Southern Sudan requires cash. I usually get out of going to the bank but this week I’m a bit short-staffed. I arrived at KCB-Juba branch at 9:02 (2 minutes after opening) this morning to find 30+ people in line hoping for assistance from one of three tellers. If you know what to expect (which I do), I guess you just accept it. I still hope for efficiency which leads to a continual rise in my blood pressure as things become increasingly more inefficient. To top it off, four people cut in line while I was there. Now, I know line-cutting (or queue jumping) is handled differently in different places, but with so many different nationalities based in Juba, I never know what is culturally acceptable when it comes to this. I have a firm belief the person who is directly “jumped / cut” has the responsibility of saying something. The British handle this completely differently for which there is a great commentary in the book called “Watching the English.” To these four “cutters” in Juba, no one said anything! One guy had it right – he sent a “queue holder” in for him. The guy stood in front of me through the 1-hour wait and then the account holder came and took his position just as he approached the teller. If only we had a staff surplus!

Babies, Babies, Everywhere..

Most know that I just returned from a 3 week trip to the US. Although tiring, it was great fun. I managed to get in a concert, football game, bridal luncheon, wedding and some good nights out, road trips and dinners. All in all, it was great and I was also happy to restock my Easy Mac and granola bar supplies. What I did start to realise is that I am getting old. This suddenly occurred to me when I got to see some of my friends as Moms for the first time. Crazy. I still feel like a kid. Despite this ugly realisation, I got to spend some quality time with some very special (and cute, I may add) babies. Here are a few pics.

..

My friends' Memrie-Ann and David's little girl, Avery, in blue (looking quite serious in this pose) and my sweet little goddaughter, Kate Marie. She is so super fun right now - and I was able to spend some time with a future arrival - Miss Sydney (with her Mom, Brooke, here, before she was born). She was slightly stubborn and didn't want to arrive when I was in her time zone, despite the fact that I was waiting for her. That's ok, I like a little stubbornness.

One of those days

I've had one of those days. The days where nothing seems to go "right" or as you want it to go. This is partially evidenced by the fact that it's 10:48 and I've just finished working. I've grown increasingly frustrated with the day but I bring myself back to a verse which I actually shared with my team this morning. (didn't know it would be so timely)

"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." - Psalms 96:19

I know the Peace God provides surpasses all other so I continue to think over this verse. I'm praying for that joy.

Bigfoot in Georgia?

I always get excited when I'm reading either national or international news and something pops up relating to Georgia. Sure, we've hosted the Olympics, are home to Jimmy Carter, site of Coke headquarters, and home to about half the R&B industry, but we are still a practically unknown state to the rest of the world. It's only exciting when we get some news mention! Of course, often the stories that make the headlines are far from respectable - but what happens when I check CNN today - an article with the spotlight on Georgia.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/08/14/bigfoot.body/index.html

Quoted in the article:
"The only person we would allow to come down and verify the body was 'the Real Bigfoot Hunter,' Tom Biscardi," Dyer said, referring to Searching for Bigfoot's CEO, who has been looking for the elusive, legendary creature in the United States and Canada since 1971."

After 37 years, Tom Biscardi's hobby could come to an end. I'll await the release of DNA evidence.

Technology at the expense of patience

During the primary season, I signed up on each presidential candidate’s listserv – just as a way of being informed of the speaking engagements (not that any are in Sudan) and each candidate’s campaign in general. For the most part, the candidates have been using this forum to raise money for their campaigns. As one would imagine, my inbox is becoming cluttered with e-mails from various campaign organisers of both Senator McCain and Senator Obama.

I was fascinated by a recent notice I received. You could pay $5 to the Obama campaign and be the “first to know” of Obama’s VP nominee. Before the person is outed to the press and public, you would recieve a text message notifying you of Obama’s choice. Very clever. (I wonder if you have to donate more for an international text?) I like the fact that the campaign has kept up with the times both through the use of technology and by capitalising on our increasing impatience and sense of urgency.

In the meantime, I’m working on increasing my patience. For me, I’ll wait out the VP nominees and continue to rely on my CNN / BBC news feed.

Rats, Rats - Why must you torment me so?

