Phew! Just finished my fall semester online course on Restorative Justice from EMU. I've got one more course, plus my practicum/internship (which will be based on my current work) than I'll have my MA in Conflict Transformation!
The class has continued to be a good distraction from work this fall, although the material was often about as heavy as the hard stories of people's lives in Congo. I'd say 40% of my evenings and weekends, my mind was just about to blow as I wrestled with culture questions, justice questions, economy of international aid questions, questions about gender roles, etc.
We're currently in a pretty tense situation, waiting to see what's going to happen with the political situation in Congo, as the current President's term is about to expire and there haven't been elections. It's also been really busy trying to get our office and programs systematized with our new team. Plus, one of our new team members is stuck in North America waiting for documents from Congo so she can get her visa. Yee-haw.
And we found out this morning that we may be without power at our house for a couple of months because of road construction. (Uncle John, remember how we were excited for the chinese neighbors? Well, they delayed for five months and then moved next door, so now they're probably not going to share their special line with us!) But I've evaluated our main electrical needs and possible solutions. I don't feel too distraught. For lights, we've got solar powered ones. For fridges, we've got one at the office a 5 minute walk away (and we just won't make a whole lot of food at a time). For charging electronics, we can do that at the office and have a mobile "power bank" to charge phones, so I think we'll survive. But I might as well move my little Christmas tree to the office, I guess.
Our pastor's wife had her baby last week, and we went to go visit her at the hospital. It was sweet. I've only gotten to visit one of my nieces and nephews in the hospital, so I felt very much like family.
We're heading out tomorrow for a Christmas dinner with children at an IDP camp, a project initiated by some of the participants in the Seed program I help supervise. I'm so proud to see them taking initiative like this. Hard to believe the program is coming up on half-way (Feb 15th)!
I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks for reading!
The class has continued to be a good distraction from work this fall, although the material was often about as heavy as the hard stories of people's lives in Congo. I'd say 40% of my evenings and weekends, my mind was just about to blow as I wrestled with culture questions, justice questions, economy of international aid questions, questions about gender roles, etc.
We're currently in a pretty tense situation, waiting to see what's going to happen with the political situation in Congo, as the current President's term is about to expire and there haven't been elections. It's also been really busy trying to get our office and programs systematized with our new team. Plus, one of our new team members is stuck in North America waiting for documents from Congo so she can get her visa. Yee-haw.
And we found out this morning that we may be without power at our house for a couple of months because of road construction. (Uncle John, remember how we were excited for the chinese neighbors? Well, they delayed for five months and then moved next door, so now they're probably not going to share their special line with us!) But I've evaluated our main electrical needs and possible solutions. I don't feel too distraught. For lights, we've got solar powered ones. For fridges, we've got one at the office a 5 minute walk away (and we just won't make a whole lot of food at a time). For charging electronics, we can do that at the office and have a mobile "power bank" to charge phones, so I think we'll survive. But I might as well move my little Christmas tree to the office, I guess.
Our pastor's wife had her baby last week, and we went to go visit her at the hospital. It was sweet. I've only gotten to visit one of my nieces and nephews in the hospital, so I felt very much like family.
I'll leave it at that for now. Thanks for reading!
Karen and Mark, thanks for the updates, and the 'waterfall' images. Thinking of you all here as Christmas approaches.
ReplyDeleteYou're being a good sport about the electricity. I was always so thankful what a person could adjust to as normal. I remember a limited electrical service, three hours a day, not feeling like such a hardship, or taking a bucket bath for six months becoming normal, though it does make those things a treat when you get them back.
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