Watch the Walk

Smile for the camera! So, as I left the story, the meeting was over and we all went home. But the saga continued... See, I showed up for the first class session to find this student "sitting in wait" for me outside. Student: "Teacher, there's a problem." Me: "Oh? What's the problem?" Student: "The administrator said I could go to class, but I just went in and my name isn't on the list." Me: "Okay, and what should I do?" Student: "Are you okay for me to go to class?" Me: "Are you sure the administrator agreed that you could go to class?" Student: "Yes, he said it's okay." Me: "If he agreed then I have no problem. He's in charge of the class list." So we entered the class. I tried to include the student from the start, so as not to stigmatize him from the rest of the class. During the first group practice time, however, the administrator pulled me aside. "Abby, we have a pro...

Goofing off with a little friend It all started with a solar panel. Because of the power situation on the island and students preferring late afternoon/evening classes, at least half of our classes taught at this particular school are done shrouded in darkness. The administrator has done an excellent job of keeping battery-powered light bars charged and available for class use, but they're nothing compared to an actual light fixture in the classroom. So he suggested investing in a solar panel. The group of administrators also agreed that it was an excellent idea. We're volunteer teachers, so the money wouldn't come from us. What students pay for the class mostly goes towards books, CDs, and the final certificate ceremony, so the leftover funds would be insufficient to buy a solar panel, inverter, and a battery. We were just meeting before classes started to talk details-- an orientation, if you will -- all three levels, together with administrators and teachers. He mentione...

Mt. Kilimanjaro from the air Imagine you're reaching into a bag. In the bag are a variety of shapes, in four different colors. Each color has a unique texture, but only slightly. Now you've got to reach into the bag and pull out a yellow star. Hopefully you're not reaching into this bag... If you've been pulling out yellow items all day, your fingers and brain know what texture to be feeling for. If, however, you've been pulling out green items all day, your fingers might think (at least for a moment) that the blue star is the right texture and that's what you pull out instead. "Mana ntrini ulaguao tan rapido?" "J'ai compri muy mashteku." And herein lies the problem of Spanglish, or Spanench, Franchani, or whatever-language combinations. You know any number of languages, but sometimes the first word that comes out of the bag is the right shape but the wrong color/texture. So you reach into your bag trying to get the French wo...

I visited an elephant orphanage! I'm heading back to the islands day after tomorrow. It's been a good and much-needed break. During this break I participated in a set of evaluation meetings, a conference, a retreat, and finally reached VACATION. Now, some vacations I travel and see things, but for this vacation I decided to just take it easy. So for the last while I've been hanging out at a guest house, visiting with people (workers on their way to or from something), watching movies, and reading. I like reading. Reading draws you into others' worlds and experiences, broadening perspectives and delighting the soul. During this vacation, besides reading some novels for absolute relaxation, I've dived back into an old favorite, Desiring God , by John Piper. It's such a great read, I think instead of reading the rest of this post you should just go buy the book and explore its depths for yourself. But in case you don't have time for that or want to do a little ...

Me and a good friend/language helper "I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content." This isn't really an island value. Most people are either apathetic or dreaming of getting away or getting rich. And something I've learned (and am still learning) is that contentment has nothing to do with circumstances and everything to do with attitude. I can have every toy I dream of and be discontent. I can have nothing but food and shelter and be content. It has nothing to do with have and have-not, but rather with trusting the Father who only gives good gifts. Right now I'm off the island with access to many things and I've found strangely that I've grown in contentment. The last time I left Clove Island I wanted to buy everything. Corn chips makes life better. Good quality coffee makes life better. LIES! Jsus makes life better. During the last few weeks on island I started running into this particular taxi driver who surprised me in his lack of desire ...

"We need a champion." Well , that could be me. "We need an islander who will champion this project." Well that's not me. As much as I work to become an insider in the culture and a belonger , I'm not someone who's planning on being buried here. Yet. One of those "principles of development" that everyone working on a development project needs to recognize is that the leader/instigator/main inspiration person must be (or become) a long-termer in the community. And anyone who is not planning on being buried there is not the right person.  This week I was able to help facilitate island brothers and sisters in creating their own worship music. We walked away with three songs in the local language put to local music. They're not the best songs ever... but this is a first attempt. And if the only thing we accomplished was to show the delight of local worship music... well it's enough. Because if someone delights in it then they might catch a ...

Day three we knew what we were doing. After the typical African start time "Remember everyone: 2 o'clock sharp!"... meaning 2:30 that we really got going... we sang through the completed song from the day before and then returned to the stop that we hadn't completed then. One person would start singing and another would carry the tune along. Eventually the words and melody came together, but we wanted to be sure that it would be a good song. Music geek time: some of the songs here change meter mid-song. When the islanders did that in the middle of this song (a rendition of Revelation 4:11) it was really messing with my ability to sing the song... So I asked "is this a good song? Will it be difficult to sing? Will lots of other people learn it easily? Can we change it so it's easier?" And to my surprise they said "this is easy! Don't worry! It will be easy to learn, we just have to work through it and be sure of the rhythm." And then the son...