Back in the heart of Africa

So here I am (I think that I start most of my blog like this, but what else would I say if I am writing about my own experiences and circumstances) here in the Governor’s house, awaiting my next appointment with him. Quick recap: As the President of SCHAP, I had the opportunity to meet with the Governor of a Nigerian State, Bayelsa, and was able to discuss with him the principles that I believe are critical for sustainable rural development. He invited me to come to his state to consult him/ work with him on some state sponsored development projects. So for the last four months, with the exception of my recent month trip home to San Diego, I have been here researching, developing, preparing and learning how to play the political game here in Nigeria. Why am I here? That is a very tricky question. As President of SCHAP I am away from my baby while it is in a very important growth stage. I remain here, however, because it is giving me a wonderful opportunity to become an expert in my field. I have learned more about development and about how to get things done here than I have in the years of reading books. Not only am I learning, but if/ when this project is officially accepted and passed, I will have an opportunity to be able to have relatively massive impact for good, and where those opportunities arise, I must go. Despite the militants and the kidnappings. Despite the headaches of working with “the system.” Despite the malaria and the opportunity cost and the people I have left at home and the terrible food and the man-eating pythons… I am here because there are few others, so if I was not working on poverty relief and community development here, who would be?

I flew in here on Monday and have spent the last couple days getting organized and calibrated. We have our logistics and made the connections that we need in order to precede. Hopefully this meeting that I am about to have will be a major culminating and telling experience in the progression of our project.

So guess what? Yesterday I made bread by myself for the first time of my life. I came here with very little money and provisions, so Nelson and I will be providing for ourselves: Oatmeal and some protein powder follows our early morning Yoga session… and then we spend the rest of the day salvaging food where we can and living off bars and fruit to stay sustained. At night we eat our loaf of bread with… oh wait, we eat it with nothing…haha..last night, dinner was bread and water. I love it though. I love to get in touch with circumstances that force me to think more about survival. We, as animals, which we are and often forget that we are, are designed to perpetually consider the various aspects of our own survival. While we are in America, we worry about car accidents or loosing our job, but rarely we have require the thought process that we need to consider in order to preserve our life between the people who look at you and see a handsome ransom, or the calorie counting that we do to make sure that we are getting the necessary building blocks of life on any given day.

How is Nelson doing? He is doing fine. He is a former missionary companion from my service in Toronto and he was my first companion in my very first travels to Africa. So, in many sense it feels like things are really coming full circle. He is well. He is loving the adventure. We have met some pretty interesting people and have had some interesting experiences and we are just getting warmed up. He is a good sport and a pleasure to be with. Although he just disappeared and I am not sure where he went. Hopefully he didn’t get snatched. ☺.

How long will I be here? Well, I brought about two months worth of provisions. I am going to pursue my research and the community workshops that I hope to commence soon for the next 60 days or so. By then I will either be on me way home, or we will have a funded project and I will be working around the clock to mobilize for and execute. Short answer: I don’t really know.

So while I am here I am learning and growing. I brought some awesome books and yoga DVD’s. I have a wonderful field to work in for continual and arms-reach research, so I am pretty much in Paradise in ways. Say a prayer for me that all will be well for my personal affairs at home and our project affairs and safety here. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will respond in my next post.

Godspeed.