This is a topic totally unrelated to Nigeria. We are feeling rather helpless over here in regards to our daughter, Jeri's, beloved pets -- Susie (Susitna), her dog and Emma, her cat.
Jeri had tried to find homes for her animals before leaving Colorado. That wasn't working. So, her next plan was to have them cared for until we return the first of August. Then, she was hoping to take them to Alaska with her to give them to families there, when we travel for Brad's wedding. Well, it's just not working to have someone just check in on them each day.
So, would any of you be interested in providing a pernament or temporary home to a cat named Emma or a dog named Susie?
Emma is a great cat -- she's got personality, "talks" to us rather convincingly when she wants something, disappears under beds when strangers come in the house but warms up to them pretty quickly. She's used to sleeping on the end of our bed.
Susie is a beautiful American Eskimo (Eski) breed -- white, long haired. Weighs about 20 lbs. She's very energetic, very social. Right now, she's probably not too friendly because she's not getting enough attention each day. She's great with dog lovers but she does frighten some non-dog-lovers. She's got a small dog bark -- which means that she thinks she's a big dog. She's mellowing with age (she's about 7 years old) but she's definitely got small-dog energy. She jumps -- straight up. She'd need to be on a leash or in a fenced area when she's outside. She's got a large kennel for staying indoors when no one is home. She did well during the night sleeping in Jeri's room.
So, if any of you animal lovers out there would like to adopt either of these gals, please let me know. Or let me know of anyone you know who might be interested!!!! Or, if anyone wants to just visit our house every day to play with Susie for awhile and let her out to do her chores, great!!! A permanent home is the greatest need, of course, but at this point we just need some good options.
I'll blog later on our terrific trip, today, to the village. Great experiences!!!
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Beautiful!
It rained hard during the night and into the morning. But by the time we left for church the rains had stopped. (Unfortunately, Prince had to ride his motorcycle during the last of the storm in order to get to us in time. But he doesn't seem to mind the rain and always says he'll dry off fast.)
So, now the sun is out and the birds are singing. I do believe the plants that I face when sitting here at my computer in the patio have grown by about ten inches since yesterday! It really is incredible how things grow. The majority of my potted plants, both inside and out, were potted less than three months ago. Some have more than doubled in size during that time -- going from 2 feet to 4 feet tall and gaining new branches/leaves in every direction. And we never tire of marveling at the new blossoms on trees each week. Just as we were leaving camp for Abuja, Jim commented on a tree that was brimming with blossoms even though only last week it had none.
Sharon's top ten things we continue to love and never want to take for granted:
1. the color green -- it's everywhere on the camp!!!
2. the birds throughout the day but especially every morning around 6 a.m. -- it's much more pleasant than waking to an alarm clock!!
3. sunshine -- it's not as strong as in Denver but it's at least here very often, even during the rainy season!
4. fresh mangos -- even the word "fresh" takes on new meaning when attached to the mangos, here!
5. coconuts, pineapples, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, ... always in abundance
6. peanuts -- I've never really liked them but HERE they have real FLAVOR!
7. no chores -- I never wash dishes, do laundry, clean toilets, mop floors, ... I only cook when I want to and I only make our bed on Sunday mornings because that's Lucy's day off.
8. no car hassles -- we don't drive so the traffic is only observed but not felt like it would be if we were the ones driving. We don't wash the car, put fuel in the car, maintain the car, ...
9. bargain prices -- the word "bargain" has new meaning in a place where we negotiate every price in the markets. It's a new-found talent and form of entertainment for us. Feels better than a 70% off tag at Nordstrom's!!
10. "new" -- though some of the new experiences are getting really old (like today's 4 hour church service with most of the preaching and singing at the level of all-out shouting!), we can be confident that every day will bring something new and worth pondering!!
So, now the sun is out and the birds are singing. I do believe the plants that I face when sitting here at my computer in the patio have grown by about ten inches since yesterday! It really is incredible how things grow. The majority of my potted plants, both inside and out, were potted less than three months ago. Some have more than doubled in size during that time -- going from 2 feet to 4 feet tall and gaining new branches/leaves in every direction. And we never tire of marveling at the new blossoms on trees each week. Just as we were leaving camp for Abuja, Jim commented on a tree that was brimming with blossoms even though only last week it had none.
