Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Habib, hotels, planes, changing room, sun, sand and a wedding
Am supposed to be doing work….oops…but I thought it was ages since I wrote anything on here last, but it seems that it was only at the beginning of the month…but that seems like such a long time ago now…
Since my last blog, I’ve been in Khartoum, Renk, Khartoum again, Khartoum Airport, the Hilton Hotel (unforeseen circumstances), Khartoum Airport again, Nairobi, Dar-es-Salam, Lazy Island, Zanzibar, Dar-es-Salam, Nairobi, Khartoum Airport (you’ve got to love it!), and Renk…I think you get the picture J
So, my friends from my church in Reading decided to get married on Lazy Island in Tanzania on 14th June 2007. Hannah’s (the bride) parents are missionaries in Dar-es-Salam, so it was the obvious location. I was actually invited the day I flew out to Sudan to start this job, so it seemed rude not to go, seeing I was so close. All the plans were made and I was due to fly out very early in the morning (like, 3:45am) of 13th June. Khartoum Airport don’t seem to like human-friendly flying times J Anyway, at about 3:00am we found out that our flight to Nairobi had been cancelled due to the habib (dust storm)…well, it just wasn’t landing in Khartoum but carrying on the Cairo. I was gutted. There was no way I was going to make the wedding. The next flight wouldn’t be until 24hrs time, and there would now be two loads of people to fly to Nairobi, and one plane…it seemed unlikely (even though we were told we’d be given priority). I told Kenya Airways I wanted to cancel my flight. But I happily went with them to the Khartoum Hilton Hotel, which is where they would put us up for the night. I was never going to get the opportunity to stay in a Hilton Hotel; let alone for free…I’d be crazy to turn down such an offer (that’s how I justified it to myself anyway)!
It was about 4am by the time we’d all checked in and got to bed. Texted Steve & Gill (Hannah’s parents in Tanzania), and told them I probably wouldn’t be coming. I decided I would phone the office the next morning and get them to book me on the bus to Renk on 14th June. I know, it’s confusing, the day of 13th June was just beginning…but it felt like a whole day had past.
My bed was the coolest! Big bed all to myself, lots of pillows and a lush duvet…ace! I was sure I’d sleep for hours…but I woke up at 9am. Malesh. But it meant I could phone Steve & Gill (we were allowed a free international phone call) and update them on what was happening. They told me to come anyway. The wedding was at 11am. The flight was scheduled to land in Dar-es-Salam at 8:25am on 14th June, so I should make it to the island on time. I wasn’t convinced, I said I’d let them know. I then phoned my mum, and she phoned me back (didn’t want to take advantage of KA generosity!)…she agreed that I should get the flight and try and make the wedding. I think her thoughts were more along the lines of hoping I’d meet a gorgeous guy out there…despite me telling her that I knew all the guests that were coming (no offence guys!).
Anyway, I’m rambling, and I’m sure this isn’t very exciting. To cut it all short, after breakfast I headed into town with a random AU guy I met, and wondered aimlessly really, but hey. Then to KA office to check on flights. We would be flying at 20:00 that night. Excellent! It meant a night sleeping in Nairobi airport, but it was fine. The next problem was that we were late leaving Nairobi airport, by over an hour…so when I should have been landing in Dar-es-Salam, we were taking off from Nairobi. I knew then I’d definitely missed the wedding. Gutted. And getting my visa at Dar-es-Salam Airport took ages too! I was beginning to wonder why God was so against me going to this wedding. Finally left Dar Airport in a taxi around 10:15…next step was getting changed into a dress and doing my hair & makeup in the taxi…from the Hilton to getting changed in a taxi…I know how to live the high life!!
By the way, Tanzania is beautiful!!!! So so green and long white sand beaches…I wondered why I’d never come here before.
So, getting the boat over to Lazy Island, the Bridal Party were just coming onto the beach for photos…highly embarrassing for me, as I got lots of cheers and photos taken…but it was fantastic to finally be there – amongst all my friends again. Worth all the sleep depravation, frustration and prayers! Lazy Island was truly beautiful, which complimented the beautiful couple wonderfully.
The rest of the day was brilliant…photos on the beach…reception…speeches…cutting the cake…swimming in the sea…singing songs around a log fire as the sun set, and eating more food J A truly beautiful and amazing day! Thank you to Steven & Gill for inviting me!!