A lot of people have been very kind and frequently ask me for prayer requests. I feel horrible when one of the first things that comes to mind is my tolerance of the rats. How selfish is this?Some of you know that our old compound was infested with rats - they kept me up at night running around in the ceiling to the point which forced me to move out to the tent. I was hopeful when we moved into our new house that the rats would not move in with us. I was wrong. After 9 months here, we have roommates!

This is just not an issue that you deal with in the suburban US. The worst thing we encounter at home in the rodent department is the opossum which might come onto your porch or deck occasionally. I am not comfortable with this. My colleague, Kelsey, has a list on her blog of things she's learned in the past few years living in many developing countries. One item is Rats. "Get used to them. They are everywhere," she says. I simply refuse. We are bigger, I would hope stronger, but we are losing!

Thankfully, due to the fact that I keep my room sealed like Fort Knox, I have only a few rat stories and only one involving my bedroom. However, the common area, particularly kitchen and dining area are another story. These rats are relentless. They are persistent. They are winning. They have become domesticated. We had some friends over watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics and two of the rats were running around. They are no longer scared of us - they have the upper hand. The team has even given them names.

I was having dinner last night with one of our donors who explained her war with the rats. Thanks to very dedicated guards, she is winning the battle. Her guards set traps every night (it is in their job descriptions) and they catch at least 4-5 rats by morning. This is at a compound where they don't even keep trash overnight. She has the cleaners dettol the floors daily. We are far from that. We have sometimes 10-15 people in and out and Sudanese staff who cannot fathom a life free from rats, so we struggle. Last night, we ensured the door from our kitchen and dining area was closed, hoping they would stay in the kitchen. We woke to find they had gnawed away at the bottom of the door to make a way out. I attach some evidence of their existence:


Exhibit 1 - the lid to our powdered milk - a foil seal covered with plastic- fully closed. Result: Eaten
Exhibit 2 - A banana from a bunch left in a fruit basket. Notice the end to the right. The ends of the entire bunch were like this.

So, the investigation begins. What do we do? Clearly, we will need to improve our practices, up our hygiene but as for the rats that are already here - what do we do? poison, rat glue? - there are lots of methods. I'm lucky I have a little break from Juba for a few weeks so my prayer is that the team figures it out without me.

Dreaming of cheese and exercise

So cheese and exercise don't really go hand in hand. Well, maybe the consumption of cheese would require a certain amount of exercise but other than that, no relation, except that I'm desperately craving both!

Juba is a great place. In the world of relief and development work, it's really nice. For the most part, it's safe. We don't have some of the risks like other teams have like our colleagues in Darfur or Afghanistan. We can go out fairly freely. We can pop to a restaurant and have a drink, even. New products and services are coming to Juba everyday. One restaurant even has ice cream! What I miss dearly and what is definitely not consistently in Juba is cheese! Any kind really. At this point, I would be happy with a Kraft single even. I find myself craving cheese. I had this problem nearing my trip home at Christmas and my Dad took me to Whole Foods on the way home from the airport, where I stood in awe at the cheese counter for 20 minutes and left with $50 worth of cheese. In London in May, I ordered the cheese tray for my dessert! Can you believe I even passed up chocolate? For my 2 week holiday in Kenya, I had cheese and salad for every meal, literally (even breakfast). My trip home (in less than 3 weeks!!) gives me an end in sight to this cheese crisis so I'm looking forward to another Whole Foods trip. I'm sure after my 3 weeks in the States, I'll be posting a follow-up about the law of diminishing returns.

Exercise. When you can exercise, you dread it, and when you can't, you crave it. Why is this always the way? As most people know, I enjoy exercising. I prefer the gym but I don't mind a good bike ride or the occasional run. It's a bit challenging in Juba. It's pretty safe so my hesitation to running in Juba isn't so much the safety factor but just the glares and comments you receive when running. Think about it. The Sudanese aren't too concerned about exercise. They walk long distances (we are talking miles) to carry back gallons and gallons of water a day. Cooking a meal is physically tiring and in most of the country food is limited - so clearly no one is calorie counting. So when they see a white girl running, I'm sure they think - "what is she running from?" The children smile, waive and greet with "morning" even in the evening. Some people even join in. For any of you who have seen me run, my form is less than stellar - so I don't really like to bring this attention on myself. So, I've had to resort to my Tae-bo DVD or my stairstepper which I carried as my hand luggage from Nairobi (this was a sight) back in March. All of which I do from the comfort of my very hot room. For everyone who is dreading the gym, I hope this gives you an appreciation for your elliptical trainer.