Sharon's top ten things we continue to love and never want to take for granted:
1. the color green -- it's everywhere on the camp!!!
2. the birds throughout the day but especially every morning around 6 a.m. -- it's much more pleasant than waking to an alarm clock!!
3. sunshine -- it's not as strong as in Denver but it's at least here very often, even during the rainy season!
4. fresh mangos -- even the word "fresh" takes on new meaning when attached to the mangos, here!
5. coconuts, pineapples, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers, ... always in abundance
6. peanuts -- I've never really liked them but HERE they have real FLAVOR!
7. no chores -- I never wash dishes, do laundry, clean toilets, mop floors, ... I only cook when I want to and I only make our bed on Sunday mornings because that's Lucy's day off.
8. no car hassles -- we don't drive so the traffic is only observed but not felt like it would be if we were the ones driving. We don't wash the car, put fuel in the car, maintain the car, ...
9. bargain prices -- the word "bargain" has new meaning in a place where we negotiate every price in the markets. It's a new-found talent and form of entertainment for us. Feels better than a 70% off tag at Nordstrom's!!
10. "new" -- though some of the new experiences are getting really old (like today's 4 hour church service with most of the preaching and singing at the level of all-out shouting!), we can be confident that every day will bring something new and worth pondering!!
Friday, June 23, 2006
Progress
Is progress possible in a place like Nigeria? That is what we often wonder.
Prejudice. You know it's happening when you start to make generalizations about a people group. Well, I'm finding myself saying "they" more and more -- I really hate it and try to avoid it, but there are definite patterns of behavior in the Nigerian population.
Take corruption -- it so permeates every level of society that people expect to be cheated. They lie because they're sure the other guy is lying to them. I witness it every day on the camp. For instance, a guy who works in the facilities department who openly professes to be a serious christian told a flat-out lie to a new resident. I was standing there and knew the truth. You see, he said that they were getting her phone line installed that afternoon. But I had already gotten involved with the IT people because there weren't any phone lines available and we were coming up with an alternative. This guy knew nothing about that because, honestly, we didn't include him in the situation because he's so worthless -- nothing he touches ever gets done. I was working on it while he just made promises and had done nothing. I said nothing. But, the new resident knew the truth, too, so now she already doubts anything a Nigerian says to her -- and she's only been here a week!! They make promises that they have no intention of fulfilling.
Take the trashy conditions. Maintenance is a foreign concept. So, buildings that are only 6 months old look like they've been around for 60 years. On this one, though, we have some hope. Here in Abuja, where we are right now (I'm writing from our hotel room) -- there are nicely designed buildings, fresh paint, repaired streets, ... and -- this one I can't stop talking about -- there's no trash on the roadsides. None. Other than in the camp, everywhere else we've been you can't walk without stepping on muddy trash -- food, papers, plastic, human waste, ...
But here in Abuja -- wow, the edges of the roads are clean and there's green beauty everywhere!!! OK, there are reasons the city looks so good -- and that relates back to corruption, unfortunately. It's the country 's capital, built out of nowhere in the 70s. (It took about twenty years to move the capital here, but the buildings didn't decay in the meantime.) The Federal gov't just pushed all of the villages in the area out and built a well-planned city. Any dignitaries from other parts of the world who visit Nigeria stay in Abuja. The oh-so-corrupt government has a lot of money to make things look "westernized" and they use every naira!! The hotel we're in is as nice as most we've stayed in in Paris or anywhere. It was built in the 70s but, hey, retro is in -- so the big mirrors, orange walls, square bathrooms fixtures, ... way cool!
Anyway, visitors to Abuja are quite impressed with the progress of the nation. Unfortunately, it's not the nation ...
