Should someone else be in the White House?

I mean, come on, look at the pool of candidates:

Florida Vampire to Run For President (?!?!)
http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/2010/03/15/20100315vampire-running-for-president.html
I guess we could expect some draconian measures if he gets into office. Seriously, though, if he ran his own little territory, it would be a bonanza for the FBI because it would draw a huge number of pedophiles together and they could capture the bunch of them in one operation. Do you think the "Virgin" Islands would give up one piece of land for awhile?

Who wants healthcare?

Here's one one argument against universal healthcare:

I have a lot of appreciation for what US Presidents go through to get their legislation enacted, but here is a solid (flabby?) argument against the current universal healthcare initiative:


http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1027360/woman-aims-to-become-worlds-fattest

But, then again, there are those special interest groups who stand to profit, in some way, at someone’s cost…

No comment, but you have to wonder...

The Colonel didn't die...He went to Afghanistan!

In a parallel universe known as, "Afghanistan", Colonel Sanders has installed himself as the reigning Fried Chicken Master, thus spreading his secret recipe, and the peace-loving feeling that comes with it, to other strife-stricken regions of the world.

If you can read the Dari script, they just phonetically spelled out "Kabul Fried Chicken" under the KFC brand. Those wily Afghans! What will they think of next?

The Tragedy of the Commons

Inspired by my current assignment to document experiences in Afghanistan in community-based natural resource managment, I'd like to dredge up an old story that is applicable around the world:

This is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.
There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job.
Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.
It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

As stated in the premise of this blog, I continue to be amazed at the similarities and the differences of humanity and nature no matter where I go.

Rajoelina "wins" the presidency in Madagascar

This is just too much, and unfortunately, just like I called it several months ago. The Mouse has waited out the international community's patience and perseverance, and he is now the "accepted" de facto leader (dare I say "President") of Madagascar. The Economist magazine ran an article this week (http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14664639), that actually predated the next failed attempt to bring the four parties together yet again in Geneva. Early on, the leader of the TIM party said he would not accept The Mouse as president because that would lend an air of legitimacy to a coup d'etat. In principle, he is right, but it was the only way The Mouse would play ball with the other kids. And, in their inimitable prose, The Economist tells us, "Mr. Rajoelina, meanwhile, will merrily stay on as interim president. Coups, it seems, can still pay."

One of the comments on the story accused France of being the reason the African Union and the South African Development Community softened their stance against The Mouse. France did not want that American-loving deposed president back in office. Shame on him for turning his back on the country that exploited Madagascar for so many years. Step aside, and let someone else have a turn!

What’s next? Only God knows…

I get indigestion when I think about this country’s so-called leader, The Mouse. A Reuters article said, “Madagascar’s Rajoelina says only he can lead the transition.” (http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLF51056) The article goes on to quote The Mouse as saying, "It is unimaginable that anyone else should lead the transition,” and that, “nothing in the (signed) charter says the president must be appointed by common accord." Does this look like a collaboration or an agreement, as the general public might comprehend those terms?

I have not yet seen any articles that indicate who died and made him God.

What's next for Madagascar from this mickey-mouse regime?

It almost looks like the new dictator, uh, I mean, oh, what do you call someone who takes power supported by the armed forces? TGV? HAT? M-O-U-S-E.

So, it looks like The Mouse is trying to continue to exercise power while he starts to see the futility of his efforts. On Tuesday, Radio France Internationale (RFI) was reporting on the first of the protests by pro-Ravalomanana citizens, and they planned daily protests until the deposed president is back in power. One of the national radio systems, affiliated with Rajoelina, broadcasts RFI news in the mornings, but with a three-second delay from the original transmission, as I listen to it via my satellite television connection while my neighbors blast it on their radios. But the report on the protests began via my satellite, and the local radio station went into music rather than continue reporting the news.

However, on Wednesday, as The Mouse caves under international pressure to hold a referendum, the broadcast report of his gesture of good will was not cut off. Why do I get the feeling that this is just a ploy to buy time and will never come to fruition? Can't wait to see what comes next.