I can't wait to be in the ATL in a few weeks and have the freedom to run and burn some calories - I guess I better after all that cheese!

Showered today?

One of the joys of Juba -- I woke up this morning to find no water. This usually doesn't happen, but sometimes there is an oversight in the process and the team doesn't shower (at least we are all in this together!). We get our water delivered from the Nile or if we are lucky, get it piped in (I'm assuming also from the Nile) by the government. Then we treat it in tanks. We had water in the tanks, it just hadn't been chlorinated and therefore pumped to the tank accessed for our water use.

I'm writing this just to remind myself and all of us to appreciate the little things in life. I sometimes complain about cold showers, and I realised when I had no water, a cold shower would have been nice. This is the one day I was happy with myself for sleeping through my "exercise" alarm clock. I didn't get up to work out today which ended up being a a very strategic move. What can I say, even my laziness is strategic - imagine sitting in the office after a good work-out sweat. Nice.

At least the situation should be fixed now - and I look forward to my cold shower this evening.

The death of my laughter?

For my last night in Nairobi last night, I had to take advantage of the food and drink which is not so easy to come by in Juba, where I arrived today. I went for dinner with a friend who was introduced to me by a work colleague and friend based in Nairobi. One of the things I love about being in Africa is the interesting, fun and inspiring people you come across and the fact that you let your guard down because somehow you feel this closeness or connection because you both have the similar interest of Africa. It’s not even a big connection, but it’s opened the door to many of the friends I’ve made here and I’m thankful for that.

So of course in my typical fashion, I talked a lot over dinner attempting to be a story teller (I’m in no way as gifted at it as lots of my friends). In my story-telling, I reminisced over some funny times and experiences. I guess I laughed quite a bit throughout the night because my friend commented on my laugh and the fact that it was uplifting, maybe even contagious.

I got to thinking - Do I laugh much / enough in Juba? I honestly don’t think so. Actually, I don’t. So since last night, I tried to analyse why this is the case. I wonder if subconsciously, the fact that I’m in Africa has made me more serious, more cynical and not enabled me to laugh at myself as I used to. The reality of Africa is a hard one to stomach. Don’t get me wrong though – I, as an expatriate living in my nice compound, don’t experience any of the injustices that Sudanese all around me have faced their entire lives. I am helped by cooks and cleaners. I have electricity. I have clean drinking water. I have access to a vehicle and most importantly, if things go horribly wrong and this place becomes insecure or unbearable, I can choose to get on a plane almost immediately and get out of here. This is why I bring up the “subconsiousness” of the situation. I think there is truth to the fact that my proximity to extreme suffering and injustice has changed me. This may also be coupled with the fact that I work really hard and sometimes it’s just intense and serious here.

In coming to this conclusion, I’m disappointed with myself. What has always amazed me in my trips to the field sites is the smiling faces that I’ve encountered - the joy and warmth that sometimes no amount of suffering can overtake - A mother holding her extremely malnourished child who is receiving scheduled feedings but with a genuine smile on her face. I know a smile is part of the universal language, but I don’t know I think it’s more than that. I ask myself -how can I let a situation which I don’t even have to live take away my smile and laughter when someone living it can be at peace and even experience joy? I think coming from the modern West, we’ve determined that we can only be happy, experience joy and thus laugh if things are comfortable – if things are how WE want them to be, if things go our way so the component of selfishness within our happiness is huge.