The following day was spent on the beach, saying goodbye to Hannah & Charlie as they went off on their honeymoon, swimming (I lost count how many times I went in the water)…and ensuring Rosalind didn’t lose too much blood after cutting herself on some rocks (not nice). Then in the afternoon it was time to leave. The rest of the guys went back to Dar, while Ben & I went to Bagamona to visit the place where the slaves were taken off to the Arab Countries. A weird town in that there was a normal feel to it in one part, with the market and bus station, and then the eerie side to it at the beach, where the stocks where the slaves were kept still remained, and the old wooden boats were moored. The boats were amazing! Looked like something out of C.S. Lewis’, The Dawn Treader! Then it was a bus-trip back to Dar, and a long walk, then another bus ride. Long story, so ask Ben.
Then it was Zanzibar the next day for Ben, Rosalind, Chantel and myself…so up at 5:30am, and a ferry to Zanzibar. Ace! Got ourselves (well, Ben did), a random taxi-driver called Sherif who decided we would go to the East Coast for the night (Ros & Chantel were leaving the next day). I was dubious and wished I’d done some reading on Zanzibar. Putting my faith in a taxi-driver??? Never! But it was turned out amazingly…it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been too! Long white-sand beaches and turquoise seas. Wow! I was in my element…we were all in that sea while we waited for lunch. It was wonderful. Basically, the rest of the day was spent eating lunch, swimming, drinking beer, swimming again…oh, and dancing at a random wedding we were taken to.
The evening was far more bizarre. Met a guy at the place we were staying who said he’d take us into town…it was only when we were in the car that I realised this was a bad idea. We didn’t know these guys and they ended up taking us to a random place where the only people there were the barmen, cooks, and a weird guy who sat in the corner. The guys tried to plough us with alcohol and I think they were slightly put-out when we stopped drinking after one pint. I think we were the most boring people they had taken out. I did feel bad. The food was good though! But I remained uneasy until we got back to our B&B place…we were in the middle of know-where, trusting two guys who we didn’t know. It all turned out ok though, and was an experience I suppose.
After breakfast the next say, we headed back to Stone Town. Ben & I booked ourselves in Jambo Hotel for the night, then we headed out to find somewhere for lunch before Ros & Chatel headed back to Dar. Poor Ben was then stuck with me for the next 24 hours. We visited the historical places, went to the museums, went swimming (yeah, that was my idea), went to the fish market, then at about 8pm, Ben decided he wanted to buy the traditional African game – wooden game with marbles (seeds). We had to get some poor guy out of bed, and re-open his shop up. Did feel bad. He was a lovely guy though and even gave me a beautiful necklace! Finally went back to the hotel and couldn’t work out how to play it anyway…then I did feel bad on the guy we got out of bed! J
Didn’t do much the next day. Ben spent lots of money on paintings and a walking stick and truncheon with a knife in it. He gave a performance on the old theatre there…hilarious. But then I suppose it’s one of those things when you had to be there… Then headed back to the beach to kill a bit of time. Ended up going swimming (of course!), which meant I then had to board the ferry soaking wet. Typical! J The ferry back was not quite as nice as the trip there…going against the current…bug waves and a few people being sick. Learnt that if you shut your eyes, then all is good.
Man, my holiday was practically over. Tuesday I flew back to Khartoum…having spent a couple of hours on the beach and sea at White Sands in Dar. Decided to book a tuktuk to the airport…another experience I won’t be forgetting in a while…a few near-death experiences…but hey, it was cheaper than a taxi! Yep, I’m still tight with money out here.
So yeah, Tuesday night I was back in the heat of Khartoum and Thursday I was back in Renk (having had a child who was sitting on my lap being sick on me on the bus). Oh dear, I’ve really fallen from my Hilton heights!!
Life in Renk is going on. Still trying to get slabs on household and school latrines (I never thought motivating people to dig would be so hard!). Need to finish off three water projects…and pilot sand filters, and hafir sand filters and pilot a new design for latrine linings – which will hopefully be cheaper than bricks and will mean we can do more latrines next year. And then the whole things starts again…planning for next year’s water points, latrines and sand filters…as well as managing (well, trying to!) Hygiene Promotion…oh dear. God is working a miracle here, because I couldn’t do it without Him!
Looking forward to my brother’s wedding in September…in the UK rather than anywhere tropical!
