Countdown

I realize that I have not written in a while. My apologies. After a couple frantic emails from home I decided to write something, if for no other reason than to let the world know I am a.o.k.

Life abroad looses it's sense of excitement and wonder after a short period of time - when life becomes routine. It is not that I am not enjoying my life here - quite the opposite - I have come to fall in love with the town, country, and people.

The consultant for phase II of the University's Strategic Plan arrived on Monday. We have been contracted by CIDE to assist the consultant develop the business plan for the strategic plan. As things go here - we had been emailed an itemized list of information required for the second stage of developing the plan weeks ago. Despite attempts to facilitate the process, none of the information was gathered by Friday and most of it is still MIA (part of the problem being that a lot of the information doesn't exist). The entire process of preparing for this stage was part in parcel with what I have been saying since phase I of the strategy plan....the culture of business in Rwanda or at NUR is such that it is not prepared to initiate a 12 project strategy plan for development. The reasons for this are....many....some examples are that the University is essentially controlled by the government of Rwanda - it is very centralized, nationalized, .... dare I say communized (is that a word?). Even if the business plan mandates the creation of a project management unit with newly hired staff, it is next to impossible to implement because a. all NUR staff are paid by the government b. these salaries are dependent on an organizational chart determined by the government. Any extra staff or departments must be paid for by the University. However, to accompany this problem is the fact that 90% of students are publicly funded. The university has very little income generation and are essentially dependent on the government and donors. The university is expecting a double cohort next year due to the first year of language studies being cut - but there is no funding formula that states if student enrollment increases so does government funding to the university. I could go on and on and on...The only plus is that the consultant has heard these issues and is hoping to initiate change in the university over the next three months that will facilitate the implementation of the Strategic plan in January. However, there is so much here that has to be addressed to make this plan work...Regardless, again - it has been an interesting experience and I look forward to learning more about the economic end of development - I think it could integrate well with my research on culture, education, and values.

I wrote a while ago about the old soul - the little girl I pass each day. I went a few weeks without seeing her, but much to my delight - we seem to have matched our timing again. Our interactions have become longer. Starting a week or two ago, whenever we crossed paths on the side of the road we both stopped - she would play with something like my ring, bracelet or a hook on my bag....there isn't much conversation...but last week...as she was walking towards me she opened her arms and came in for a big hug....tears immediately welled in my eyes. It felt like something very pure and innocent had reached out to me - almost like she was cleansing parts of my soul. One thing they forget to tell you about being "away"  is how much you will crave human contact.  This precious child seemed to reach out to me, as if she knew my soul needed to be reached out to. I really wish I could bottle the moment and pull it out for times when I feel alone, sad, or overwhelmed.  The thought of leaving Lulu in 10 days tears my heart apart. I think that of all I take with me from Rwanda - I will forever feel connected to her soul and she will always be a part of me. Below is a picture of Lulu - she is on the left.