Unfortunately, suffering is part of life. I still haven’t reconciled why some people suffer more than others – why suffering is disproportionate among people / continents. I’m not counting on figuring this one out on my own. This question will accompany my long list of questions (both significant and insignificant) that I will ask our Creator one day. The only way I can process it here and now is to simply recognise it as an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed, an opportunity to share Jesus. The smiling mother reveals just that to me – God’s glory and the confirmation of the bigger picture. I cannot use suffering in the world as an excuse for my lack of laughter, for the suppression of my God-given personality. Romans 5:2-5 states “..And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

In conclusion, I’m going to start laughing again. I’m going to rejoice, not because of the immediate day-to-day things that impact me, but because of my hope in the glory of God. I’m going to do my best to see the joy in all situations – if not selfishly for my own sanity, but for those around me – because that’s just it – laughter is contagious- it sometimes has more of an effect on others than on the one actually laughing (I’m grateful to my friend for reminding me of this). Laughter is evidence of God’s love in our hearts. Contagious and uplifting laughter is a gift and what kind of person would I be if I neglected to use one of the gifts I had been given? Not the one I’m striving to be everyday.

Pet peeve of the day

Surprisingly, I've been a lot better at keeping these things to myself, but this is just irritating. I've noticed on Facebook (the networking mechanism of the hour) that there are so many politically-related groups such as "Stop Obama (1,000,000 strong against Barack Obama)" and during the primary season there were several anti-Hillary groups as well and I'm sure there are anti-John McCain groups out there, too. This is one reason I am proud to be an American, the fact that we have the right to freedom of speech, that we can say what we feel or what we think.

When I click on these groups, though, I'm very disappointed in what's there - a lot of nothing - and this makes me realise how many uneducated people are roaming about. What's intrigued me about the 2008 elections to date is the huge interest it's brought about in so many Americans and people all over the world for that matter - the excitement, the participation that seemed to have been lacking during the last 8 years. For this, I'm encouraged. But when I see these facebook groups, I'm again disappointed for the following reasons (Note: I'm a complete moderate - I vote in a state where you don't have to affiliate with a party so I'm writing this from a neutral perspective):

• Why have a group entitled "Stop "so-and-so""? - Why not put a positive spin on it so that you are promoting the support of your candidate and not promoting the non-support of another candidate?
• If you do want to support the non-support of a candidate, be engaged, be familiar - don't just throw a picture up of a candidate not placing his hand on his heart as your reason for disliking him. Be educated, be informed. Talk about policy or the lack thereof.
• Conduct IQ tests before you let people join (I'm sure this could be a facebook application). I'm slightly joking on this one.

Having lived overseas on two different continents for the last 3 years, one of the things that inspires me about America is that despite the fact that we have 2 main political parties, we don't have to play party politics. We can claim to be moderate or undecided and actually choose a candidate based on policy, decisions, voting records and not just because they are a Republican or Democrat. In talking to British friends, this is one of the problems that has often times plagued the British election process - many people have always voted the party their parents have voted and not engaged in the process any more than that. In parts of Africa, people engage in extreme violence if their party doesn't win despite the fact that they may know nothing of what their candidate believes in or will act on.

When I see our "anti-candidate" mentality and that it looks often times to be based on nothing besides party politics, I get frustrated. We are doing a disservice to ourselves and our nation. We, as Americans, are arguably the most privilieged people in the world. We have access, and convenience to anything / everything we need. We have the opportunity for education that so many others would sacrifice so much to have - and yet, honestly the rest of the world thinks of us, on the whole, as getting dumb and dumber. We owe it to ourselves to be informed, talk, debate with our friends and look at the real issues which face our nation now and in the November elections. I truly believe there is more value in that than creating facebook groups.

