Woke up once again at 2:30 am by the barking of the next door dog named lucky, could not hold my irritation anymore and needed to speak my mind. My complaint was confronted with laughter by the owner. I also ended up agreeing to be the dog watch of Lucky (the dogs name) this weekend. I love animals and wherever I go I end up finding at least one animal to feed and care upon. Whether it is stray dogs in Sri Lanka, or cows in India, or cats and goats in Indonesia. So not to my surprise the dog now went from becoming an irritation to becoming my new found pet. When he sees me he either tries to hump me or lick me all over. Well, well, the complaint did not work as expected in Africa, and the barking continues. I often get a lack of sleep but I have still never felt this rested in my whole life. It is hard to explain other than saying that something is happening within my mind and soul after just one week. I feel more awake and take great pleasure in waking up early in the mornings (Which for those who know me is never the case otherwise). I start of the day at seven, have a cold shower since my hot water does not work and then go to the office. The daily devotions held in the mornings are so inspiring. Imagine starting of the morning with a discussion about life and God. Heavy stuff you might think, but it is liberating and edifying. Today we spoke of heavy burdens and loads in life and how it is a joy to place it in God’s hands and start the morning with a fresh start and bright mind set. Whatever one’s view might be about religion it is nevertheless a comforting way of starting the day.
Today at work, five staff members were missing. One of the staff members mother had died and the others joined as emotional support. Siri told me that there are constantly funerals here and that so many join, even though they did not know the deceased. But one person’s mama here is also considered to be another ones mama. In Europe this would never be accepted. What can one do other than smile about it?
Most members of ADRA are Adventist. The reason for my master research does not only lie in an exploring an interesting topic of how an Adventist faith based organization operates but also for personal curiosity on how Adventist view and live life in practice. I have had some preset notions that when I arrive here I will be drawn into a bunch of must and don’ts. However lately I have wished upon having a change which goes against my own routine based life style. In Europe my mindset and conversations with friends are concerning what the next achievement will be, the next prosperity, the next travel and maybe the next relationship if the current one is not in our appreciation. All topics have been in adherence with an individualistic mindset constantly promoting the next step of what is aspired in life. Lately I just wanted to get away from the next step and stay still for a while. Standing still for me just means acknowledging the present and taking it into heart and mind. I have realized that when I travel abroad I am much better at paying more attention to the present. Something I realized is that the Adventist people I have encountered here so far also adhere more to the present than the next step. They recognize that they might never know if the next step ever comes. This is not only due to living conditions but because they have a different interpretation of the content of life. In Uganda standing still has become an everyday reality and I love that feeling. Today we had an open fire and Siri brought out the guitar and sang. I lay down on the grass and looked up at orions belt. I asked myself, when was the last time I just took a moment to look up at the stars without heading somewhere else?
My days are currently filled with going through the policy reports of ADRA. The staff members are still a bit suspicious about my intent of being here and see me as a journalist. They have questioned Thore of my presence and have asked for a draft of what I will be writing about. Reputation is of high value to the ADRA organization and I did expect something like this would arise. However a few have opened up. Though not as I expected. I had a long conversation with the secretary Sarah. We spent a few minutes on my research questions and the following hour was devoted to speaking about her child who died last year at the age of two. He had a lever failure but was admitted to a neurosurgeon, who was the wrong person for the wrong task. Furthermore she did not have enough of money for a transplant. She said that when he passed away she did not shed a tear but got strength from God to make it through the pain. She wanted me to read the detailed report of her son’s death and explain why it happened. I read through the letter and it was truly heart breaking. I sent her a comforting letter but had no answer to her question. It surprises me how much easier it is to get to the heart of these people but not to the surface. They trust me with their life stories but not with their working circumstances. I can not say I have a problem with it, but it is just different. I do think that when I am able to go on field missions with some of the development workers, a trust will be established. I was hoping to go on missions this week, but due to the elections we are not able to go anywhere.
This Friday the elections in Uganda will be held, and everybody is concerned of the riots and gang violence that might break out. They say, “This is Africa, there is always bloodshed here” Three women just outside our flat were almost strangled. Even though the people are very concerned about the growing tension here, I on the other hand am not that concerned. I was in Sri Lanka during election time, and there too people were scared that riots might break out. However it never really did. This might be influencing my calm composer when facing the elections, or maybe it is just merely the fact that it is not Friday yet. Whatever happens, it happens. Moreover, 50 members from the police force will be occupying the ADRA compound. This might be a comforting announcement but, it is not. The police gave ADRA no choice. They just said they will be here, and stay in a big tent during the election. The reason for this is that the ADRA compound is on top of a hill and has an overview of the city. In case something would happen the police believe they can act fast due to the location. However this makes ADRA the target. If riots break out and the gangs are displeased with the elected government they do not necessarily flee the police. Instead they can strike against them since they are the armor of the government. But, like I said, we will see… it is not Friday yet.
