Getting to Mbamane (and everywhere else for the next three weeks)

Tricky tricky. I'll do what I can. I'll work as best I can within the limitations of my work.

I knew this would happen, and I don't really want it to be an excuse for inaction or non-accomplishment. Just, I'm tired of judging myself, so I'm trying to stop. Just trying to try. I think that's all I should have to expect of myself.

The driver left to go to Thiès today. So, I couldn't go to Mbamane. I didn't mind entirely, except that in principle, I know it'll cause problems. Because while the driver is supposed to come tomorrow around 9 or 10, it probably won't arrive until the afternoon. Which means I'll have about 1 1/2 days to do some work in the village. I have to try to leave the village on Thursday mid-morning at the latest because I have to return to Dakar in time for Friday's workshop.

I'm totally okay with that limitation, because I'm beginning to believe it's not just about these village visits that will provide me with a comprehensive understanding of 'perceptions and behaviours'. Just as importantly, I need to network with other organizations that are doing similar work and see how or why their work is successful. That's the point of this workshop. To pursue an example of 'positive deviance'. Why are the villagers of these villages able to regenerate trees and others not. What's with the process. So, that's what Friday starts to explore.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I will hopefully be studying the causes and effects of 'regeneration' or 'regrowth'. I'm not sure what term is best in the minds of the people. But, I'll use solution trees (instead of 'problem trees'). I'm tired of exploring the problems. They seem to already know them.

Instead, I'm hoping by exploring the subjects using 'solution trees' I might be able to get at the norms, rules, and reasons for why these solutions can or can't be brought about. So, study the solution, how to get there, whether they like the solution, and if so, what keeps them from getting there. Sort of a 'here's an ideal future. How do we get there, and what's keeping us from getting there and why'.

Still, I might first need to ask whether the 'solution' is even perceived as positive or whether people desire to do it. I'm not yet sure how to go about discussing that idea.
. . .

Besides that: I'm trying to start to count my blessings. I'm realizing that to convert my attitude, I need to be more intentional about prayer. More intentional about starting with it. Ending with it. And surrounding what I do with it. It's a realizing though at this stage, not too much of a practice. But, I'm trying to get it there.
. . .

I've reflected on the fact that my internship has a number of really interesting constraints. Constraints that were created because of how I typically approach work (suggest something, see where it goes, wait for feedback). The motion of my internship, however, I've come to accept, depends on me.
August depends on how much I push to get to the villages.
Planning for the workshops in July depended a lot how whether I forced contact with the project managers. That I didn't find the time nor pushed means that the workshops are not too far a long yet, but really, this is for the better. It leaves them open to change, and since different ideas are floating around, I am grateful for their open nature.
September's events depend on where I take them. Not having scheduled village visits means that there is the possibility of pursuing other ideas. It's neat to be free.
But, September also brings Ramadan, a constraint on the timing of my workshops.
And till mid-October, it's still Ramadan.

And then end of October, my sister is coming down for a visit. I wasn't planning on not being done nor having these constraints. All of a sudden, she makes doing the workshops at the end of October a non-possibility. I wonder if this will be perceived as a neglect of responsibilities on my part.

So, the best case scenario would be an internship extension, but that is certainly not guaranteed. Only hoped for.

If it doesn't happen, we'll just see what becomes of all of this.

But, I'm letting myself be okay with change. I'm trying to function within it. Trying to not judge my productivity, yet also continue to be as productive as I should be. However that is defined.
. . .

Besides work, I've started to try to think about where I will go at the end of August or start of September for my 1 week vacation. It's likely I will either go visit the Pink Lake, north of Dakar, or go to an isolated cabin on an island somewhere on the coast South east of Dakar. Just off the shore of a town called Ndangane. Just, I'm still debated the logic of isolating myself. I feel I do enough of that when I go to the villages.
. . .

Betty Reno, the lady who lives on the main floor of my house, is back. I am thankful for how she helps me process what's going on, what I'm thinking. She's constantly reminded me that I should be praying more than I am. All of what I'm doing here will be because of God, and in His strength. Certainly not my own. So, I need to go to him more often.

I might start a Bible study with her though, because I'd really like some consistent biblical dialogue in a manner that is understandable and recognizable.
. . .

It's humid here in Fatick now. No rain, really, which is really bad for the farmers. But, just plain humid and hot. Still not unbearable, but I'm just hoping and praying it rains, for the sake of the lives of the farmers amongst whom I occassionally stay.
. . .

NEwho, it's time to go home. Hope your summer is cooling down a bit. I've heard it's been a humid one for you all. I believe, almost, that my summer here has been cooler than back home . . .

God bless you all
And keep on praying for the farmers. Pray for rain, but not rain that blasts everything off the fields.