Which leads to another issue here -- image. Everyone is about making good impressions, being in the know, being able to "out fox" others, etc. Twice while Jeri's been in the car with me, Prince has had trouble with the police. One time, they were just harrassing him, hoping to get a dash (money given to those who deserve nothing but are driving you crazy by either begging in your face or harassing you, if they have the power to do so). They tried to take air out of a tire while talking with him so that we wouldn't be able to leave. He outsmarted them and kept up the image that he was not afraid of them, he was in control, they shouldn't mess with him. In reality he was scared out of his wits -- but because image is everything he wouldn't even admit it to Jeri and me. The second incident, he really did violate a traffic law but because no one really expects to have to obey the laws (another issue here!) he didn't really see it as disobeying. So, he fought the police over that one, too. Acted really brave. Even boldly handed them his driver's license. Jeri and I were afraid they wouldn't give it back to him and then we didn't know what we'd do. But, as it turns out, what he gave them was only a copy that was laminated to look real. He keeps his real license hidden away because he doesn't want to hassle with replacing it when the police take it and keep it.
I could go on and on ...
So, is the problem with failed attempts to make progress a problem of low expectations? ("No one can do anything so why try?") Is it about personal comfort? ("This works for me so why fuss?") Is it a matter of tribalism? ("MY people are fine, the problem is with THOSE people!") I don't really know. But, I'm telling you -- sometimes it drives us NUTS!!!!!
I just read an interesting comment in a book about Nigeria -- the writer, a Nigerian, was talking about all of the contradictions -- what we would call oxymorons. He mentioned "civil service" and said that those folks are uncivil and don't provide any service. Mmmm ... I felt validated with this and many other comments he made until I realized he'd written the book in 1966. Grrrrrr ... 40 years ... so much for progress!!!!
But, we're finding out good ways to experience the best of Nigeria -- we will be going to a village, with escorts of course -- so much for "low profile!!" That has great potential. And I'm starting to work on some excursions for the residents -- day trips to watch weavers at work, weekend trips to a beach, day trips to a game reserve, ... I'm convinced that a lot of the problems on the camp could be resolved with a different perspective. So, I think getting out to see great places in the country will help. And then, the other approach is charity work. We're working on getting some things lined up for fall for volunteering in some schools. Some of the griping among the gals is just due to boredom. And we would realize how good we have it if we saw how the average Nigerian lives.
Getting out of the camp helps break the boredom but the other negatives outside the walls are too high a price to pay for some of the gals so they never go out. A downward spiral. One gal is manic depressive, to boot! One gal has been "grounded" by her husband and can't leave the house for an indefinite length of time. One gal was in tears because of the criticism she was getting from the other gals. Many leave on holidays, soon. That will help everyone, I think!!!!
But, all in all, I still really love this place. It helps to laugh at it and not take it too seriously. And it helps if I have no expectations for anything, anyone, any plans, etc. I know, some of you are laughing at that thought!! Because, you know, that has always been a great struggle for me -- the goal setting/expect-perfection person that I am! So, it's ok to laugh. I think God is laughing, too. He is a gentle but persistent teacher!!!! Maybe He wants progress in me and not in my circumstances!!! :-)
Prejudice. You know it's happening when you start to make generalizations about a people group. Well, I'm finding myself saying "they" more and more -- I really hate it and try to avoid it, but there are definite patterns of behavior in the Nigerian population.
Take corruption -- it so permeates every level of society that people expect to be cheated. They lie because they're sure the other guy is lying to them. I witness it every day on the camp. For instance, a guy who works in the facilities department who openly professes to be a serious christian told a flat-out lie to a new resident. I was standing there and knew the truth. You see, he said that they were getting her phone line installed that afternoon. But I had already gotten involved with the IT people because there weren't any phone lines available and we were coming up with an alternative. This guy knew nothing about that because, honestly, we didn't include him in the situation because he's so worthless -- nothing he touches ever gets done. I was working on it while he just made promises and had done nothing. I said nothing. But, the new resident knew the truth, too, so now she already doubts anything a Nigerian says to her -- and she's only been here a week!! They make promises that they have no intention of fulfilling.
Take the trashy conditions. Maintenance is a foreign concept. So, buildings that are only 6 months old look like they've been around for 60 years. On this one, though, we have some hope. Here in Abuja, where we are right now (I'm writing from our hotel room) -- there are nicely designed buildings, fresh paint, repaired streets, ... and -- this one I can't stop talking about -- there's no trash on the roadsides. None. Other than in the camp, everywhere else we've been you can't walk without stepping on muddy trash -- food, papers, plastic, human waste, ...