Dripchak on the Malagasy “Transfer of Power”

So much for democracy. As someone who had won two popular elections, I would think that there would have been more support for Ravalomanana, but things are never as they seem. I, personally, thought that Ravalomanana would never quit because he had all sorts of legal supports, such as a constitution that provided mechanisms for removing the President, as well as international pressure on the country to avoid a transition that did not come from democratic elections. Apparently, this is of no concern to Rajoelina, who plans to rewrite the constitution, probably to fit his needs, since he is six years too young to hold the office. And, as the BBC so aptly put it:

“Mr Rajoelina had said the president has been a tyrant who misspent public money but Mr Ravalomanana's supporters said his rival is a young troublemaker who has not offered any policy alternatives.” (See article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7949596.stm )

An Associated Press story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090318/ap_on_re_af/af_madagascar) said, “Rajoelina, however, comes from the wealthy minority that has had a stranglehold on Madagascar's politics.

The African Union has a rule to the effect that any country that experiences a change of leaders through any means other than democratic elections can no longer be a member of the AU. This year will be particularly interesting because the AU was planning to hold their summit in Antananarivo, and many businesspeople were in the process of investing in infrastructure, more specifically hotels and service industries, in anticipation of the event. While the global economic crisis begins to cool off elsewhere, it’s getting worse here.

I live on the east coast, where most people do not / did not like Ravalomanana, and are happy to “have their way,” in a sense though this is not their candidate. But there are people here who say they did not see that Ravalomanana did anything wrong. They recognize many of the positive things he did for the economy, even while stating outright their suspicions that he probably had his fingers in every deal so as to obtain personal gain.

We’ll see how things evolve. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay…

Dripchak on "Developmentality: What, if anything, were they thinking?"

“Development” per se, is not a product but a process. It never ends. For example, say you’ve mastered creating formulas in an Excel spreadsheet, and now you want to automate the process with macros. Once that’s done, you want to move onto programming in Visual Basic so you can go beyond one spreadsheet, and on and on. I have never “targeted” development, but rather applied it toward a prioritized list of needs at a community level. The objective is to work oneself out of a job, and that the works left behind are important enough to the villagers, who have been trained, that they alone ensure maintenance and improvements.

That said, the process of development is often controlled through “facipulation” or facilitating the process toward some prescribed goals and objectives, thus manipulating the outcome. Faci + pulation. Might as well be open about it. There are so many agendas to deal with in a project that the “facipulator” has to know how to work his/her way through the morass of conflicting desires.

As for the idea of turning everyone into “little consumers like those of us in the US,” NO! Self-sufficiency is the goal. In fact, I’m often embarrassed by the opinions of Americans that I’ve come across in my work, many of which have been right on the mark, or others so far off that they inspire outrageous laughter, until you investigate where the opinion came from.

I originally joined the Peace Corps because I did not find working in the US of A potentially rewarding for me. There are so many social safeguards that my work would only bring satisfaction to me, if that were possible, but my satisfaction comes from knowing I might have helped someone do something better than s/he used to do it, and that I might have inspired the curiosity of that person to further test and improve the method. It’s kind of like watching and helping kids grow up. They beam with every new discovery, and when so inspired, go on to test other aberrations of your theory.

I completely agree with my colleague about learning overseas. I knew early on that I was only one person with a limited set of skills to share with others, while they were hundreds, each with something new for me. I definitely made out on that score! Never thought I could save the world, but I wanted to inspire the “Think Globally, Act Locally” approach to changing things. Another ‘ism that became prevalent during my work has been, “If you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem.” Too many times people who are excluded from processes sit on the sidelines and bitch about how things should be. I have seen many cases where getting them off their asses have been both positive and negative, but it was definitely better than listening to them bitch! And understanding WHY they are like that is tantamount to making any progress whatsoever.

This gets back to something we (?) used in the PC which was participatory appraisals. So many “experts” talk about how easy it is to do a PRA, but they obviously don’t have a clue. In the Congo recently, a researcher who was an ex-PCV in west Africa said something to the effect that after her two years in the PC, she thought a PRA was quick and easy. I did all I could to resist writing back to her to say that because I went to the zoo as a child, that I was an expert on elephants. When I was in Guatemala, we brought a woman from Virginia Tech to help train staff in PRA. The phrase that rings true to this day in my head is, “It’s the process and NOT the product.” She was SOOOOO right!

Some further thoughts:
I was once the point person for the organization in Guatemala for a “research” project under the USG SANREM project. The gurus from Virginia Tech thought I was dragging my feet on the process, but this was because they had not a clue what participation entailed, and I was in charge of the participatory appraisal component.

While in the Republic of Congo, I investigated why the economic alternative component had not been successful in the past. A former employee who had been responsible for it immediately confirmed my initial analysis that “the numbers” were far more important than the quality of the project. He said they were under pressure to reach and register as “participants” as many beneficiaries in the project area as soon as possible.

