Second Start

After nearly 2 and a half months away, we see our return as a second start.  This time, we know a ton more about what we are getting into- a bonus.  We also compared the current state of our partner organizations and the state of the community with how things were when we arrived in Najile April 2012.  We were pleasantly surprised.  I have to admit, we wondered if some of the work in our area of influence would come to a slow stall, but we found that some great steps forward took place. A board finally re-organized and held elections to bring themselves into compliance with their constitution. Another organization's manager followed-through and arranged his board's training. Our project manager for the MCC project went above and beyond and finished the first year of trainings with a flourish that you can read about in the previous two posts.

Dry season.  Hopefully next rains the passion vine will bear fruit.

Now it is our chance to come up with a strategic plan for our work and life in our final year and a half here in Najile. Suddenly it seems short. We are pondering what we want to do on a personal level, those artifacts we want to obtain, those trainings we want to share, those mountains we want to climb, those particular relationships we want to deepen, those habits we want to develop, the moments here that we want to treasure, etc before we finish our term.

When we were home, we talked with my aunt who has worked for years in international development in various capacities.  We gained some insights for tweaking our approach to capacity building with our partners.

She also asked us a question to encourage us as we return to a challenging place to live and work- it went something like this: What do you enjoy doing in Najile that you can't do in the U.S?  One of my immediate answers was that I like not getting mail at our house.  We have no bills, advertisements or junk mail creating piles to sort, recycle or shred each day. Secondly, I told her that I love the simplicity of life. We have fewer things that we use to live here. Perhaps it is from years of living with what I could pack in my car, or living out of a backpack for many days out of a year as a wilderness instructor- I just feel more peaceful with less stuff to manage.

Going from one world to another is a surreal experience- neither the two shall meet. In some ways its good to be back; it feels like normal life again. But in other ways, it feels different. We no longer live with a constant ear for the phone in case my dad would take a turn for the worse. We kept our emergency departure box always ready and with us. But now there's grieving to wade through in the midst of this world that rolls along with little knowledge of our distant world or the experiences we've been through there.

Back in the other world of Pennsylvania's verdant summer, keeping the yard mowed and raked.