Friday, June 01, 2007
Appraisals
Can’t believe the last thing I wrote something was back at Easter. That’s really bad. But I did come back to the UK at the end of April, so hopefully I’m forgiven. Ok, that’s a lame excuse I know. Then let’s just say I’m rubbish J
At the moment I’m on the bus back to Renk, having been in Khartoum for a couple of days at the North Sudan Programme Management Meeting…which is basically a get together of the all the heads of the different departments and programmes in North Sudan. So all the AC’s were there from Darfur, and the HR, Finance and Logistics Managers, and of course the Programme Director and Deputy Programme Director. We discussed issues that have been raised at previous meetings, health & safety/security (yep, it comes up in all meetings across the world!), staff, how we can improve the impact Tearfund has in North Sudan etc. It was the first meeting I’d attended and was good to be part of it as often – to meet the guys from Darfur and just generally feel more part of the Tearfund programme.
It was a good couple of days; I learnt a lot and got to know the team better – hopefully I will stop standing in the corner so much, too shy to talk to anyone because I don’t know people.
Ok, I’m not one for being quite so open, but for some reason I feel I should send this out…maybe I’m wrong to and I’m the only one who feels like this, but hey…I’m only embarrassing myself so here goes…just promise not to shun me next time you see me :o)
One of the key things that struck me at yesterday’s meeting was what it actually means to be a Christian leader, especially here in Sudan – although technically it shouldn’t matter where you are. The way I do my job and live my life out here must be outliving the characteristics of Jesus. Often, being the only Khawaja is difficult - it means that nothing you do goes unnoticed, either at work, or simply going for a walk – let alone going for a run – yes, I actually built up the guts to go for a run. I know, poor people in Renk! Anyway, it made me realise how important it is just to be a good Christian witness. That in EVERYTHING I do, I am representing Christ. In the way I work with my staff, spend time with friends and interact with the community. My aim should be to emanate the leadership qualities Jesus had in all that I do.
This struck me more when I thought about our appraisals, which will take place at some point soon (oh dear, stress!!). Not only will I be appraised on the quality of my work, but also on my characteristics as a Christian leader. Both my line manager and staff will have a role to play in appraising me. Being assessed (was going to say ‘judged’, but seems less scary to say ‘assessed’) on the quality of the work I do is normal in way, as it’s what I’m used to back in the UK…not that I enjoy them though! But being evaluated as to what my leadership qualities are as a Christian is something I’ve never experienced before. This will be the side of my appraisal that will scare me the most. To me, this is the most important aspect of my job. Yet why should it be such a big deal to me? Isn’t it something that I should continually be doing to myself? Why should it be any different here then in the UK, just because I’m working for a Christian organisation. I should always be thinking, is this right for me to do as a Christian? How will this action be viewed by the community around me? Knowing I’m a Christian, how will my staff view me if I act in this way? Ultimately, what the people around me think of me is a reflection on how they will see Jesus Christ.
Yet, because I work for a Christian organisation, I AM appraised on my Christian leadership. This shouldn’t be important though, Christ is my supreme appraiser! It shouldn’t take an appraisal with my manager and staff to make me think about what I’m doing and the consequences of my actions. It should be being the sort of leader Christ wants to be, and Christ expects me to be that should be important to me.
So, although wasn’t that ecstatic about coming to Khartoum this week (don’t take it personally!) as I felt I had too much work, spiritually it was vital. In all that I do here in Sudan, the most important thing is to live a life that reflects Christ. As one of the guys at the meeting said afterwards (well, can’t remember exactly what he said, but words to this effect), even if everything seems to be going wrong, remember that can be here just as a witness. I think I’ve often neglected this aspect of the job. It’s so easy to get caught up in the business of the day job, that you (well, I do), lose sight of what is really important. It is good sometimes to remember that no matter how rubbish or good I’m feeling about my work and everything, that I am also simply here as a Christian.
This is vital, and I think I lose sight of the bigger and more important spiritual picture far too often.
Can’t believe the last thing I wrote something was back at Easter. That’s really bad. But I did come back to the UK at the end of April, so hopefully I’m forgiven. Ok, that’s a lame excuse I know. Then let’s just say I’m rubbish J
At the moment I’m on the bus back to Renk, having been in Khartoum for a couple of days at the North Sudan Programme Management Meeting…which is basically a get together of the all the heads of the different departments and programmes in North Sudan. So all the AC’s were there from Darfur, and the HR, Finance and Logistics Managers, and of course the Programme Director and Deputy Programme Director. We discussed issues that have been raised at previous meetings, health & safety/security (yep, it comes up in all meetings across the world!), staff, how we can improve the impact Tearfund has in North Sudan etc. It was the first meeting I’d attended and was good to be part of it as often – to meet the guys from Darfur and just generally feel more part of the Tearfund programme.