But here in Abuja -- wow, the edges of the roads are clean and there's green beauty everywhere!!! OK, there are reasons the city looks so good -- and that relates back to corruption, unfortunately. It's the country 's capital, built out of nowhere in the 70s. (It took about twenty years to move the capital here, but the buildings didn't decay in the meantime.) The Federal gov't just pushed all of the villages in the area out and built a well-planned city. Any dignitaries from other parts of the world who visit Nigeria stay in Abuja. The oh-so-corrupt government has a lot of money to make things look "westernized" and they use every naira!! The hotel we're in is as nice as most we've stayed in in Paris or anywhere. It was built in the 70s but, hey, retro is in -- so the big mirrors, orange walls, square bathrooms fixtures, ... way cool!
Anyway, visitors to Abuja are quite impressed with the progress of the nation. Unfortunately, it's not the nation ...
Which leads to another issue here -- image. Everyone is about making good impressions, being in the know, being able to "out fox" others, etc. Twice while Jeri's been in the car with me, Prince has had trouble with the police. One time, they were just harrassing him, hoping to get a dash (money given to those who deserve nothing but are driving you crazy by either begging in your face or harassing you, if they have the power to do so). They tried to take air out of a tire while talking with him so that we wouldn't be able to leave. He outsmarted them and kept up the image that he was not afraid of them, he was in control, they shouldn't mess with him. In reality he was scared out of his wits -- but because image is everything he wouldn't even admit it to Jeri and me. The second incident, he really did violate a traffic law but because no one really expects to have to obey the laws (another issue here!) he didn't really see it as disobeying. So, he fought the police over that one, too. Acted really brave. Even boldly handed them his driver's license. Jeri and I were afraid they wouldn't give it back to him and then we didn't know what we'd do. But, as it turns out, what he gave them was only a copy that was laminated to look real. He keeps his real license hidden away because he doesn't want to hassle with replacing it when the police take it and keep it.
I could go on and on ...
So, is the problem with failed attempts to make progress a problem of low expectations? ("No one can do anything so why try?") Is it about personal comfort? ("This works for me so why fuss?") Is it a matter of tribalism? ("MY people are fine, the problem is with THOSE people!") I don't really know. But, I'm telling you -- sometimes it drives us NUTS!!!!!
I just read an interesting comment in a book about Nigeria -- the writer, a Nigerian, was talking about all of the contradictions -- what we would call oxymorons. He mentioned "civil service" and said that those folks are uncivil and don't provide any service. Mmmm ... I felt validated with this and many other comments he made until I realized he'd written the book in 1966. Grrrrrr ... 40 years ... so much for progress!!!!
But, we're finding out good ways to experience the best of Nigeria -- we will be going to a village, with escorts of course -- so much for "low profile!!" That has great potential. And I'm starting to work on some excursions for the residents -- day trips to watch weavers at work, weekend trips to a beach, day trips to a game reserve, ... I'm convinced that a lot of the problems on the camp could be resolved with a different perspective. So, I think getting out to see great places in the country will help. And then, the other approach is charity work. We're working on getting some things lined up for fall for volunteering in some schools. Some of the griping among the gals is just due to boredom. And we would realize how good we have it if we saw how the average Nigerian lives.
Getting out of the camp helps break the boredom but the other negatives outside the walls are too high a price to pay for some of the gals so they never go out. A downward spiral. One gal is manic depressive, to boot! One gal has been "grounded" by her husband and can't leave the house for an indefinite length of time. One gal was in tears because of the criticism she was getting from the other gals. Many leave on holidays, soon. That will help everyone, I think!!!!
But, all in all, I still really love this place. It helps to laugh at it and not take it too seriously. And it helps if I have no expectations for anything, anyone, any plans, etc. I know, some of you are laughing at that thought!! Because, you know, that has always been a great struggle for me -- the goal setting/expect-perfection person that I am! So, it's ok to laugh. I think God is laughing, too. He is a gentle but persistent teacher!!!! Maybe He wants progress in me and not in my circumstances!!! :-)
Monday, June 19, 2006
Various Things
I have a few moments for another quick visit to my blog site.Jeri's here in Nigeria -- happy days for sure! She's really loving Nigeria. Shopping, bargaining, being shouted at -- "my friend,
buy from me; aunty, come here; oghibo, oghibo," -- it's all part of the experience.
