in the equation of my life here in the Bwabwata
Game Reserve. In fact the character's name is Spinner
and he is the resident dog at the mission. He is chief
notifier of intruders and even more of a chow hound.
I like the fact that this is the first dog named Spinner that
I've ever encountered and I am admitting that I really
like the name. Why Spinner ... don't know.
It has been another week in the life and yesterday was
a nine year anniversary of the beginning of this trek in
life that has led me from El Salvador to Senegal, Romania
and now Namibia. The memories are many and some as
heart warming as can be and other as intense as can be.
But it isn't over and there is more on the horizon and I
am still looking through anticipating eyes.
What began as a tremendously slow week ended up on
an upside.That's how this always seems to go, one time
frame, activity to beat the band. Another, activity in
the minus column. So, one young man came to me with
interest in beginning a little theater group. It looks like
it will address social issues as it's main objective.
Looks promising and also this morning another young
man approached me with interest in a debating club.
Another really good opportunity and as they came to
me, they could be the more motivated ones revealing
themselves.
Also, decided to get the old body moving and began
jogging/running again. I did this in Romania and it was
a nice place for that sort of activity. Here, it is of course
different and it is more running through beach sand in
95 degree weather. It isn't so bad at it is a dry heat and
have found that I sweat less here at 95 degrees than
I did in Romania at 80. But it's still hot and it is also
running through sand out in the bush. So. it should
be a good training area.
Almost forgot that we are one day away from doubling
the actual gardening area in the support group's garden.
Yeah, the expansion sat there in limbo for about a month
and all of a sudden a flurry of activity and we are
knocking on the doorstep of progress.
This expansion wasn't without some drama as a few of
the village leaders went over to the nurse at the clinic
(the person responsible for the garden project) and
mentioned that they would go to the police because
she expanded the garden without their 2 cents.
What this is also about is money. What happened last
year was that the chairman of the group took the
money that the group accrued. So what we had
to do was devise a new way of managing this without
the temptation of the money hanging around. We did
this by privatizing and there is no money in a pot. It is
everyone is their own little entrepreneur and it has
worked like a charm. People have trust in the system
and so much so that we have to double the space.
What the leaders wanted was to know who was holding
the group's money. Why do they need to know that?
The nurse thinks is that they would approach that
person and pressure them into giving them a loan that
they have no intention to pay back
But we stopped them jokers with the new managing
strategy, there is nothing to take.
It's the same story throughout villages like this (well at
least the villages I've lived over the last 9 years) where
there is this person or group that will ruin any threat
of progress by these types of money taking schemes.
This is where my experience came in and I knew to
make it 'money taking proof'. You have to have money
in a location for it to be taken, isn't it so?
Ha, who's the sap in the end?
Well, on that note, it's time to end this article here and go
give Spinner some chow.
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