I’ve just been listening to one of the sermons from Maybridge Community Church – the Church in Worthing in which I grew up. Andy was talking about John 17 where we have a window in Jesus’ relationship with his Father as we hear his prayer. How can we live having the same intimacy with God that Jesus did? ‘Trust him more’ is one answer, but how can we actually do that? Andy points out that one aspect of that is to challenge our habits and culture of ownership.
‘For everything I have is yours’. Do I live and recognise the fact that everything I have belongs to God? If I have ownership of anything, then I am not being completely dependent on God. In today’s culture, there’s such a stigma about being dependent – people associate it with being useless, unable to take care of yourself, being a burden on others. Independence is seen as a pinnacle to reach – to have control and power of your own life, your own finances and your own decisions. It also implies that we have no need of others, and that we can live perfectly ok by ourselves. Actually, I think that devalues community, breaks at the bonds of society and misses the fun and the pleasure of sharing. We should be living in interdependence with other people – where I depend on them and they depend on me. Where my gifts and strengths can fulfil what someone else needs, and my weaknesses can be covered by what somebody else has. I think all of us do like to be able to do something for others – I’m always happy to babysit for example and give people a chance to go out. But if we are trying to be sufficient and independent it means that we then struggle to accept other people doing things for us, and our pride can get in the way of enjoying something that is willingly given. Generally, I’d say that I don’t have too much of a problem with that – during the past couple of years I have not been financially independent (and have been amazed at the provision of money that people have generously given) and relied on other people for transport, food, holidays, support or whatever else. However, I can still pinpoint times, some very recently, when I’ve found it difficult to accept gifts because they seem too valuable for me to repay. My pride and equal give-and-take mentality still insists that I can’t take anything ‘for free’. I wonder how much of that mentality is in Christianity? The whole nature of grace is that it is something freely given, something that we do not deserve and cannot be earned. Yet so many people are trying to live a ‘good life’ in order to pay back something to God because they feel indebted and do not like it. They do not want to be in the powerless position of owing anything to anybody, even God.
The truth is that we do owe everything to God. The fact that I’m alive, the food that I eat, the work that I do, the people that I know, the skills that I use, the ideas that I have. They are all gifts from God. And I want to acknowledge that, and be dependent on God. Interdependent with other people, but completely and utterly dependent on God. There’s nothing that I can do for him that makes him more complete than he already is – he does not need me – but I need him for everything. Therefore, independence in a relationship with God is a complete contradiction as I’d be trying to have a relationship with someone whilst denying one of their essential characteristics; he is my Jehovah Jirah – provider of all things. But this dependence on God is not a burden, it’s not a debt that I have to feel that I need to repay (not that I can!) and it’s not a weakness to feel ashamed of. It’s a recognition of who God is, and who I am, and how God meant for us to live in relationship with him. It’s freedom – there’s no expectations, no worry over performance and no fears over money; I am dependent on God who he is my provider.
I think that one of the areas that I probably find most difficult in knowing that it all belongs to God is in the area of work. Looking back over the past couple of weeks(/years!) I can see that I tend to take on responsibility not just for jobs, but also for the outcome. I believe that me and me alone can do this task properly and that the success or failure for the work is all down to me. Which is pretty egocentric. Yes, I believe that God wants me to take on responsibility and yes, I believe that he wants me to use the skills and intelligence that he’s given me (that’s why he gave them to me). But that does not mean that I should try and take the work out of God’s hands and do it myself! I need to recognise that the work I do is God’s work, that I can do the best I can and that is all I can do and all he wants me to do. It’s in God’s hands when things go wrong and there are problems, and when things are going well God gets the glory! And through it all we can praise and trust and worship him because he is always worth it.
So there’s a challenge. To recognise that I don’t have ownership of anything – not my money, my time, my work or my things – and that I am a dependant on the One who is the Creator of all things. Who else could I depend on?!
Saturday 14 August 2010
Monday 9 August 2010
Liquid Gold
A question for you – what would you give to have clean water?
Think about what you use water for. For drinking water, cups of tea. For cooking your pasta and vegetables. For cleaning your teeth. For washing the dishes. For washing yourself. For cleaning the house. For flushing the toilet (even though it doesn’t matter if that’s a bit dirty). What if you didn’t have clean water? How quickly would you have it installed in your house? How much would you be willing to pay to get it?
I found out today how much money people at the UN get paid, which seemed to me to be very high. The lower positions are paid around $5,000 a month. Mid level managers might be $14,000 a month, higher level we’re talking about $20,000 or more a month. That’s so much! No wonder people want to work for the UN for the salary…. Compare that to the salaries of NGOs and it’s laughable – NGOs pay fairly (particularly when you consider we get accommodation and food provided) but not huge amounts. We’re probably talking around $4,000 a month for a mid-level manager.
