Working Toward a Perfect Weekend

David and Oren climbing on a 'dinosaur fossil' at Cercle Hippique.

I am admittedly late to report on the past week, which is surprising considering the leisurely pace of the weekend and the number of interesting events, but I think I was just enjoying the bliss of a perfect Sunday evening too much to want to  step out of the immediacy of the experience to the greater challenge of making it all into a coherent whole in prose.

I do not enjoy the actual act of writing, but I do enjoy 'having written' and I like having this kind of intentional reflection as a kind of regular weekly discipline, especially when it all seems to come together in a way that surprises me.  

The weekend as I mentioned stands out among the best I have had in Burundi.  So why not start with dessert today.  We had a fairly busy and ambitious week with both Rebecca and I taking turns at separate difficult responsibilites on our work days.  So the weekend was a very welcome opportunity to regroup.  Instead of 'relaxing' though, we had made plans the week prior to host one of our 'contradance' parties at our house.  This is a fairly ambitious project as it involves cleaning and tidying the entire house for guests, preparing some food (even though it is a potluck) and clearing all of the furniture out of living room and putting it on the porch so that our living room becomes a makeshift dance hall.  We invited all of the usual suspects as well as some new friends (the McKenzie's) among others and expected about 40 people counting children.  

On Saturday morning after yoga which we did at a friends' house, we went home to face the daunting task of preparing.  Yolanda was down from Gitega and Janelle our SALTer was there too so we did have some help.  We were ready at about the moment the first guests arrived.  We did have a very nice group including Astrid and Travis' famiiy, Thomas and Naja's family, the McKenzie's, Bela and Nina's family, as well as many other individuals.  It was a really fun evening with great food and great dancing!  That was a pleasant surprise as we are seeing the results of past experience paying off.  After starting off with "Cotton Eye Joe" (an icebreaker) we did a progressing circle and then square dance that became increasingly complex.  We ended of course with the Virginia Reel.  People seemed even more into the dancing than they have been in the past.  

Rebecca and I got to bed about 10 an hour after we had cleaned up the last spills and put back all the furniture.  We felt really satisfied and grateful for having such a an enjoyable community to be part of.

Sunday started similarly in that a great effort was required on our (my) part. I had been invited to preach at our church BICC. ( I mentioned this last week.)  I was honored to be asked but was intimidated by the topic that was assigned:  Christian Giving.  I had mentioned last week that this seemed particularly challenging to engage cross-culturally as we have very different assumptions and expectations about giving in our respective cultures.  But since we are together in an international church setting it seemed like a worthy challenge.  I used the story of the widow's mite as a take off point to about why, how much, and how we should give as a community of a newly formed church.  

The feedback I got was that the message was well received but very challenging to hear.  I did challenge the church to own its financial responsibilities and not look to foreign donors or missions to support the maintenance and salary needs of the church.  Since that is the case at the moment it will mean the congregation would need to take on the burden with a more systematic collection of offerings based on pledges.  ( not done now.)

I particularly challenged ex-patriates to consider their role in the church, especially those, like me who are here for several or more years.  "Where are you giving now?"  I asked.  "Are you like me, caught between your home and this place but not pledged to support either one?"  In 'tithing limbo' as it were.  Many as it turns out are just in that place.

But I also challenged Burundians to see themselves not as poor, but as capable, together of supporting a church independently of foreign money.

The testimony that most impressed them though was when I told how I had been invited to preach at the church of one of our workers at our house.  He lives in a very poor quartier (Kanyosha) and I don't think any of the members of that church would have made a tenth of my salary.  I did accept the offer to preach there and the message was well received.  But after the service the pastor took up a love offering for me! A rich mzungu!  And they gave me the money collected.  (This was after the regular offering.)  I told our church that I accepted it with humility and in awe of the act.  Instead of seeing themselves as impoverished I felt they saw themselves as having even more than they need.  I am so used to being asked by everyone for money that it completely floored me to see those with so little ask me for nothing, but give me something instead.  I concluded by remarking that that church was financially independent as well.

