Tomorrow's June

I find it hard to believe today is the last day in May. How on Earth does that happen?

After a rough day yesterday, I read a bit of Oswald Chambers, who always does well to calm me down, or at least give me a bit of perspective that I can't manage to find when in the midst of my own circumstances.

I was going to sum it up, but I just realized that the dude speaks best for himself:

"Supposing God tells you to do something which is an enormous test to your common sense, what are you going to do? Hang back? If you get into the habit of doing a thing in the physical domain, you will do it every time until you break the habit determinedly;  and the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will get up to what Jesus Christ wants, and every time you will turn back when it comes to the point, until you abandon resolutely. "Yes, but -  supposing I do obey God in this matter, what about...?" "Yes, I will obey God if he will let me use my common sense, but don't ask me to take a step in the dark."

Jesus Christ demands of the man who trusts Him the reckless sporting spirit that the natural man exhibits. If a man is going to do anything worthwhile, there are times when he ahas to risk everything on his leap, and in the spiritual domain Jesus Christ demands that you risk everything you hold by common sense and leap into what He says, and immediately you do, you find what He says fits on as solidly as common sense. 

At the bar of common sense Jesus Christ's statements may seem mad; but bring them to the bar of faith, and you begin to find with awestruck spirits that they are the words of the venture, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is dating enough to bank his faith in the character of God." 

Was it Nehemiah who was rebuilding the wall? Pretty sure it was. Anyway, when there was construction going on and the wall was open, leaving the population vulnerable to attack, he both posted a guard and prayed. I love that, the practical and spiritual both necessary for protection. God gives us both a brain and faith and expects us to use them readily. Sometimes it can be a tough balance, but God is good. 

Today's Utmost for His Highest?

"Put God First in Trust - Our Lord trusted no man; 

yet He was never suspicious, never bitter, never in despair about any man, because He put God first in trust; 

He trusted absolutely in what God's grace could do for any man." 

Thanks Oswald, you pretty much never let me down. Old school theologians are my favorite, I don't really even know any current ones. I figure, if they stand the test of time, then perhaps they are worth my time. They challenge me and my social justice stances and my own interpretations of the Word. But I like that. I need it.

I usually don't post things like this, but just wanted to share one of the many little ways God is taking care of me. It is amazing how much encouragement I can get out of a few words on a page...

R&R

A week in Uganda found me more tired than I realized I was. 

I still slept nearly 10 hours a night, but also took a nap every morning and every afternoon my first three days there. I didn't leave Entebbe, I barely ate, barely moved, barely read... just slept.

It took two full days for my heart to beat at a regular pace, for the adrenaline that pumps through my veins every day and night to relent a bit and let me breathe and think. I needed it.

After three days I was ready to face the world and decided to go to Kampala. The driver asked me why, I told him I wanted to go shopping. He started suggesting various handicraft stores... I interrupted him and told him I was more interested in toothpaste, soap and a new pair of pants. I found what I wanted, made some friends at the Red Chili and went out for a movie and Ethiopian food. It was oddly normal.

I sat at a coffee shop reading the Economist, marveling at how the world seems to spin at a different pace depending on where you are standing in it. The week felt like it was dragging on forever. Just what I needed.

We headed on to Jinja where I white water rafted the Nile. Two days before I didn't even know one of the sources of the Nile was in Uganda, much less raftable. I only saw a crocodile after I got out safe.

It was at Two Friends in Jinja that I decided to take just a quick peek at my work emails.

There went one of my Rs.

The LRA attacked 7km outside of Ango. They kidnapped more than 20 people (one of whom I know), took food and other supplies from the village that already has basically nothing. All movement of our teams stopped, the security level was raised and all I could do was monitor emails.

My teammate was right she sent me, saying that there is never a good time to go on R&R, but it is necessary. As much as I wanted to be there with my team I realized that had that happed on my watch, while I was absolutely spent already, I might not have had much more to give and might not have been able to handle the situation well, which is worse than having your backup plan handle it.

I am writing this from Ango. All is calm, the adults have been released, we have yet to have news of the 11 children and the community is obviously shaken and unnerved. There have been no other incidents and we are once again resuming work in the surrounding area.

All of the problems that were here before I left are still here. As a matter of fact, most of them have grown more complicated in my absence, not disappeared like I had hoped. But something like that can really put your priorities in place. I am finding myself less concerned that partner organizations are upset that we don't play volleyball more times a week or that all my boxes of western food couldn't fit on the flight.

Priorities this week:
How to keep my teams and the communities they serve safe
Get the HF radio up and working for communication
How detour venomous snakes from our compound
Preparing for my first official audit
Not get malaria (I am the only one here who hasn't)
Keep calm and carry on... quite literally

I am glad for a clear head. Glad for the space to sort things out. In a way glad to see that though things may not run as smoothly, they do not fall apart when I am not here. I am glad to have a team that supports me.


No particular insight here. No real story.
Just some things on the top of my head as I head into a new week.

Note to Self

Never swat at a mosquito that is buzzing in your ear while mincing garlic.

Choosing Sides

I learned to drive on the right hand side of the road while sitting at the wheel on the left side of the car. 

I think most American teenagers learned that way.

Last year I lived in Hong Kong and learned to drive on the left hand side of the road,

steering wheel on the left side of the car, stick shift to my right.

Living in Ango, DR Congo, I technically drive on the right hand side of the road. 

However, one of our two base Land Rovers are from Uganda. 

One has the driver’s side on the right, the other on the left. 

Seeing as there are only 7 cars in all of Ango,

 it is not particularly difficult to switch between them, 

sometimes multiple times a day.