It was a good couple of days; I learnt a lot and got to know the team better – hopefully I will stop standing in the corner so much, too shy to talk to anyone because I don’t know people.
Ok, I’m not one for being quite so open, but for some reason I feel I should send this out…maybe I’m wrong to and I’m the only one who feels like this, but hey…I’m only embarrassing myself so here goes…just promise not to shun me next time you see me :o)
One of the key things that struck me at yesterday’s meeting was what it actually means to be a Christian leader, especially here in Sudan – although technically it shouldn’t matter where you are. The way I do my job and live my life out here must be outliving the characteristics of Jesus. Often, being the only Khawaja is difficult - it means that nothing you do goes unnoticed, either at work, or simply going for a walk – let alone going for a run – yes, I actually built up the guts to go for a run. I know, poor people in Renk! Anyway, it made me realise how important it is just to be a good Christian witness. That in EVERYTHING I do, I am representing Christ. In the way I work with my staff, spend time with friends and interact with the community. My aim should be to emanate the leadership qualities Jesus had in all that I do.
This struck me more when I thought about our appraisals, which will take place at some point soon (oh dear, stress!!). Not only will I be appraised on the quality of my work, but also on my characteristics as a Christian leader. Both my line manager and staff will have a role to play in appraising me. Being assessed (was going to say ‘judged’, but seems less scary to say ‘assessed’) on the quality of the work I do is normal in way, as it’s what I’m used to back in the UK…not that I enjoy them though! But being evaluated as to what my leadership qualities are as a Christian is something I’ve never experienced before. This will be the side of my appraisal that will scare me the most. To me, this is the most important aspect of my job. Yet why should it be such a big deal to me? Isn’t it something that I should continually be doing to myself? Why should it be any different here then in the UK, just because I’m working for a Christian organisation. I should always be thinking, is this right for me to do as a Christian? How will this action be viewed by the community around me? Knowing I’m a Christian, how will my staff view me if I act in this way? Ultimately, what the people around me think of me is a reflection on how they will see Jesus Christ.
Yet, because I work for a Christian organisation, I AM appraised on my Christian leadership. This shouldn’t be important though, Christ is my supreme appraiser! It shouldn’t take an appraisal with my manager and staff to make me think about what I’m doing and the consequences of my actions. It should be being the sort of leader Christ wants to be, and Christ expects me to be that should be important to me.
So, although wasn’t that ecstatic about coming to Khartoum this week (don’t take it personally!) as I felt I had too much work, spiritually it was vital. In all that I do here in Sudan, the most important thing is to live a life that reflects Christ. As one of the guys at the meeting said afterwards (well, can’t remember exactly what he said, but words to this effect), even if everything seems to be going wrong, remember that can be here just as a witness. I think I’ve often neglected this aspect of the job. It’s so easy to get caught up in the business of the day job, that you (well, I do), lose sight of what is really important. It is good sometimes to remember that no matter how rubbish or good I’m feeling about my work and everything, that I am also simply here as a Christian.
This is vital, and I think I lose sight of the bigger and more important spiritual picture far too often.
Sukhana Shadid! (very hot!)
HAPPY EASTER!!
I’ve never known heat like this. It’s up into the 40’s…over 40°C!! The sweat just pours off you. But it’s not completely unbearable…somehow. I think it’s because it’s a dry heat, not humid like it gets in the UK. You just don’t go out of a building here between the hours of 11:00-15:00…seriously. Even the Sudanese people are complaining about how hot it is - something I never expected. My arms are getting nice and brown, but my legs…they’re so white still – they kinda glow in the dark! You don’t need a torch when my white legs are around J Yeah, sorry Mum, just cause I’m in Sudan, it doesn’t mean I’m wearing skirts more…still living and dying in trousers! Grandma did always say I should have been born a boy.
So yeah, getting back to the heat thing…we’ve been sleeping outside, which is lovely. Felt a bit disorientated the first time I slept out; waking up in the middle of the night to a black sky and stars took me a bit by surprise. It’s fab though. The stars here are beautiful and the moon is so bright. Still unbelievably hot, even at this time (it’s 23:00 and I can’t sleep – too hot). We have MosDomes – which are dome tents, but with mosquito-net lining. So no, not much use in the UK; I’d get pretty wet.
