Elephants, Giraffes and Shopping….OH MY!

IT WAS A GREAT BIRTHDAY IN AFRICA!!! HE has truly blessed me with the best teammates ever, so thankful! Girls took me to see baby elephants; yes I got to really touch them! J Then we went to the Giraffe center, had lunch, then I got to FEED a GIRAFFE!!! Can you BELIEVE IT! It was an amazing day with just that but afterward we went shopping! I know, just when ya think it can’t get any better..then shopping! I bought couple things and the team got me some things, I even got couple things free just because it was my BDAY! LOVE AFRICA!!! J The team has quickly learned how much I LOVE black and white, zebra print, so needless to say the jewelry they got me was perfect! To wrap up the day we had great dinner with some other workers and played some games.

We are leaving tomorrow for the Islands, VERY EXCITED!! We are all packed up yet again, hopefully for the last time for a while.  Please be on your knees for us, safe travels and for luggage to go through ok. We will be in a guest house for a week with some orientation stuff then doing our house stays for the next week. Hoping to be in our by the mid to end of March, can’t wait!

Photos by R n A

In effect starting… NOW:

If you don’t hear from me in the next 3 (+)ish months, this is why…

The Technological Fast
          When team members begin a team, we ask them to plan on going on a “techno” fast for the first three months.  This would entail sending a minimum of e-mails, using the telephone sparingly, and seriously limiting time spent on the computer and watching DVD’s. Let me explain.

Freedom From Old Habits and the Freedom to Intentionally Choose New Habits:

     We are creatures of habit, and those habits shape our lives.  These days it is all too common for westerners to be addicted to e-mail and the Internet.  If a team member does not have a significant e-mail, cell phone or Internet habit, then laying aside these things for the first few months should be no problem for him or her.  If a team member does have such a habit, we are very interested in helping free him or her from that habit.  The Marines talk about “breaking down” the man so that he can then be rebuilt in the mold that the Marines want.  This team is not the Marines and we are not trying to punch out cookie-cutter staff.  But this team is interested in “breaking down” the old habits that could be preventing a member from fulfilling their potential as a volunteer. Our goal for team members is that they will be free to intentionally choose what habits they will have as volunteers.

Technology is the New Coping Mechanism for Culture Shock:

    A second very large reason we are interested in team members doing a “techno” fast at the beginning of their team is that these days technology is being used by new volunteers in unhealthy ways to cope with their culture shock.  Every new worker must learn to cope with culture shock, and there is nothing wrong with watching a movie or surfing the Internet or typing a few e-mails once in a while in order to retreat to a world that is more comfortable and familiar than the world outside one’s doorstep.  Some new workers have an excellent built-in sense of proportion of how much escapism is enough and how much is “too much”.  But then on the other hand, many new volunteers find themselves unable to properly limit their intake of technology while in the throes of culture shock.  Culture shock is truly about psychic pain, and being human, we want to reach for things to assuage that pain.  We are convinced that technology ought not to be the first “pain killer” one learns to reach for when suffering culture shock.

Getting Our Technology Up and Running Normally Takes A Lot of Time:

   The third reason we don’t want team members focused on their techno-gadgetry in the first three months is that getting rigged to run is often a huge hassle and time killer.  At some point, everyone must bite the bullet and deal with the mundane annoyance of getting connected in a developing nation, but this ought not to be our first item of business.  Changing computer settings, new modems, cell-phone and wires that need to be purchased, finding an ISP, getting the phone company to connect your home… whatever you need to do, count on it being a time-chewing, complicated endeavor!  The first three months ought to be about bonding to the people you will be seeking to serve and bonding to your team members – not chasing logistical details.

SO:  Remember… for the next few months, no news is fantastic news! My teammates and I fly out early early in the morning to our wonderful island home. Absolutely can not wait to get there. Keep up the beautiful thoughts because you will all be resting in mine. And see you again in 3 MONTHS!

Blessings
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