TIA

I was reminded of this phrase when I was watching Blood Diamond last night for the second time (excellent movie, btw - I recommend). Leonardo DiCaprio's character is at a Freetown bar and is explaining things of Africa to Jennifer Connelly's character, when he says TIA (This is Africa). In my months here, I have had many TIA experiences. One happened just recently with the arrival of some new cereal in Juba. I had ordered some Kellogg's Honey Smacks which I thought would be an exciting change up to breakfast from my usual Wheatabix (I know, it's the little pleasures in life). As usual, some generic came. I was gone from Juba for a while and no one had tried it so I decided to crack open the first box. The cereal is called "Poppies" and comes in a purple box with three characters (sort of like chipmunks) surrounding a bowl of cereal (you know the drill, just like all those kiddy cereals at home). Because this was German, the little animals were saying something in German which I can only assume to be something like "snap, crackel, pop". Anyways, the cereal was fine and I appreciated the change-up. Later that day, the smoke alarm in our kitchen went off and our Logs Manager ran up to the house to see the problem. Mandy, our Sudanese cook, clearly was cooking (or rather burning) somthing in a frying pan on the stove. Tito, our Logs manager, asked what she was cooking and she informed him that she was making us fresh coffee beans (sidenote: In the Juba markets, you can buy uncooked coffee beans - you then fry these and have coffee beans - I actually did this for a few Christmas gifts). Clearly, Tito could tell with the rate that these were burning, these weren't the coffee beans. He finally got to the bottom of it, and realised, she was frying up the Poppies (Honey Smacks). She thought they were coffee beans! I would think the little cartoon characters on the box would make me question no matter what culture I was from, but I could see where she was coming from - they do resemble.

Another TIA moment I can remember happened when I visited a fieldsite - I was visiting a feeding center where pregnant and new mothers come for supplementary feeding. A mother there had been the previous week where it was identified her baby had an ear infection. She was given a liquid antibiotic (I think the pink amoxicillin that we had as kids). When she returned and brought the baby, the baby's ear was looking strange, actually crusty. Turns out, as her child had an ear infection, she was putting the antibiotic in his ear. After having a little laugh, I was thinking, you know that's sensible- the baby has an ear infection, why would he take an oral medicine? Fair enough.

I share these things not just to give you a laugh (although I hope you did chuckle when reading) but to analyse how many things which seem "normal" to us are actually learned or so embedded in our culture, they are obvious. It also makes me think that we (those from modern, developed places) are a bit crazy. There are lots of inventions (appliances/trinkets) that are slightly crazy especially if taken out of context in a place such as under-developed Africa. Another cook nearly had a heart attack when we introduced her to a toaster. No one warned her the bread would pop out, and she was quite startled!

Safari-ed out?

So, I am back from holiday! My Dad seems to frequently ask "How much vacation do you actually get?" as he feels he always hears of multiple trips. To answer - a lot, actually, but in this kind of work, it is absolutely crucial to my sanity. As I've been in Africa, I thought I should do "African" things and what better way to lure friends over from the US and UK then by planning safari / Indian ocean trips. Valerie came over from Atlanta for 2 weeks which was very exciting. Our first week we took a safari to Tsavo West, Amboseli and Masai Mara, all parks in Kenya and then headed to the coast to enjoy the Indian Ocean a bit south of Mombasa. A few things to note:

• While Amboseli appears to be only a few centimeters from Masai Mara on the map, it is actually a 10 hour drive on gravel/dirt roads. Tip of the day: Consider flying. Both parks have airstrips and flights leave from Nairobi daily.


• Despite the fact that you didn't remember someone sticking a sign on your forehead saying "I would love a beaded necklace or giraffe carving," everyone will think you do and believes you will change your mind after being asked 5+ times.


• Prices on everything (including pharmaceuticals) are negotiable. Growing up in the western world, I think we've encountered a disservice in the fact that our negotiation skills are non-existent. My one time experience at the Honda dealer was no match for the East Africans.
  
• As Kenya is a former English colony, clearly they've taken on English customs - including foods. Tip - "pancakes" are actually crepes! Avoid the disappointment. (PS, while I know crepes aren't English, maybe they have taken over some French customs afterall!)
  
• If you visit Kenya before November (and maybe even anytime during the year after), claim to be British, Australian or South African or you will be forever asked if you are voting for Obama.


• Honestly, there is no reason to wear khaki-colored clothing and a safari vest is completely unnecessary (I found a lot of humor in seeing all these mostly Americans in their North Face / REI pants with safari vests and safari hats.) I mean, seriously people, you are riding around in safari trucks not deer hunting in South Georgia. You don't need to be camaflouged and most animals are color blind anyways, so save yourself some money, and while you should dress comfortably, don't go overboard!
  

All in all, we had a great time. We stayed at some wonderful lodges in the park with excellent views, ammenties and food. I think the highlight of the trip was the 6:00 am hot air balloon ride over Masai Mara where we even spotted a cheetah with two cubs. The landing was a bit scary as the basket tips as it hits the ground, but we survived. Definitely a good life experience.