Things here are going ok though…lots of work as we don’t have a logistician, so having to design latrines (with lots of help), finalise the bills of quantities, procure materials, order materials…and the quantities are all different as each school latrine we’re doing seems to be different somehow. Also, some households only require a 2m brick lining, while others need a 3m lining…oh the cement, bricks, iron bars, zinc sheeting, sand, gravel etc we’ve ordered… Spent the day off-loading 25 tons of cement, together with iron bars, zinc sheeting, binding wire, marina (timber), lime…it was actually really good fun. So enjoyed it and the guys I work with are fab. I don’t think the local Sudanese villagers had seen a girl doing this sort of work though – offloading marina and iron bars etc. I drew the line at carrying a bag of cement though…they weigh 50Kg!! Being out in the field rocks…the office and paper-work sucks. But unfortunately it has to be done…[sigh].
With regards to water, we’ve finished constructing three hafirs (like reservoirs, but are depressions dug in places where the relief of the land means water naturally flows to in the rainy season, basically the lowest point in that area. We’re currently finishing off the fourth. So that’s good. Unfortunately the water quality in these hafirs is not good, but the water table in these places is so deep that drilling a borehole is practically impossible. Would be interesting to know how deep the average borehole is in the UK…especially the Water Company ones. Any information greatly appreciated; send your answers on the back of a postcard or stuck-down envelope…
So yeah, that’s me. Need to order gravel, sand, mortor, ventilation pipes, paint, mesh wire and the iron work (doors, windows, moulds etc) this week…as well as somehow getting cement to Shemodi and Kilo 15 without spending money…you have to pay the community to onload and offload materials, which is a bit of a problem as I didn’t include that in my budget…oops. I also have the Tearfund North Sudan Programme Director coming to visit this week, so most of my time will be taken up entertaining him…as well as finding time to order the materials, write up what I’m doing, make sure things are moving, getting contracts signed with the masons, making sure all the households understand what they need to do for their latrines…and writing a list of things for all my guys to do when I’m away. Yeah!! I finally got my exit visa!!
God has been so faithful. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work for me. The masons I’ve hired are wonderful and will do a great job at managing the project I’m sure. I have great staff in the office with me. They’re just all wonderful people. We socialise together and have a good time when we’re together. I really thank God for them. Without good staff, this project would be non-existent. I went to church with some of the guys this morning – Easter Sunday in Renk! It was lovely. They had two or three different tribes singing in their own language. The children did a song. The preacher went on too long… a typical Easter Sunday church services I believe J It’s good to know it’s the same the world over.
Well, I’m going to try and go to sleep again…hopefully….
Trust you’re all well. Take care
becks
HAPPY EASTER!!
I’ve never known heat like this. It’s up into the 40’s…over 40°C!! The sweat just pours off you. But it’s not completely unbearable…somehow. I think it’s because it’s a dry heat, not humid like it gets in the UK. You just don’t go out of a building here between the hours of 11:00-15:00…seriously. Even the Sudanese people are complaining about how hot it is - something I never expected. My arms are getting nice and brown, but my legs…they’re so white still – they kinda glow in the dark! You don’t need a torch when my white legs are around J Yeah, sorry Mum, just cause I’m in Sudan, it doesn’t mean I’m wearing skirts more…still living and dying in trousers! Grandma did always say I should have been born a boy.
So yeah, getting back to the heat thing…we’ve been sleeping outside, which is lovely. Felt a bit disorientated the first time I slept out; waking up in the middle of the night to a black sky and stars took me a bit by surprise. It’s fab though. The stars here are beautiful and the moon is so bright. Still unbelievably hot, even at this time (it’s 23:00 and I can’t sleep – too hot). We have MosDomes – which are dome tents, but with mosquito-net lining. So no, not much use in the UK; I’d get pretty wet.
Things here are going ok though…lots of work as we don’t have a logistician, so having to design latrines (with lots of help), finalise the bills of quantities, procure materials, order materials…and the quantities are all different as each school latrine we’re doing seems to be different somehow. Also, some households only require a 2m brick lining, while others need a 3m lining…oh the cement, bricks, iron bars, zinc sheeting, sand, gravel etc we’ve ordered… Spent the day off-loading 25 tons of cement, together with iron bars, zinc sheeting, binding wire, marina (timber), lime…it was actually really good fun. So enjoyed it and the guys I work with are fab. I don’t think the local Sudanese villagers had seen a girl doing this sort of work though – offloading marina and iron bars etc. I drew the line at carrying a bag of cement though…they weigh 50Kg!! Being out in the field rocks…the office and paper-work sucks. But unfortunately it has to be done…[sigh].