In the Water and Sanitation project that we’re currently doing, it costs about $1,200 for the materials and labour for each water source that we protect. That provides improved, cleaner water for about 700 people (SPHERE quality guidelines say one source for 400 people but actually far more than that will use the source). Yet we’re limited in the work that we can do because of lack of funding. In the area where we’re working, there’s a population of about 16,000 people, sharing 24 sources of water. Of these, maybe a third have been improved during the past, but because of the war they have fallen into disrepair. With the money from Pooled Fund, we’re able to rehabilitate just 5 of them. That’ll make a difference to those people, but what about the others? In the town of Kalima, where we have our sub-base, the nearest water source is 7km away – we would love to get a gravity water system up and working there – if we can find the money. We have a vehicle which makes it easier to collect water – how would you feel about walking 14km every time you needed 20 litres of water?! Now there’s a week’s water challenge if any of your feel like taking it up!
Our Watsan Technician, Edgard, takes a sample at the source of Kambili.
The source at Kamundala. This is where families take water for drinking, cooking and everything else.
There’s also a challenge in there for any of us with money. What are we doing with it? When I was chatting to the guys about the UN salaries, my mind briefly flitted over the idea of working for the UN for a year, earning a lot of money and being able to use that to protect a lot of water sources. Then I realised that I can provide the day-to-day management of protecting the water sources which is not something that most people are in a position to be able to do. However, there are plenty of people who are earning the salaries (which isn’t something that I can currently do!) which can pay for the improvement of the water sources. So why don’t you?! Most people believe in giving a little to charity – why not give a lot?! And if money for a whole water source really is beyond you, get together with a few other people and give the money with them.
I’m not sure what the current $ - £ exchange rate is, but let’s say that one water source is £1,000 (to help cover transport, salaries and other overheads as well as the actual materials & labour). £1,000.
My question again - what would you give for clean water?
A few more statistics:
• 30% of people in this area do not make any income – they just about grow enough food to feed themselves.
• Of the 70% that do make any income, the average earning is somewhere in the region of 10,000FC-20,000FC a year (900FC to $1) which is about $10-$20 a year. Food costs about the same as the UK – a kg of meat is 8000FC ($9), rice is 1000FC per kg (just over a dollar).
• In Pangi territory (where we’re working) over 70% of children under 5 got diarrhoea within an 8 month period. Around 10% of all deaths from children under 5 are from diarrhoea - primarily caused by unsafe water.
• Only 1.2% of people in Pangi have got access to clean water.
“Look at what you’ve got. Take from it what you need. What is left is needed by others.” (St. Augustine)
Think about what you use water for. For drinking water, cups of tea. For cooking your pasta and vegetables. For cleaning your teeth. For washing the dishes. For washing yourself. For cleaning the house. For flushing the toilet (even though it doesn’t matter if that’s a bit dirty). What if you didn’t have clean water? How quickly would you have it installed in your house? How much would you be willing to pay to get it?
I found out today how much money people at the UN get paid, which seemed to me to be very high. The lower positions are paid around $5,000 a month. Mid level managers might be $14,000 a month, higher level we’re talking about $20,000 or more a month. That’s so much! No wonder people want to work for the UN for the salary…. Compare that to the salaries of NGOs and it’s laughable – NGOs pay fairly (particularly when you consider we get accommodation and food provided) but not huge amounts. We’re probably talking around $4,000 a month for a mid-level manager.
In the Water and Sanitation project that we’re currently doing, it costs about $1,200 for the materials and labour for each water source that we protect. That provides improved, cleaner water for about 700 people (SPHERE quality guidelines say one source for 400 people but actually far more than that will use the source). Yet we’re limited in the work that we can do because of lack of funding. In the area where we’re working, there’s a population of about 16,000 people, sharing 24 sources of water. Of these, maybe a third have been improved during the past, but because of the war they have fallen into disrepair. With the money from Pooled Fund, we’re able to rehabilitate just 5 of them. That’ll make a difference to those people, but what about the others? In the town of Kalima, where we have our sub-base, the nearest water source is 7km away – we would love to get a gravity water system up and working there – if we can find the money. We have a vehicle which makes it easier to collect water – how would you feel about walking 14km every time you needed 20 litres of water?! Now there’s a week’s water challenge if any of your feel like taking it up!
Our Watsan Technician, Edgard, takes a sample at the source of Kambili.
The source at Kamundala. This is where families take water for drinking, cooking and everything else.
There’s also a challenge in there for any of us with money. What are we doing with it? When I was chatting to the guys about the UN salaries, my mind briefly flitted over the idea of working for the UN for a year, earning a lot of money and being able to use that to protect a lot of water sources. Then I realised that I can provide the day-to-day management of protecting the water sources which is not something that most people are in a position to be able to do. However, there are plenty of people who are earning the salaries (which isn’t something that I can currently do!) which can pay for the improvement of the water sources. So why don’t you?! Most people believe in giving a little to charity – why not give a lot?! And if money for a whole water source really is beyond you, get together with a few other people and give the money with them.