After church it was great to feel that we could really enjoy an afternoon as a family and after a leisurely lunch we went to Club du Lac Tanganyika and swam in the lake for several hours together.  Oren and David both love to play in the waves and to try to stand on my shoulders.  The weather and water were perfect.  We ended the afternoon with dinner by the Lake watching the sun set over the mountains of Congo.  It was a perfect evening and that night Rebecca and I agreed that it was one of the best weekends we have had here.  

Backing up to the work week that preceded this I will say that it started out normally enough.  We did take both kids to school as usual at 7:30 am but were a bit non-plussed to find David's teacher was out sick and was not expected back for more than a week.  All the children were left with a single teacher's aid.  We felt that this was too much responsibility for one person and raised the issue with La Directrice.  She explained that it was hard to get a quick substitute here and did not feel that much could be done immediately.

We did leave David there with some consternation, but feeling that we would have to trust that the responsible teacher's aid would be able to manage this situation temporarily.

Work on Monday for me involved prep-work for a 2 day conference on Planning and Monitoring by one of our back donors (CFGB).  I was going with one of our partners who receives a grant from them to better understand the process.  We had a pre-meeting with the facilitator Akililu (a Kenyan from Canada) at the office of our partner Help Channel Burundi that took most of the day.

I came home beat but prepared for 2 more long days of meetings.

Lunchbreak at the conference.

On Tuesday and Wednesday it was as I expected.  The conference involved CFGB partners from all over Central Africa so we had people coming from DRC, Zambia, Uganda, and Rwanda to join us.  (About 25 in all).  I really enjoyed starting each day with a morning devotional, singing, and a prayer.  It was striking to see all of these highly trained development and agricultural specialists ready to engage in technical conversations beginning with worship.  A reminder that the motivation to do this work here usually goes beyond professionalism.  There needs to be a heart and passion to be willing to work in this context and bring ones professional skills to bear here.  It was inspiring to me see this level of profesionalism following a vision guided by faith.

The 2 days of meetings though were fairly dry but certainly had value for those of us working with CFGB in terms of understanding their reporting guidelines.  (In case anyone is surprised, I can assure you the life of a modern missionary can be far more about results based management and logframe analysis rather than smuggling Bibles through the jungle.)  That is because for many of us, our witness to the Gospel is expressed in our efforts to accompany those in the majority world to overcome injustice, scarcity and other issues that keep them imprisoned in physical and spiritual poverty.  

I was glad to have a break after 3 full days of such meetings and on Thursday Rebecca and I reversed roles.  We had partnership meetings and other issues to deal with in Gitega so she agreed to do that trip while I stayed in Bujumbura with the kids and took them school and stayed home with them in the afternoons.

Here is her report of her time in Gitega:

During the first part of the week, Paul was really involved in hosting a visitor from CFGB and attending the M&E Workshop. So, I and the kids made independent plans for the beginning of the week. One afternoon, Oren and David got to go play with their friends Emily and Becca. It was very impressive to see how their mom had gotten a local carpenter to construct a playground set in their garden, with all local materials. It had a platform (castle, boat, etc…) with two swings on each side. More items will be added. While we were there, their gardener was constructing a chicken house underneath said play house. The chickens were a gift from the carpenter himself, presumably as thanks for receiving so much employment-- and encouragement for more jobs!

Another afternoon, I took new Bujumbura resident Danika out to explore more obscure shopping places which Oren was in afternoon school. We buy rice in bulk in the Quartier Asiatique, usually fairly good stuff rom Tanzania that is quite cheap. But this time the cheapest rice was from…the USA! The shopkeeper told me that it was food aid that was now being sold in the market. I've heard that often our government dumps low quality grain in countries like Burundi, ostensibly to benefit the people, but it actually allows the local government to sell this grain to get money. The major downside of this policy is that our low quality (subsidized) grain undercuts the prices that poor local farmers could get for their own grain. So, these are the things we see as we go shopping around here. I also took her to the Italian butchery (location of good dog food meat) and pointed out the best private hospital.