Jim and I had some good times in Lagos a couple of days before Jeri arrived -- a real movie theatre with almost theatre-like popcorn, a mall -- a real one!! With Jeri we visited a real TexMex restaurant and she had the best-ever quesadillas of her whole life!! I'll
post some photos here, if I can, and I'll add some more later. Most shots are from a great beach spot that's owned by a couple of guys Jim works with. News that the white folks had arrived traveled faster than email and for the whole day we had vendors at the fence between the "house" and water.
I'm starting to see some major progress with some of the situations on camp. God is constantly renewing my strength and straightening out my attitude!
Jeri and I will be visiting Abuja soon -- Jim's there now for meetings. And then we'll visit a village, but not Prince's village. Such a bummer -- security would not approve a trip there due to some local skirmishes that probably are no threat but also are not worth the risk. We probably can't even go there for his wedding -- that's a huge disappointment for all of us.
Well, off to enjoy the sunshine and rain -- both occur regularly these days!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Humanity vs. Hermitity
I am beginning to realize why some people choose the life of a hermit over living amongst humanity. No, I haven't chosen that -- but I can see the appeal! Some folks on the camp do, really, hide out in their homes and only come out to go to the office.
Think of the top 10 most difficult people you've ever worked with/for. You've got them? Multiply that by 5. Now throw in about 50 folks you would call "tough" to work with. That's 100. Now think of someone you call "friend" but you've never fully trusted. Multiply that person by 60. We're at 160, right? So, toss in about 20 quiet folks who never get involved. Now. Put all of those people in the area of 4 football fields. Fill the place with houses. Move those folks around the place -- eating together in the clubhouse, swimming, playing tennis, ... you get the picture. Give all of the men and a few women REALLY difficult work situations, long hours, conflict, impossible expectations, ... Now, put that place inside walls with barbed wire and armed security guys at double gates. Give some of them cars and drivers (I'm still soooooooo thankful we have that benefit!) but restrict where they can go and when. Put them in houses they hate with broken equipment and missing "necessities." Make sure they don't get their requests for things for at least 2 months (that's how long it took to get a new mattress for the bed our daughter will use when she visits next week -- yippee, Jeri's arriving soon!) Now, create a Tower-of-Babel-kind-of language mix. Change the mix into people from every continent. Change 50 of them to children of all ages under 12. Are you getting the picture? Just in case you're not, go back to that group of difficult people we started with. Imagine working with them everyday, seven days a week, and then eating lunch and dinner with them every night ... Enough said.
So, it seems that I disappeared for awhile. 2 reasons -- no time to blog and whenever I did have time the server was down. But I'm not choosing the life of hermitity (sounds like a good word, to me!) -- actually, I'm still really loving it here. Yes, it's a challenge but there's no perfect continent and no perfect culture. And I really love the variety and the "I never know what's going to happen next" life that I'm living. I've never enjoyed routine, you know!
It will be impossible to catch you up on every crazy experience of the past 2 weeks of camp life so a list of descriptors will have to suffice: racial wars, shouting (at me), crying (me), accusations (toward our new team), apologies (from the new team), laughter, decorating, parties, golf tournament, menu planning, late night computer work, meetings, more meetings, new policy making, constructing new flow charts, writing proposals, creating budgets, problem solving, arbitrating, negotiating, bargaining, cheerleading, translating, English lessons, cultural studies, communication skills trainings, pastoring, praying, ... It's been quite a steep learning curve. My role is a bit like the camp mom, counselor, arbitrator, and advocate.
I did an activity with our new team -- using a map we "traveled" to each culture and each woman explained their social/interpersonal traditions and the ways conflict is handled in their homeland. Fascinating. It was exciting when the Egyptian gal said she really wanted me to teach them communication skills and conflict resolution because she admitted that her tradition is just to holler. And the sweet and oh-so-quiet Indonesian gal said that she wanted to learn to be more bold in speaking out. The bummer was that the Nigerian gals, who caused all of the mess in the first place, never admitted that they have a problem with communication and they simply defended the way it's done in Nigerian. Definitely room to grow there!! (Here, conflict is resolved by shouting, hitting, beating, sending a curse upon someone, poisoning, ... I won't go any further than that! My driver warned me not to leave my glass unattended in our meetings because he's confident that the Nigerian gals would poison me. Truly. But I think that's a bit extreme and I'm certain that he's just watched too much Nigerian TV.)