Again, a grave misunderstanding as to what “participatory” might imply.

When faced with a contrary opinion from the farmer’s side as to a recommendation from the extensionist, one needs to invest the time to understand why this is the case. What might be the reason(s) behind the non-acceptance of the extensionist’s sage advice.

Anyhow, hope this little message inspires some thought on the part of those of us who still have an impact on other peoples’ lives.

Dripchak returns to Madagascar and, wouldn’cha know it, it really hasn’t changed.

Maybe I waxed romantic about Madagascar and Maroantsetra while I was in Central Africa, but reality is coming back, “finally” in some ways, after being here for three and a half months.

After so many little problems here, I took it upon myself to nickname the town, changing Maroantsetra to “Maroa-tsarotra,” which, loosely translated, means “a lot of difficulties.” That’s life here. But things have undergone an interesting series of events. At the outset of our time back, at the end of October, things were like they were long before: electricity was on-again-off-again (though on a more “regular” schedule); the house was not yet completed, so there was still a lot chasing after contractors and fixing things they did; and, it was HOT!

The interesting aspect here is that it was not raining as much as I recalled, and that was not so unusual because there is usually a relatively dry period in September-October. But here we were into November – December, and the days were still sunny and dry, with occasional overnight downpours. I could deal with that, in spite of the prickly heat that was driving me nuts.

Then, in late December, the electric company (Jirama) got their new generator and/or repair parts, and we have had electricity in the house almost constantly since then. We were able to pretty much finish the electrical installation in the house (except for the terrible job the construction crew did in the first phase – no ground for the plugs, for what reason I have no idea). And with a lot of dogging, the plumber finished the gravity-fed water system, without the water heater, which has been deemed not a priority in these financially-strapped times. I helped him install the electric pump to get the water up to the reservoir, and voila!

An aside: “Jirama” stands for Jiro et Rano Malagasy, or Malagasy electricity and water. Here in Maroa-tsarotra, they are known as “Jima” because they don’t have a water service.

So, water and electricity. What else could one need? Oh yeah, the “tenants” (as I affectionately refer to my wife’s family members who occupy the wooden house we originally built and I am eager to get rid of because it draws flies and family members) brought a puppy into the household. For lack of imagination and the old habit of the name the only other dog the house has had, she was named Bobbie. While quite the handful, she brings all those good and bad attributes of a puppy, and I love having her around.

Another positive discovery was that the cell phone provider was dealing the Internet over the connection, albeit quite expensive for such a feeble connection. At least I can look for work and send my CV out. Can’t get any software or updates, unfortunately, and I’m having a major problem with the firmware for my DVD drive.

So, I’m close to living in a dream world. Things work. But just in the past week or so, the rainy season, if one can call it that in one of the wettest places in the world, has kicked in. It rains so hard at night that even the dog is scared, and I rarely get a good night’s sleep now.

Bottom line: I’m going crazy sitting in Maroantsetra, not doing anything fulfilling.

Home Sweet (new) Home

Newly arrived to the Republic of Congo, I can now understand why it was recommended that I opt for carrying whatever I needed with me and paying excess baggage fees as opposed to having household goods and personal belongings shipped via a moving company. Three and a half hours in an outboard-rigged pirogue (or dugout canoe) would not be the best way to treat a large amount of one’s personal belongings. It would also be cruel to make the pirogue pilot endure several trips overloaded with cargo.

I had time to reflect on things as they are. I’m pretty sure I’ve always considered ecotourism a stupid idea from a consumer’s point of view. My family, while I was growing up, never considered it, though we did make our unforgettable visit to the Catskill Game Farm in upstate New York (though I’d be hard-pressed to point it out on a map). But as cruised along the Sangha River on a Saturday afternoon, with basically nothing to see in ecotouristy terms, I thought about how much some people pay to do just that. And in email exchanges on Monday morning at the office, I’d have a unique response to the what-did-you-do-this-weekend query.

But the part that makes me gloat is that I get paid to be here, and every now and then, I have to remind myself of this great benefit. Yesterday, I had that “Hey! Look where I am!” feeling that I have not had in a long time, having been in Madagascar for an extended period (it had become “normal” – uh oh, here we go again on the “normal” bit), and most recently employed in the DRC, which I would not wish on anyone that I liked.