With regards to water, we’ve finished constructing three hafirs (like reservoirs, but are depressions dug in places where the relief of the land means water naturally flows to in the rainy season, basically the lowest point in that area. We’re currently finishing off the fourth. So that’s good. Unfortunately the water quality in these hafirs is not good, but the water table in these places is so deep that drilling a borehole is practically impossible. Would be interesting to know how deep the average borehole is in the UK…especially the Water Company ones. Any information greatly appreciated; send your answers on the back of a postcard or stuck-down envelope…
So yeah, that’s me. Need to order gravel, sand, mortor, ventilation pipes, paint, mesh wire and the iron work (doors, windows, moulds etc) this week…as well as somehow getting cement to Shemodi and Kilo 15 without spending money…you have to pay the community to onload and offload materials, which is a bit of a problem as I didn’t include that in my budget…oops. I also have the Tearfund North Sudan Programme Director coming to visit this week, so most of my time will be taken up entertaining him…as well as finding time to order the materials, write up what I’m doing, make sure things are moving, getting contracts signed with the masons, making sure all the households understand what they need to do for their latrines…and writing a list of things for all my guys to do when I’m away. Yeah!! I finally got my exit visa!!
God has been so faithful. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work for me. The masons I’ve hired are wonderful and will do a great job at managing the project I’m sure. I have great staff in the office with me. They’re just all wonderful people. We socialise together and have a good time when we’re together. I really thank God for them. Without good staff, this project would be non-existent. I went to church with some of the guys this morning – Easter Sunday in Renk! It was lovely. They had two or three different tribes singing in their own language. The children did a song. The preacher went on too long… a typical Easter Sunday church services I believe J It’s good to know it’s the same the world over.
Well, I’m going to try and go to sleep again…hopefully….
Trust you’re all well. Take care
becks
It’s February already!
Wow! Thanks for the message. You're wonderful! I can't believe you made the effort to get online for me! I love you so much! So very much!
I'm fine thank you. It's not easy here though. There are days when life is so hard. Too much to do, not enough time to do it in, but everything takes so long and you don't achieve what you want in the time you have. Not enough hours. Is hard being the only white person, but it's ok. Don't want you to think I'm complaining all the time and i'm miserable. Because I'm not. The communities I get to work with are wonderful, and in a way, being white helps. Everyone says i'm very social and seem to get people onside, which is good. It's days like that which make it worth everything.
Just wish I knew what I was doing. I know God is being good to me though as some of the stuff on my workplan has been taken out, and Medair (the other Christian NGO I was going to work for) are in our area, which means I don't have to work there. Can hopefully learn from them too. Have a meeting with them on Friday 9th.
Am still not sleeping, but amazingly I'm not tired. I don't understand that. Has to be God.
But things are good. Feel I get on better with the National staff rather than the two Kenyan people I live with, but like today, we had a good time, and they're teaching me to cook (Abigail - Kenyan girl).
It's all good! I hope you're well. Sorry for rambling on.
Miss you all lots.
Love you
b xx
Wow! Thanks for the message. You're wonderful! I can't believe you made the effort to get online for me! I love you so much! So very much!
I'm fine thank you. It's not easy here though. There are days when life is so hard. Too much to do, not enough time to do it in, but everything takes so long and you don't achieve what you want in the time you have. Not enough hours. Is hard being the only white person, but it's ok. Don't want you to think I'm complaining all the time and i'm miserable. Because I'm not. The communities I get to work with are wonderful, and in a way, being white helps. Everyone says i'm very social and seem to get people onside, which is good. It's days like that which make it worth everything.
Just wish I knew what I was doing. I know God is being good to me though as some of the stuff on my workplan has been taken out, and Medair (the other Christian NGO I was going to work for) are in our area, which means I don't have to work there. Can hopefully learn from them too. Have a meeting with them on Friday 9th.
Am still not sleeping, but amazingly I'm not tired. I don't understand that. Has to be God.
But things are good. Feel I get on better with the National staff rather than the two Kenyan people I live with, but like today, we had a good time, and they're teaching me to cook (Abigail - Kenyan girl).
It's all good! I hope you're well. Sorry for rambling on.
Miss you all lots.
Love you
b xx
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