Lest you think everything is bad with the residents, please know that I have great hope. The forward momentum on the camp is fantastic. The general unity is improving steadily. The new team is almost completely unified behind me -- their support and encouragement has been amazing.
Things are starting to happen in the way of improvements; that always helps people's moods to improve. My cell phone is by my side as I type because an "I'm on my way" call should come in any moment. That will mean that the new 70" plasma TV will be arriving at the gate and then I'll gather all of the camp technicians at the clubhouse to get trained on the operation of the thing. It's supposed to be here before 11 a.m. -- that means maybe before 4 pm. Our World Cup party begins at 4:30 -- a bit tight on the scheduling, but as they say here, "this is Nigeria!" The clubhouse looks fantastic -- football jerseys, flags, footballs, ribbons all over the place.
Jim's in Lagos for a week. I'll be joining him tomorrow. He doesn't experience all of the "stuff" of the camp because he works so much but he hears about it -- from me, of course, and from others. Word travels fast around this place. Jim's been a fantastic support through this leadership transition time I'm experiencing. We both know that this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
Other quick stuff -- Lucy and Prince are fine. Prince and Glory (his fiance') are hoping to get married at the end of August, just after we get back here from Brad and Karissa's wedding in Alaska. By the way, I'm working on getting mailing addresses for those of you that know Brad -- it would be a huge help if you could email yours to me because he's needing to mail out invitations/announcements soon! The teaching I did last week at the MTFellowship was very well received. I was tough on them -- challenging them that most Nigerians in the region go to church a few times a week and proudly call themselves Christians -- names of shops are Christian names -- God's Power, Redemption Center, Grace Store, ... but corruption is a part of life here -- lying, cheating, etc. So, the challenge was --are you different, now, than you were last month because God's Spirit is changing you from the inside out? Are you more loving, more hard working, more trust worthy, ... Stop trying to look holy and start surrending so that God will make you be holy.
Oh, ya! I've been strengthening my neck at the gym so that I can start golf. Welllllll, Jim won a new set, a complete set, of golf clubs at the drawings after the golf tournament. Of course they don't fit Jim, so ... yep, I'm smiling!!!
OK, gotta run. Still no call from the TV guy. Gotta call him. I know his answer to "where are you?" will be "I'm coming, Maam." But that could mean that's he's just waking up, just getting to work, ... pretty much anything! So, I'll have to give him a deadline of one hour and then we'll see. Sometimes it takes one hour to go 2 kms due to the traffic craziness.
I'm telling you -- I love this place!
Think of the top 10 most difficult people you've ever worked with/for. You've got them? Multiply that by 5. Now throw in about 50 folks you would call "tough" to work with. That's 100. Now think of someone you call "friend" but you've never fully trusted. Multiply that person by 60. We're at 160, right? So, toss in about 20 quiet folks who never get involved. Now. Put all of those people in the area of 4 football fields. Fill the place with houses. Move those folks around the place -- eating together in the clubhouse, swimming, playing tennis, ... you get the picture. Give all of the men and a few women REALLY difficult work situations, long hours, conflict, impossible expectations, ... Now, put that place inside walls with barbed wire and armed security guys at double gates. Give some of them cars and drivers (I'm still soooooooo thankful we have that benefit!) but restrict where they can go and when. Put them in houses they hate with broken equipment and missing "necessities." Make sure they don't get their requests for things for at least 2 months (that's how long it took to get a new mattress for the bed our daughter will use when she visits next week -- yippee, Jeri's arriving soon!) Now, create a Tower-of-Babel-kind-of language mix. Change the mix into people from every continent. Change 50 of them to children of all ages under 12. Are you getting the picture? Just in case you're not, go back to that group of difficult people we started with. Imagine working with them everyday, seven days a week, and then eating lunch and dinner with them every night ... Enough said.
So, it seems that I disappeared for awhile. 2 reasons -- no time to blog and whenever I did have time the server was down. But I'm not choosing the life of hermitity (sounds like a good word, to me!) -- actually, I'm still really loving it here. Yes, it's a challenge but there's no perfect continent and no perfect culture. And I really love the variety and the "I never know what's going to happen next" life that I'm living. I've never enjoyed routine, you know!
