Kenya again.

As promised here are some photos of the Kenya trip and PX2. The building shot is of the school in Kenya where we held our training. Very castle like and complete with a drawbridge on the left side of the building. My only complaint was that it was made of grey brick and not stone-I mean seriously bricks are not going to stand up to a catapult any time soon.

One of the side effects of our rerouting on the way home was that I got to go shopping in the duty free. I picked up ‘Notes from a Small Island’ by Bill Bryson. I love his humour and general writing style. The warning on the front says ‘not to be read in public places’, and it is absolutely true. His insights are hilariously presented. I love ‘finding’ new authors with a writing style that I can learn from. Don’t get me wrong I don’t want to write like Bill Bryson-one of him in the world is more than enough I assure you. Rather I want to take some of his style and flair and adopt it into my own. He is particularly descriptive and anyone who can make a description of a table setting into a humour filled experience is well gifted and worthy of a little study.

PX2

Wa-hey! What a week! Spent last weekend in Kenya experiencing The Pacific Institute’s PX2-their young peoples program. What a blast. Then after a somewhat rerouted flight (thanks to an Air Kenya cancellation) I co-facilitated the course here in Zimbabwe where we took 30 young people through the material. Facilitating the course has been a goal of mine for the last year and it was almost overwhelming to experience the fulfilment of that dream. Not that the dream stops there, but as TPI teaches, you need progressive goals. Now we move onto the next step with bigger plans and goals.

The TPI programmes are a worthwhile investment for anyone who desires to expand their horizons and to achieve their dreams and goals. Based on cognitive psychology they offer a structured process that really works. The course is not a magic wand that is a fix all, but it gives you the tools to work on your life. For me it is the ‘MacGyver’ knife in my toolbox.

I will give more feedback and thoughts on my trip in another post, but for now I am going to savour the emotion of an achieved dream.

Booking an Appointment

Hmm it's been a little longer than usual between posts (just under a fortnight to be correct). It hasn't been for a shortage of writing material, it's probably due to an increase in my workload and a temporary devaition from my normal routine as a result. Consistent blogging, really consistent anything, takes a regular appointment with yourself to achieve it. Faliure to set that appointment will result in other things swallowing the time.



So what's going on? There is the compounding of the Zimbabwe situation by the water crisis in Harare. The city ran dry yesterday, thankfully my taps were back on last night but I have many friends who are not so fortunate. Money has the same tensions on it as time it seems-unless you budget for and schedule maintenance it will not take place.



Then there are my preparations to attend a PX2 conference in Kenya over the weekend. PX2 is a program from The Pacific Institute aimed at young people. I'm going as part of a team to learn and see how we can launch it here in Zimbabwe. It promises to be an exciting experience and one that is part of me fulfilling my purpose. Will give you feedback when I get back (unless I can connect online while I'm there)

A little blah.

I guess i'm feeling a little blah at the moment. You know the 'blah' where you don't really want to do anything major and not for any major reason either. It is not that there is nothing to do, rather the opposite as I have a pile of marking, writng and projects to work on. This feeling is aided by the weather which is overcast with the threat of rain-just perfect for bed, coffee and a good book. Not a great combination for raging amounts of productivity. The cure for blah usually involves just that though. A little time to step back and renew my perspective. To step back and actually see the wood not just the trees. So I'm off to have a cup of coffee and just relax a little, think a little and clear my mind of clutter before moving on with my list of things to do.

Constancy

This week one of the main cellphone operators in Zimbabwe cancelled all contract lines and converted them to a pay-as-you-go system. The primary reason is that due to the spiralling inflation rate and ongoing black market devaluation of the local currency, by the time the bills have been processed and the clients paid (normally by cheque-and a company may only withdraw the equivalent of less than 2USD a day from the bank) the value of the money is a fraction of the value of the service provided. Inconvenient for people, you bet. The pre-paid system is tedious and you have to keep topped up or you can’t call. Have people complained, you bet.

The loudest complaints though have been from those whose companies don’t accept cheques either, but expect everyone to take theirs. That’s plain hypocrisy and one of the reasons the Zim is in the mess it is in. Living your life at one standard while expecting others to live at another for your convenience is wrong anyway you look at it. Integrity is the opposite and highly valued by others.

Overnight Success

Today at church I watched a 15 year old, young man lead a congregation of 3000 people in Praise and Worship for the first time. Among the songs was one of his own compositions. How many 15 year olds get that sort of exposure? He was confident, clear and did a great job-way to go Dan! His success has not been overnight though. He has gone through years of training in music and voice. He has performed at multiple concerts, from the low to the high. He has spent hours in practice. In short, today was a culmination of years of work-most of it at the instigation of his mother.

It is easy to look at success from the overnight perspective. Especially when that’s really what we desire. I mean, who wouldn’t want fame, riches and glory without having to spend ages working for it. Unfortunately, it is a rare thing. For many successful people life has been the result of years of principled living. Applying daily what they know to work and getting results.

Sure there are tools we can apply to make the process a little easier and more fun, but at the end of the day a man will reap what he sows. Idle daydreams stay in your mind, well set goals and vision promote you to action.

Barak who?

It's an incredible, gobsmacking moment when a person who has absolutly no idea what a man's policies are, what his party stands for, let alone how the American political system works, can be glad that Barak Obama has come into power simply because of the colour of his skin. Yet person after person in Zimbabwe is delighted with the result of the American election-even though they are unwilling to comment on or make any positive headway in our own elections. Sorry, that's just flipping ridiculous.