tuesday again

the end of march. usually a funny, melty, end of winter, hectic inside, still too cold outside time of year. the time when you wait for the big thaw. the one that matters because its never going to freeze that much again until october. when you know you are on your way out of constricting winter and someday soon, you'll actually get to wear a short sleeve shirt. for the love of just one layer.

here its different. its actually getting a little chillier. at least when abrupt, violent thunderstorms pass. the wind picks up and the temperature drops 20 degrees and the wall of clouds draw a line in the sky. it splatters briefly, then picks up and rains, and finally monsoons. waves water spray in all directions. it monsoons from up and left and right and then ground is quickly flooded and then it splashes and it even rains from down.

i was on a motorcycle on sunday in something like that. we drove right into it. he kept looking behind to see if the sun would keep up with us. but it was moving in our direction. i felt the splatters and a minute later it felt like a hailstorm. my boda man was speeding through this storm. he had his hand flat out in front of his face shielding his eyes from the piercing drops. luckily, he had his wits about him. he slowed and drove through the rushing water in the ditch on the side of the road up to some shops with an awning.

today, work is work is work is work. paperwork tuesday is a drag. actually, i've been meaning to ask. is there anyone out there in the HR world looking to do a mitzvah, get some karma, or do a good deed? i'm working on a staff manual of policies in the workplace for our tailors and suubi women. just some basics on payment schedules and sick days and what to do if you have a problem and all sorts of stuff like that. i've been spending some time on hr.com looking at all of the titles and headings. is there anyone out there who likes to do this stuff? does anyone want to help me write a staff manual for a small group (10) of full time employees and a larger group (100) of contract employees. speaking of contract work...does anyone know how to calculate labor in to pay-per-piece contract work? does it need to be calculated in at all in determining profit margins for the contract workers?

if you have any idea about what i'm talking about. or if you've successfully complete a fair trade federation producers to retailers application, let me know. i would be eternally grateful and african women will sing songs of praise and love in your honor. (seriously, i'll get it and send you the dvd)

i think i'm alone now

there doesn't seem to be anyone around

my garbage is someone's meal

It's Wednesday morning. It's windy outside. It's also very hot. There are many things that I am planning on doing today. First, I'm going to help Harriet clean out some of the back rooms here in the compound so we can move beds on Friday. Then I'm going to order a bunch of furniture: metal shelves, stools, poles for mosquito nets. Then it will be time for English class. I'm going to leave you here with some of my manifesto on empowerment. Let me know what you think.
LGH Grows: From mission to vision

Mission: Empowering Africans through the encouragement of economic
sustainability and creative endeavors. Motivating people in the west
to “be the change” they want to see in the world.

What does empowerment look like?

Empowerment means to give someone the authority or power to do
something. Empowerment means to enable someone to do something.
Empowerment means to make someone stronger and more confident,
especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights.
Empowerment means emancipating, unshackling, freeing, and liberating.

Empowerment is real; it is giving people authority and power through
meaningful activities that have a defined impact on their lives.
Empowerment has measureable outcomes that are beneficial to the both
the parties giving and receiving the power because a balanced
relationship is a healthy relationship.

Empowerment is lasting change. It is both self-sufficiency and
interdependence. Empowerment is Africans who can live and thrive
without Western charities and aid. It is acknowledging that socially
responsible capitalism requires that Africans will own successful,
respectful businesses and that those businesses can control methods of
production and have access to international markets without Western
middlemen.

Empowerment acknowledges that both Africans and Westerners can help
each other in meaningful, lasting ways. Empowerment begins from truth.
The truth about what each party knows and possesses. It starts from an
understanding of each other and the mutual creation of a place where
individuals can bring their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and
fears to a place of fairness and honesty.

tuesday

waiting, waiting, waiting...

for andrea to return from kampala so i can help unload kilos of tailoring stuff.

for baker to (hopefully) call and chat.

for something to happen or i'm going to bed.

i'm looking forward...

to going to sleep in my giant bed with the room all to myself.

to teaching English class tomorrow. we're going to talk about the English and Luo words for feelings and emotions.

to planning a trip over Easter. there are some volcanos in the west and a big mountain called elgon in the east.

things i will accomplish this week...

getting a high quality bunk bed (they call it a double decker) built for a fair price and getting 2 good mattresses for it.

building some kind of wall behind the garage door to block bugs and sound and make it a little more bedroomy. urg, that sounds difficult just thinking about it.

fixing the volunteer costs google doc to reflect new changes.

i am so fixated on lists. i have so many notebooks of different sizes full of lists of things to buy and do and communicate about.

my brain is just stuck on lists. i want to make an exciting list. is that possible?

list of exciting things:

cutting t-shirts into new designs to improve bodily airflow. (ok not that exciting)

going on a mini-vacation to eden rock campsite this weekend and socializing in an appropriate manner.

finding that i had just omitted a 0 on the accounting and not actually lost 50,000/= place value is important kids.

the possibility of finding music in uganda that doesn't suck.

this list is depressingly short, i'm going to work on it. i'll let you know of progress

a cow is mooing in the distance

I used to get a lot of alone time. I used to sit and stare and carry things and read and cook and think and read and plan and reflect and basically do very little for extended periods of time.

I could be alone inside and outside and in town and even when I was working there was quiet time when I just sat and thought about anything I chose. From my house I could usually hear the ocean, and if it was out I heard the refrigerator hum, the magpies on the roof, maybe a car passing.

It is different now. The house is never empty. I suddenly notice when silence happens, it is deafening here. I wake up in the middle of the night realizing the power has gone out and the fan is off and everything is black and silent. I can hear myself breathe and my heart beat.

Then something happens and the crickets begin again and a dog barks and a horn sounds in the distance and I’m brought right back here. This place is so strong. I am always moving, being dragged in 100 directions by everyone’s wants and needs.

From the moment I wake up until the time I go horizontal, I am planning for other people and weighing their concerns and my concerns and the groups concerns and the organizations concerns and what concerns we all may have in the future. Assessing how all of those line up and which ones should be acted on in what order is perpetual.

Each day through the choices I make, I am increasing or decreasing the amount of easy or hard work for myself in the future. This is always the case, but here it is somehow amplified. Like I’m doing everything for the first time and those impressions are the most important. Being diplomatic all the time is exhausting.

Now I talk and I work and I write emails and lists and lists about what I’m going to write in emails. I am always listening to dream re-enactments and other people’s to do lists and trying to figure out what someone is saying in another language. Now I am always right here in this present moment actively making decisions.