It will be impossible to catch you up on every crazy experience of the past 2 weeks of camp life so a list of descriptors will have to suffice: racial wars, shouting (at me), crying (me), accusations (toward our new team), apologies (from the new team), laughter, decorating, parties, golf tournament, menu planning, late night computer work, meetings, more meetings, new policy making, constructing new flow charts, writing proposals, creating budgets, problem solving, arbitrating, negotiating, bargaining, cheerleading, translating, English lessons, cultural studies, communication skills trainings, pastoring, praying, ... It's been quite a steep learning curve. My role is a bit like the camp mom, counselor, arbitrator, and advocate.
I did an activity with our new team -- using a map we "traveled" to each culture and each woman explained their social/interpersonal traditions and the ways conflict is handled in their homeland. Fascinating. It was exciting when the Egyptian gal said she really wanted me to teach them communication skills and conflict resolution because she admitted that her tradition is just to holler. And the sweet and oh-so-quiet Indonesian gal said that she wanted to learn to be more bold in speaking out. The bummer was that the Nigerian gals, who caused all of the mess in the first place, never admitted that they have a problem with communication and they simply defended the way it's done in Nigerian. Definitely room to grow there!! (Here, conflict is resolved by shouting, hitting, beating, sending a curse upon someone, poisoning, ... I won't go any further than that! My driver warned me not to leave my glass unattended in our meetings because he's confident that the Nigerian gals would poison me. Truly. But I think that's a bit extreme and I'm certain that he's just watched too much Nigerian TV.)
Lest you think everything is bad with the residents, please know that I have great hope. The forward momentum on the camp is fantastic. The general unity is improving steadily. The new team is almost completely unified behind me -- their support and encouragement has been amazing.
Things are starting to happen in the way of improvements; that always helps people's moods to improve. My cell phone is by my side as I type because an "I'm on my way" call should come in any moment. That will mean that the new 70" plasma TV will be arriving at the gate and then I'll gather all of the camp technicians at the clubhouse to get trained on the operation of the thing. It's supposed to be here before 11 a.m. -- that means maybe before 4 pm. Our World Cup party begins at 4:30 -- a bit tight on the scheduling, but as they say here, "this is Nigeria!" The clubhouse looks fantastic -- football jerseys, flags, footballs, ribbons all over the place.
Jim's in Lagos for a week. I'll be joining him tomorrow. He doesn't experience all of the "stuff" of the camp because he works so much but he hears about it -- from me, of course, and from others. Word travels fast around this place. Jim's been a fantastic support through this leadership transition time I'm experiencing. We both know that this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
Other quick stuff -- Lucy and Prince are fine. Prince and Glory (his fiance') are hoping to get married at the end of August, just after we get back here from Brad and Karissa's wedding in Alaska. By the way, I'm working on getting mailing addresses for those of you that know Brad -- it would be a huge help if you could email yours to me because he's needing to mail out invitations/announcements soon! The teaching I did last week at the MTFellowship was very well received. I was tough on them -- challenging them that most Nigerians in the region go to church a few times a week and proudly call themselves Christians -- names of shops are Christian names -- God's Power, Redemption Center, Grace Store, ... but corruption is a part of life here -- lying, cheating, etc. So, the challenge was --are you different, now, than you were last month because God's Spirit is changing you from the inside out? Are you more loving, more hard working, more trust worthy, ... Stop trying to look holy and start surrending so that God will make you be holy.
Oh, ya! I've been strengthening my neck at the gym so that I can start golf. Welllllll, Jim won a new set, a complete set, of golf clubs at the drawings after the golf tournament. Of course they don't fit Jim, so ... yep, I'm smiling!!!
OK, gotta run. Still no call from the TV guy. Gotta call him. I know his answer to "where are you?" will be "I'm coming, Maam." But that could mean that's he's just waking up, just getting to work, ... pretty much anything! So, I'll have to give him a deadline of one hour and then we'll see. Sometimes it takes one hour to go 2 kms due to the traffic craziness.
I'm telling you -- I love this place!
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