I guess I’m kind of harsh on the DRC, but we worked with people who were constantly being abused by their countrymen, and then bailed out by foreigners only to turn around and bite the expats in the jugular to suck the life out of any relief program that either helped them or employed them to help others. And it was worse in Kinshasa, where I unfortunately spent most of my time. I preferred to be out in the field because then it was only the staff that I had to contend with, as the average people in the village and along the roads were not out for my grant-endowed blood as were the Kinois (people from Kinshasa). Another expat staff person pointed out, while we were in Kasongo, that I was a completely different person when we weren’t in Kinshasa. That’s understandable. It’s the only place, so far in my short life, that I was consistently pissed off from the time I left the apartment at 7 AM until I got home at 7 PM. And my poor, wonderful wife put up with me. In fact, she encouraged me to hang in there.

Anyway, here I sit on my new veranda, overlooking the Sangha River on a Sunday morning. The people standing in their pirogues, making their way across the river, seem like miniatures to me because, apparently, the distance is deceiving. I mean, the river is right there in front of me, and yet it is so vast.

Religious Fervor??


I have been inspired to update the blog by none other than CNN. They are airing two sets of reports that are eerily linked.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. The “faithful” that are flocking to his mansion are expressing an almost religious fervor about his legacy. As a reporter put it, they have put aside all knowledge of his personal life (like the drugs and alcohol that probably caused his death) and they are focused only on his music and how wonderful, inspiring, etc., it is.

The network is also airing a report “one year in the making” called “God’s Warriors.” The almighty Ms. Amanpour will be enlightening us on the reasons behind three different “religions” of influence nowadays: Christian, Muslim and Jewish. If the Presley congregation gets some weapons, maybe she should highlight them, too.

These reminded me of a book I read recently called “The End of Faith,” by Sam Harris. While the book looked primarily at the Muslims, it alluded to some of the American religious right’s influence on society, and on politics in particular. There were interesting passages in it.

Some prose from “The End of Faith,” by Sam Harris

(p. 65) Faith is what credulity becomes when it finally achieves escape velocity from the constraints of terrestrial discourse – constraints like reasonableness, internal coherence, civility, and candor.

(p. 215) Faith is rather like a rhinoceros, in fact: it won’t do much in the way of real work for you, and yet at close quarters it will make spectacular claims upon your attention.”

(p. 182) Intuition: One cannot walk far in the company of moral theorists without hearing our faculty of “moral intuition” either exalted or scorned. The reason for the latter attitude is that the term “intuition” has always carried the scent of impropriety in philosophical and scientific discourse. Having been regularly disgraced by its appearance in colloquialisms like “women’s intuition” (meaning “psychic”), or otherwise directly contrasted with “reason,” the word now seems to conjure up all that is cloying and irrational outside the university gates. The only striking exception to this rule is to be found among mathematicians, who apparently speak of their intuitions without the least embarrassment – rather like travelers to exotic places in the developing world who can often be heard discussing the misadventures of their colon over breakfast. But, as we know, mathematicians travel to very exotic places indeed. We might also note that many of them admit to being philosophical Platonists, without feeling any apparent need to consult a trained philosopher for an exorcism.

Hey! I just saw Elvis!

Am I the only one who sees this?

It's been seven months since I left the DR Congo, and I am still and increasingly pleased about that decision. I wish I could propose a solution to the problems they are causing themselves, but it boggles the mind for a myriad of reasons. Now look at the most recent stuff:

Bemba is going to Portugal

See an article on the BBC web site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6502719.stm
"Mr Bemba is planning to leave on Saturday to go to Portugal where he has been receiving medical treatment for a broken leg," Dumisani Kumalo told the BBC.

Assuming Kumalo, South Africa's Permanent Representative to the UN, has mastered the English language, his statement implies that Bemba has already been to Portugal for treatment. Also, interestingly, the press has said absolutely nothing leading up to this that Bemba ever had a broken leg.
"...there is speculation the trip may be used as a diplomatic manoeuvre to ease tension."

Let's see. Bemba's support is in western DRC, including the capital. Not far to the south lies Angola, who constantly denies they are going to invade the DRC. And Portugal is the former colonizer of Angola, and maintains very close ties to them and their economy out of self interest, of course...

What common interest would Bemba, Portugal and Angola share...? In investing, they say past performance is not an indicator of what's to come, but in human behavior, I'd say it's pretty indicative.

