Having recently returned from working in Africa I’ve been thinking about time. A lot. In my last post I wrote about a great Utne Reader article called Our Schedules, Our Selves: Are you more important than your appointment book? by Jay Walljasper. Accompanying Jay’s article is a bold headline … [Read more...] about This thing called time part 2
This thing called time
Coming back from working in Africa for a month I’ve been thinking about time a lot. A lot. Time flowed thicker there. I was swept up in its meandering current. I delighted in its unpredictability. Slipping back into the stream at home in Canada I observe myself getting annoyed if someone takes … [Read more...] about This thing called time
How old are your ideals?
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind… Nobody grows old by merely a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. (Poet Samuel Ullman, from his poem 'Youth', as quoted in Gods and Soldiers, the Penguin Anthology of Contemporary African Writing.) How old are your ideals? For … [Read more...] about How old are your ideals?
Musings on Africa; cookie dough, screech owls, bumper cars & matatus
Back in chilly, wet Vancouver. Remembering. Recent musings from Africa. I watched some weaverbirds making nests while running on the treadmill the other morning. Picking up twigs from the children's playground they industriously wove them together. I marvel that they make 5-6 nests for every … [Read more...] about Musings on Africa; cookie dough, screech owls, bumper cars & matatus
Lulled to sleep in a mosquito net
Enroute home from Nairobi to Vancouver. I’ve switched one cocoon (mosquito net encased bed) for another (airplane). Sleeping within a mosquito net is like: -   going to bed in a fairy’s nest -   entering a butterfly’s silken home -   entering a den of cotton candy -   being free and cocooned … [Read more...] about Lulled to sleep in a mosquito net
I believe in hope
Tomorrow I leave Nairobi for home. As I get ready for the 24 hour marathon journey a pause to think about my time here....... I believe that hope has a home. It lives in small places, fanned by the winds of change. I believe that hope is our compass. Without it we’re lost in the muddy quagmire … [Read more...] about I believe in hope
Change management: Alice in Wonderland with chicken legs or wings
We had been working on designing a survey for youth who had taken part in training at the One Stop Youth Centre. I was working in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last week doing follow-up to the program evaluation training I did in Naivasha for the United Nations. Dar es Salaam means ‘haven of peace’ in … [Read more...] about Change management: Alice in Wonderland with chicken legs or wings
From my first African nocturnal visitor to my first Blog post
Here’s to firsts. First kiss. First car, first job, first love. From the first time you triumphed, and the first time you surprised yourself to the first time you left home (and the first time you came back). First time you crashed and burned. First time you discovered your passion. And here’s … [Read more...] about From my first African nocturnal visitor to my first Blog post