On Wednesday, the boys and I went to visit my German friend Tanja in the afternoon. Her son is in Oren's class and they enjoyed climbing a big mango tree together. Unfortunately, Nils is a better tree climber than Oren, and was able to swing down and jump from a semi-high location. Oren didn't feel comfortable following him -- I guess I'm glad he knows his limits. We ended up bringing a ladder to get Oren down. Later all four boys went to play in the mud behind the house -- the joys of rainy season! Tanja let me give David a bath before we went home.

On Thursday morning, I was the one taking a work trip up to the town of Gitega, about two hours away. I decided to take a taxi up there --  that is, a station wagon carrying at least 4 or maybe 5 passengers (4 in the back seat) and lots of cargo in the trunk. It's the way that our service workers get around, and it's a lot cheaper than driving up myself, and I wanted to leave the car with Paul. But it is nerve-wracking to be at the mercy of a driver one doesn't know. I prayed a lot in preparation for this trip, and did my best (with the help of a local guy) to find a chauffeur who would agree to drive slowly. It wasn't too bad, honestly. And once in Gitega, I was very glad to be a pedestrian.

Gitega has a really nice, small town feel. I can walk from the two farthest points of meeting partners within 20 minutes. It has a cooler climate than Bujumbura with lots of big old trees. My first assignment was to help our service worker Yolanda discern what to do about her housing situation for the next two years. She felt that she wanted to have more opportunity to meet people and go visiting in the evenings with Burundian friends. But her current house was too out of the way, and she ended up spending lots of nights alone, feeling quite isolate. So she had just found a small apartment that was available. It was not as nice as her current place in my opinion, but she was excited about living more simply on the level of her colleagues and having more of a local social life. She really is trying to practice the MCC value of solidarity. In the decision-making process, we consulted a number of people including Yolanda's colleagues. They are truly a wonderful, motivated group of Burundians, working hard to make a difference in their country. Yolanda really appreciates working with them and joking around with them, and I enjoyed the opportunity to be in their orbit. 

In the morning, I met again with Yolanda's supervisor to do a mid-term evaluation of Yolanda. It's great to evaluate someone who is doing well in their position, who is appreciated and making a good contribution, and who is requesting to stay and serve even longer. I had another meeting with another partner, who is trying to catch up on an AIDS education project that got delayed by the printer (Paul will tell that story). It was good to talk with them also, and see how their organization MI-PAREC is growing in maturity. They will celebrate their 15 year anniversary this coming week, and MCC was very involved in the inception of that peace and reconciliation organization during the Burundi civil war. 

Later that afternoon, Yolanda and I helped write the contract for her new apartment. Then we found a taxi to take us back to Bujumbura. This time, the two of us were sandwiched in the back seat between two men. We were really rolling local style. One of the men was a doctor with Doctors without Borders. He was very engaging and funny, and seemed to be someone who could help connect Yolanda to other expat medical people at their project in GItega. He is an extension officer for a new project in Gitega which provides care and treatment for women with fistulas. They are really reaching out to the most marginalized and disadvantaged women and giving them a new lease on life. 

I think the visit for me was a bit of an opportunity to practice solidarity myself, at least solidarity with one of our volunteers. I enjoyed feeling more a part of things, speaking more of my limited Kirundi than usual, and not rolling in a big 4x4. There is a balance between security and immersion, but I think on this occasion, it was the right choice to travel low-budget. It's good to get out of the office and a bit away from the administrative work and closer to the work on the ground from time to time. 

Paul again: 

photo by Oren

During Rebecca's absence the boys were extremely well behaved.  (They knew Daddy was going to struggle alone) and were very willing to observe their normal routines.  The highlight was Thursday afternoon when we went to Cercle Hippique, the colonial era stables and riding fields where they still have horses and European riding lessons.  David and Oren joined their friends Jonah and Milo (Bela and Nina's kids).  Nina was also out of town upcountry (she works for a German development agency, so Bela and I had a man play-date with our sons.  After riding at Cercle Hippique we went out for soft-serve icecream at the one place in Burundi where it is avaiable.  And it was actually open and the electricity was on so there was icecream available!!!!

So that is pretty much the week from both of our perspectives.  This week is not much different in terms of division of labor.  She will be in Rwanda for several days then I will go to Gitega at the end of the week for my speech.  Oops, I am going to be late to get Oren from afternoon school.  Until next week...