Relatively Historical Event

Relative to every day, the violence is not historical. That’s a “normal” aspect of life in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Today, the country is supposed to hold the first “free” elections in over 40 years. And in spite of the atrocities that happen here every day, the rape and pillaging, the impunity, and on and on, the media have finally decided to give some attention to this, the third largest country in Africa. Is this right?

One candidate, Mobutu’s son, said that his father would win if he was alive because, as he put it, the Congo needs leadership.

Bemba was described as 2-meters tall, 160 kg with his own Boeing 727.

As bizarre, or benign, as this might seem now, it's the aftermath that I fear.

You did it MY WAY (apologies to Frankie Sinatra)

Why does one get into overseas relief and development work? There is an altruistic vein running through some of us. There is also a hedonistic vein, in some of us, having once experienced the excitement of being in another country and culture, exploiting the “aura” of being an American/vazaha, gringo, khawaga, mizungu, whatever, that it is a lot of fun to see the world from a different perspective, and to enjoy from another, as well.

In any case, the point is that once a “development” action has been put in place in some forsaken place in the world, there are consequences on other aspects of day-to-day life in the village. For example, some well-meaning soul sees water-borne diseases causing many deaths in some very remote village next to a wilderness area. Immediate response: deliver healthcare services that will save lives. What is the chain of possible events? Well, people, in their living state, consume resources to survive. If people die, the birth rate may be offset, and the number of people remains stable. If, because of improved access to health services, less people die, then there are more people seeking resources. Most rural-based populations subsist on the natural resources that are at hand. In this example, it would be the wilderness at their proverbial doorstep. All of a sudden, the conservationists are up in arms because the rate of deforestation has increased because need to grow more crops to feed their ever-increasing families. In turn, the deforestation causes sedimentation and degradation of the quality of the water sources, hence an increase in water-borne diseases. So, the government, backed by a Big International Non Governmental Organization (a.k.a., BINGO), restricts the local villagers’ access to the wilderness that has sustained them for centuries. Outcries of social injustice sound, armed militias might come in, depending on what type of resources (timber, gold, etc.) might be found in our wilderness, and we spin forlornly into a crisis situation.

Of course, the “well-intentioned” donor, albeit an individual or a government, would not invest any money unless they feel the identified problem is important enough to merit attention. But how do the different issues take on such different levels of importance depending on who observes? The mid-90’s genocide in Rwanda was “important enough” for the USA to look away… The ongoing an worsening crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo has not drawn much attention from donors.
Some of the factors that earn a given situation a good ranking might include:

Simplicity: if we throw money at it, will it go away?

Reputation: if we don’t throw money, will it damage our image?

International economics: would our resolving this increase / secure our access?

Domestic economics: “what this economy needs is a war”

Whatever the reason, money talks.

DON'T JUST SIT THERE!

Did you ever wonder about why things are as they are? Or why we see atrocities in other countries but not in our backyards? It's all a manifestation of human nature. In the end, we're all screwed, but we can at least get some satisfaction from understanding and anticipating human behavior.

I just had a series of conversations with a colleague from Ghana who is in on a temporary duty assignment with us in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He is based in Kindu, and I have to admit I have a soft spot in my heart for Kindu because I spent three weeks there in April 2004 on a short-term contract. The interesting aspect is that, for some reason, Africans think that there is little variation in conditions, customs, and context between the different places on the continent. Then they either come to the DR Congo (for the foreigners) or they take a trip to another country in Africa (for the Congolese), and it is like a slap in the face for them when they see the differences.

For example, a few of our staff in the Finance Department spent a week in Nairobi for workshop recently. Now, Americans sometimes refer to Nairobi as “Nairobbery” because of the crime rate and the frequent theft of items from baggage in the Kenyatta Airport. But these Congolese staff came back wondering why their country could not be at least equal to Nairobi. Why were the differences so stark and obvious? Kenyatta Airport is relatively clean. Ndjili Airport in Kinshasa is a shit hole relative anything but a sanitary landfill. And the airport staff are the equivalent of the scavengers in the dump.

So, getting back to my conversations with my Ghanaian colleague, whenever we spoke of some glaring injustice or downright shitty conditions, I found myself frequently shrugging my shoulders and saying that it was normal, with the qualifier that “normal” is relative to the context. Normality has many implications.

In Egypt, a largely (+/- 90% of the population) Muslim country, a discussion with my staff led us to the following: A man slaps his wife around every other day. So, it is normal. Does that make it right?

In southern Maniema province in the DRC, a baseline study found that at least 1/3 of the women had been raped, and that to visit family members in the local jail (families must provide food), they usually are subjected to rape. It’s just normal.