During the second week we stayed at a resort on Diani Beach south of Mombasa. The weather was terrific. I definitely got to relax, take in some sun and mark a few books off my reading list. One night we left the resort to eat at the famous Ali Barbour's restaurant which is inside of a cave - it is very cool and a must-do if you are in the area.

So after my two safari and beach trips, I think I will graduate to something else. I am forseeing an Ethiopia or South Africa trip next. All visitors welcome!

lucky or blessed, rather lucky and blessed!

So, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my friend Valerie into Nairobi. We're leaving tomorrow for a 7 day safari and then about 7 days on the coast in Mombasa, Kenya. Some may think I'm lucky - I consider it blessed. For the 10 months I've been in Africa, I've become more and more amazed by God's power. The landscape, the wildlife - everything is so amazing. When I have stressful or down times, I think in awe of the creation which is Earth and how blessed I am that God's made it so convenient for me to experience. Back in 2 weeks.

busyness at the expense of relationships

I opened my e-mail today and received a message from my Mom informing me that a family friend passed away. She was only 51 - this immediately saddened me as this lady was so warm-hearted and had such a good spirit. It made me more sad when I realised I hadn't seen her in nearly 10 years. After her kids went to college, she and her husband moved out of Atlanta and as the busyness of life won all of our time, we all lost touch.

What a shame. We really do work ourselves into the ground or pack in so many activities into such a short time that when we do have a moment of free time, we spend it "vegging" out. We don't usually spend it relationally. We spend it sitting in front of the TV or in my instance - participating in my guilty pleasure - reading gossip magazines. So these relationships that may even be fundamental to who we are go un-maintained. We get angry with God when we feel someone has been taken too soon but then we never really took advantage of the time we had with that person.

Thankfully, we now have e-mail so we can keep up communication that way but it still isn't a substitute for visiting one another or having a good 'ole heart-to-heart. As I write this entry, I think of my grandfather. He is one of two of my living grandparents, and I haven't seen him for years. This is only due to my lack of prioritisation. I have so much to gain from him and I haven't taken advantage of our relationship.

Most of our friends, who are friends, won't hold this against us. They understand that life is busy - that we all have limited time. We should all think about how we invest it -I know I seriously need to re-assess this. Writing this as my thoughts are with the Meacham family.

contentment or discontentment?

I recently attended a management team meeting in Limuru, Kenya for my South Sudan programme. It was very fruitful as we had a full management team this quarter and really got to do a lot of thinking and sharing about our programming. One of my colleagues who just joined my team from North Sudan and Indonesia led a devotion about contentment. It really made me think - why are we always so discontented? Why do we never feel at peace and always have this bit of anxiety. I'm completely guilty of this and I see it in so many of my friends as well. We always seem to be looking to the future - our next step in life, our next holiday, our next career opportunity - what we will do next week, tomorrow night, next year..It's enough to give anyone a panic attack so I'm not surprised by the alarming rates of depression and related illnesses coming out of modern, developed countries like the US and the UK.

I was reminded of what Paul wrote in Romans in 8:28 which says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." So if I believe this, which I do as a Christian, then why am I so anxious about "what's next?" God is in control of every situation. Paul says if we love God, he will work for the good. So, he uses each situation, each placement, every detail for a purpose - it's part of His plan. This is really comforting to me when I start feeling discontent and am antsy for change.

I think our society really encourages this discontentment. We have so many options - with the resources we have, we can do almost anything so when we make a choice, we always wonder if another choice would be better. Also, we are so obsessed with "doing?" I"'m bored, what am I doing next? Where am I going?" and in this thinking, we forget to make the most of the opportunity of the present - taking advantage of the situation in which God has placed us.

finally...

Well, after over 10 months in Africa, I finally started a blog. I'm a very methodical person and for a time there, I thought that since I hadn't started my journey with a blog, it couldn't be complete if it missed a beginning - but I have to excuse my own procrastination and start from somewhere, I guess. So, this is the beginning - I don't necessarily think of this as a way to document my years abroad, but just as a place to organise my thoughts and share what I've leared or more relevantly what I have no clue about in this journey called life.