I went on my R&R last week in Uganda 

and spent my time on the road driving on the left side of the road.

So, yesterday I arrived back in Bunia and offered to drive to dinner at the MONUSCO House. Took a Land Cruiser with the wheel on the right and came to a round-about… totally and fully confused. 

No, not even confused. I stopped and had no idea which way to enter it. 

No clue.

I could not remember where I was, what was normal and to top it all off, there was a motorbike who was driving on the wrong side of the road.

Everyone in the car was simultaneously laughing and shouting directions at me in a slur of French or English. 

Eventually we got home, in one piece and with me just shaking my head at myself. 

It is impressive how quickly our brains can adjust to altering circumstance, but I often wonder if there is a limit... 

...like how often I can change the DVD zones on my computer. 

Hospitalized Ideals

I walked in the hospital with a hot little hand in mine. We ran into the second of the two doctors on our way to the reception window, he saw us, shook our hands and took us directly into his office. We walked past women holding lethargic babies, people laying on the ground, sitting on benches in the halls.

After the doctor examined her, we went into the room where the pharmacist was serving a line of people waiting outside of her window. She turned from them and placed the needed pills in small folded paper envelopes. We were guided down the hall to the urgent care room, where a drip of quinine was waiting for her. Each of the beds in the ward had at least three people on each, and several mats were occupied on the floor, however, we got our own bed.

Few things here…

We got preferential treatment over the rest of the people who had been waiting for who knows how long. I am not exactly sure why. It could be because we partner with the hospital, it could be because we work with the doctors there regularly, because it is clear we will be able to pay the hospital bills, it could be because I am white. I honestly do not know.

Why didn’t I insist we get treated like everyone else? Because this little girl was sick and I knew she needed help, quickly. Did everyone else there? Probably. Do they deserve quick and quality treatment? Yes.

Is the world perfect? No. 

Tuesday 10 May 2011 - before noon

You never know what a day will bring.

Today I thought I would be hustling to get some purchase requests done, tidy up some financial issues, work through a few of the many problems we have come across lately…

Instead, I spent the morning in a hospital with a sick little girl and the afternoon sitting next to a dead lady.

I was on my way to the compound for some water, and a child of one of my guards was there, very very sick with fever. All of our medical team is on the field at the moment, everyone was looking to me for what to do. I was too afraid to give her any of my medicine, for fear of overdosing her little 4-year-old body. Plus, it was looking more and more like the fever was connected to something far worse than just a fever and even the flu can be deadly for a kid out here.

I took her, and her 9-year-old neighbour who brought her to me, in the Land Cruiser to the hospital. It was their second time in a car, ever. As I drove, I could feel the heat from the little one coming off of her, and she was not even touching me.

We arrived and I spent the majority of my morning with them, waiting for an adult from their household to come (their dad is one of our drivers and is on a field visit, their mama out working the fields). Normally I would not even see a sick kid like this, much less hold burning in my arms while she was being examined. However, as the vast majority of the staff here are currently stuck in Bunia because of flight issues, on the field for projects or here and down with malaria… it really left me.

You see, as the ‘Chef de Base’ I work on the support side of Medair's projects. Logistics, HR, finance, base management, fleet management, electricity… not super glamorous or sexy. I have spent the past six weeks in the same 5 km radius from the base and only ever interact with my staff. Also, for the most part, the only time I hear from anyone is when there are problems… and there have been a lot of problems with far fewer solutions to counter them.

In many ways it was what I needed. Don’t get me wrong, clearly not what she and her family needed. But holding her there gave me time for reflection after the culmination of yesterday’s issues left me so beside myself that I burst into tears when one of my staff told me we were out of onions.

Sitting in the hot, over crowded, under stocked, under staffed and only hospital in the area gave me room to sort through my thoughts and reflect on where I was and the people I was working with and for.

You may think it strange (unless you have found yourself in similar situations), but far too often I forget where I am and why I am here. About once a week I will stop, look around me and think ‘Oh my gosh, I am working in the flipping DRC with one of the most vulnerable and isolated populations on the planet’. 

Little Merveille, as it turns out, was treated for malaria three weeks ago but got more and more sick. This time around, it was discovered that she had typhoid fever. She was correctly treated and is now home talking about the white lady who took her in the car to the hospital and held her until she fell asleep (as reported to me from her dad).

Reflections on the hospital and dead lady afternoon later, as this post is already long enough as it is.

And the Beat Goes On

Things I See

I am just watching an overly paranoid mama goat try to figure out where the noise of the airplane is coming from.

This struck me as very amusing, I just wanted to share.

Too bad I forgot I had my camera with me. 

Soucis Sans Souris

I have reached a point in my French speaking development where I know immediately when I have said something grammatically or vocabularally wrong. Sure I might not know how to actually say it like a local, but at least I can recognize I sound like an idiot, accept it and move forward in making myself understood.

It was not always this way.

My second week in Ango I found myself examining the work of a local carpenter school we had hired to build some shelves for our new health depot. They were unstable and when he added the triangular bit I asked for, it was indeed stable... but totally lopsided.

I kept saying "J'ai souris que ce n'est pas doit."
For some reason this was not getting through. The conversation resembled an exaggerated game of charades that eventually resulted in solid 90 degree angled shelves.

A few hours later that morning I asked someone to do something for me.
"Pas de soucis." They replied.

Fast forward to mid afternoon when I nearly exploded out of my face in the middle of an OCHA cluster coordination meeting trying to hold back my laughter. Really, it was difficult to hold it together...

That morning I had spent nearly 20 minutes explaining to the carpenter, "I have mice that it is not straight. You see? It gives me mice. I have mice that it is not stable."

Ango awesomeness.