I just saw an article in the news that a “political party” in the Netherlands (Neverland?) wants to lower the age for females to become prostitutes from 16 to 12…Normal?

It’s all relative, I guess, depending on your frame of reference.

Another colleague, a Kenyan, was with me in a small Cessna airplane. As we flew into Kasongo in rural southern Maniema, he asked if we would see any animals from the plane as we landed. Well, just outside of Nairobi, there are game / safari parks and you may see giraffes or other wildlife from the plane as you come in. Personally, it had never occurred to me to look for animals in any space touched by the Congolese. They’d have eaten them all already. For example, on a return trip to Kinshasa in the same small plane, as we taxied up to the hangar, we saw five boys attacking some brush with sticks. They were hunting field mice…in an urban environment…so, I guess that makes them rats. Normal, or maybe not, because tonight, they were putting MEAT ON THE TABLE!

This is the first country where I have worked that does not habitually use a reference to God or some superior being. You know, the Muslims say, “Insha-allah,” the Latin Americans, “Si Dios quiere,” the Malagasy, “Manenteina,” and on and on. Here, it’s “Débrouillez-vous.” Loose translation: “It’s your problem, deal with it!” How could they possibly have any social cohesion in this context? However, sometimes I see a sort of “community spirit” when the Kinois (people of Kinshasa) gang up on foreigners who have been obliged to stray into their domain. But I am never sure about whether the spoils are actually shared or just shown off as a sign of superiority. I had a conversation once with a boy of 11 years old who had been demobilized from a militia. He said he had no problem to break into a neighbor’s home, killing him if necessary, to rob his riches if they were relatively abundant as compared to those in the community. I then asked him how he would feel if he was the one with the abundant resources. He replied that he would have already distributed his wealth to others. HA! I may be jaundiced on this, but once he has his hands on it, he would only spread it around to increase his position in society, and he would make a big deal of his “generosity”, no less.

People aspire to be like those they envy. Their degree of moral flexibility is probably directly related to their degree of poverty and desperation. The powerful ones here get away with so much it sickens me, and makes me want to leave, after smacking them in the face, of course.

One of the most frustrating aspects of working here is the impunity that will impede any changes at the necessary level to get rid of the thieves at the top. I enjoy my work because the objective is to work myself out of a job. It’s something to aspire to. And it is particularly gratifying to see someone who has learned and taken over, in a competent manner, the work you so diligently performed, and you can walk away and not feel that things would fall apart as soon as the door slammed behind you.

Something I really like about working overseas is the chance to visit places that you only see in books or movies. But having been in the DR Congo for more than 18 months now, I find myself wishing to live someplace where I am not pissed off from the moment I leave my apartment at 7 AM until I get home at 7 PM. This place really sucks. On a recent trip back to Madagascar, one of my former mentors reminded me that if there isn't a single thing that I like about the place, between work, social life, environment, etc., then it's time to get out.

Maybe it is time to hole up in the shack we built in NE Madagascar. Decision-time is fast approaching.

On one of my trips to Madagascar...

Geez, I came across an old, old file that should (not?) have posted long ago. Abouy…

02 July 2005

I don’t know if I’ll ever get this posted, never mind all the earlier ones that are lurking somewhere on this computer.  I’ve been on a “vacation” to Madagascar, and things have gone incredibly well.  Primarily, I am speaking of the travel.  Air Madagascar, the perennial nemesis of the traveler, has given us spots on flights, people in Antalaha, Maroantsetra and Tana have gone way out of their respective ways to help us out.  I am hoping that his is payback for some good things I might have unwittingly done during my five years here, and not the proverbial luck that comes and goes.  
I try to repay favors and others’ kindness with random acts of kindness, but I never know if I am credited.  There was a Kevin Spacey movie, called something like “Pay It Forward,” in which one built up good fortune by not asking anything in return for kind acts.  Not a great flick, but the idea may have merit.  It touches on religion, do-unto-others,
The other day in Antalaha, we were with the priest who performed our marriage ceremony.  As we walked through his church, which was under renovation, I told him about how I left the Catholic church when I was 17, and how in spite of my belief in God, I saw little value in organized religion.  My wife later asked me how I could say such a thing to a priest, and I told her that this particular priest and I talk like friends who understand each other.  He seems to understand that I have no interest in being “devout,” yet I dedicate my efforts to helping people in need through my work.

...No matter where you go...
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