Everyone is happy for me because Mark and I are gone for a long weekend! It was obvious to the Seed team that I was overwhelmed with work and life and all that it entails here.
Two days in a row, the speaker we had planned didn't come or came late. Granted, they both gave us a couple hours of notice, which was just enough to work frantically for those hours in order to prepare something to present. (The second time, I got the news that the speaker would be late at the same time that I realized our passports had gotten pretty wet in the rain the day before. Then I realized how badly I need a break if that's enough to make me cry!)
One of those days was actually maybe my favorite day of orientation so far! I presented some ideas about entering a community and looking for what/when they have done something well together, when they have felt alive together - ideas from "Appreciative Inquiry" which I learned about in my Facilitation class last spring. We watched a TED Talk by Andrew Mwenda from Uganda on "Aid for Africa? No thanks." And it worked well and good discussion followed. In the afternoon, each of the Seed participants gave a book report on a book of their choosing from our Seed library, so on subjects such as "When God Combats" from a Mennonite perspective, Emmanuel Katongole's "The Sacrifice of Africa", reports on the economy of armed groups, etc. Everyone was very interested in what they read, and that produced really good presentations and discussions!
So now, I have time to write because our bosses told us to get out of town! This is the first opportunity we've had, and I SO NEED IT.
Mark is still working (on a skype call) and I'm sitting here, just on the Rwanda side of the border, enjoying the cool after the rain, the lovely view, and some coffee and quiet.
I have no idea what we are going to do, but I think it involves mostly sleeping, eating and staring at the lake.
Two days in a row, the speaker we had planned didn't come or came late. Granted, they both gave us a couple hours of notice, which was just enough to work frantically for those hours in order to prepare something to present. (The second time, I got the news that the speaker would be late at the same time that I realized our passports had gotten pretty wet in the rain the day before. Then I realized how badly I need a break if that's enough to make me cry!)
One of those days was actually maybe my favorite day of orientation so far! I presented some ideas about entering a community and looking for what/when they have done something well together, when they have felt alive together - ideas from "Appreciative Inquiry" which I learned about in my Facilitation class last spring. We watched a TED Talk by Andrew Mwenda from Uganda on "Aid for Africa? No thanks." And it worked well and good discussion followed. In the afternoon, each of the Seed participants gave a book report on a book of their choosing from our Seed library, so on subjects such as "When God Combats" from a Mennonite perspective, Emmanuel Katongole's "The Sacrifice of Africa", reports on the economy of armed groups, etc. Everyone was very interested in what they read, and that produced really good presentations and discussions!
So now, I have time to write because our bosses told us to get out of town! This is the first opportunity we've had, and I SO NEED IT.
Mark is still working (on a skype call) and I'm sitting here, just on the Rwanda side of the border, enjoying the cool after the rain, the lovely view, and some coffee and quiet.
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