LIFE support...
I wanted to take a few minutes and send out an update of how everything is going here, in addition to the Mid-Term Medical update I sent out a few days ago.
LIFE 2005 (nine of us left in country, one was absent) had a lunch meeting with the new Country Director of Zambia (CD/PCZ). She wanted to meet us and simply talk to us: who we are, our concerns, any questions about her, etc. - it was great. She served in Botswana and Costa Rica and was just previously the CD of Guatemala. Elizabeth and I have talked about the shortcoming and failings of our program and were glad to hear the 6 others echo our sentiments. Unfortunately, LIFE's Assistant Program Country Director (APCD), along with the other programs APCDs, were in South Africa so we were not able to have this discussion with him. Aspects of LIFE are simply not working in the bush, for all of us, and our APCD doesn't seem to acknowledge that. The CD is open and willing to re-evaluate anything that would correct any problems and we are hoping to continue this discussion with our APCD during our In-Service Training (IST) in December. Some letters from home have been encouragements that "of course this wouldn't be easy". Thank you, yes, but it's more than just difficult... it's failure of communications, partnerships & support. With any luck this will begin to be remedied in the coming years. Eliza and I had a private Copperbelt meeting with the CD to follow-up the lunch meeting. The CD expressed concern with our situation and worried at my decision to remain at my village instead of shifting to a different province. I reassured her that I will be okay for the following year in my current situation, however it's good to know she has our best interests at heart.
It was good to talk with the other LIFErs and have an open CD that wants to hear about everything. We walked away with a better understanding and I know that I could go to her if I ever needed to in the future, the last CD was a bit different.
That's all, but I did want to throw this out there for family and friends who read this blog and write. nathan
LIFE 2005 (nine of us left in country, one was absent) had a lunch meeting with the new Country Director of Zambia (CD/PCZ). She wanted to meet us and simply talk to us: who we are, our concerns, any questions about her, etc. - it was great. She served in Botswana and Costa Rica and was just previously the CD of Guatemala. Elizabeth and I have talked about the shortcoming and failings of our program and were glad to hear the 6 others echo our sentiments. Unfortunately, LIFE's Assistant Program Country Director (APCD), along with the other programs APCDs, were in South Africa so we were not able to have this discussion with him. Aspects of LIFE are simply not working in the bush, for all of us, and our APCD doesn't seem to acknowledge that. The CD is open and willing to re-evaluate anything that would correct any problems and we are hoping to continue this discussion with our APCD during our In-Service Training (IST) in December. Some letters from home have been encouragements that "of course this wouldn't be easy". Thank you, yes, but it's more than just difficult... it's failure of communications, partnerships & support. With any luck this will begin to be remedied in the coming years. Eliza and I had a private Copperbelt meeting with the CD to follow-up the lunch meeting. The CD expressed concern with our situation and worried at my decision to remain at my village instead of shifting to a different province. I reassured her that I will be okay for the following year in my current situation, however it's good to know she has our best interests at heart.
It was good to talk with the other LIFErs and have an open CD that wants to hear about everything. We walked away with a better understanding and I know that I could go to her if I ever needed to in the future, the last CD was a bit different.
That's all, but I did want to throw this out there for family and friends who read this blog and write. nathan
posted by nathan at 04:48
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