I’m not sure what the current $ - £ exchange rate is, but let’s say that one water source is £1,000 (to help cover transport, salaries and other overheads as well as the actual materials & labour). £1,000.
My question again - what would you give for clean water?
A few more statistics:
• 30% of people in this area do not make any income – they just about grow enough food to feed themselves.
• Of the 70% that do make any income, the average earning is somewhere in the region of 10,000FC-20,000FC a year (900FC to $1) which is about $10-$20 a year. Food costs about the same as the UK – a kg of meat is 8000FC ($9), rice is 1000FC per kg (just over a dollar).
• In Pangi territory (where we’re working) over 70% of children under 5 got diarrhoea within an 8 month period. Around 10% of all deaths from children under 5 are from diarrhoea - primarily caused by unsafe water.
• Only 1.2% of people in Pangi have got access to clean water.
“Look at what you’ve got. Take from it what you need. What is left is needed by others.” (St. Augustine)
Monday 2 August 2010
Travel in Congo
Sometimes we travel by road...
The first picture is en route to our sub-base in Kalima - we did actually get stuck here, but fortunately only for a few minutes. It's amazing what angles the landcruiser can go at! The second picture is when we were travelling from Uvira to Bukavu over the escarpement route. We came across a large yellow lorry that was stuck right in the middle of the road - no way round, no way to move it. We had to turn round, drive back 30 minutes, leave one of our staff (who doesn't have their passport at the moment) and take a route through Rwanda instead.
Sometimes we travel by river...
Actually, Tearfund staff never cross the river in the same way as the photos above. We normally cross the river in lifejackets on our own pirogue, like this:
Sometimes we travel by plane...
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500846539189382178" />
These pictures include the UNHAS plane that I normally take to Kindu, the airport at Kasongo (it made me laugh, it's not much of an airport. The airstrip is only a piece of grass as well) and a somewhat steep turn we did we did in said plane....
The first picture is en route to our sub-base in Kalima - we did actually get stuck here, but fortunately only for a few minutes. It's amazing what angles the landcruiser can go at! The second picture is when we were travelling from Uvira to Bukavu over the escarpement route. We came across a large yellow lorry that was stuck right in the middle of the road - no way round, no way to move it. We had to turn round, drive back 30 minutes, leave one of our staff (who doesn't have their passport at the moment) and take a route through Rwanda instead.
Sometimes we travel by river...
Actually, Tearfund staff never cross the river in the same way as the photos above. We normally cross the river in lifejackets on our own pirogue, like this:
Sometimes we travel by plane...
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500846539189382178" />
These pictures include the UNHAS plane that I normally take to Kindu, the airport at Kasongo (it made me laugh, it's not much of an airport. The airstrip is only a piece of grass as well) and a somewhat steep turn we did we did in said plane....
A day in the life of...
27th July 2010
NB: This may not be a typical day. I only returned to Kindu yesterday, and Benoit is away on leave which means I’m in charge of 30 people, 2 projects and investigating an emergency project…
7.30am: Alarm goes off. Walk blurrily to the door and unlock so the house staff can start work.
7.31am: Throw buckets of cold water over myself. My hair is definitely due for a wash – haven’t washed it in about 4 days. Slightly less blurry eyed.
7.40am: Start unpacking my bag which I was too tired to do yesterday. Give the cook a grater, a vegetable peeler and spatulas I bought in Uganda (the potato masher got beheaded en route). Realise I need to wash my underwear.
7.55: Force down some porridge made by our cook.
8.00: Devotions – sing in French and Swahili. I’m leading devotions today (that’s a nice welcome back!) which I do for the first time ever in French. Felix translates into Swahili giving everyone else a second chance of understanding what I said. Then prayers and announcements. My French holds up. Sort of.
8.45: Quick chat about the HIV training proposal with Madelaine.
8.50: Transfer money so Yvonne, our finance administrator can start paying the salaries. Show her how the payslips work. Sign the authorisation for the travel movements for the week.
9.20: Catch up with Jean-Pierre, our PHP (Public Hygiene Promotion officer). Discuss the site selection of our water project and the per diems for BCZ (Government health workers).
9.50: Quick catch up with Arnold (Food Security Management) about the distribution of seeds.
10.00: Notice a load of the animators hanging around in the hut outside waiting for the payroll before they’ll go to the field. Go and give them the photos I had printed in Uganda so they can start creating the presentation boards.
10.09: Bearded by 2 people wondering how to photocopy data when our photocopier is broken. Send them to logistics to arrange to get it copied by someone in the town.
10.10: Meet with Sadok, the Monitoring & Evaluation person. Run through his plan for the week and discuss the different ways he can verify that the beneficiary selection has been done well. Chat about gathering ‘stories of transformation’. Interrupted in the middle by Josephine (our cleaner) who wants to know if the clothes unpacked on my bedroom floor need to be ironed.
10.45: Go hunting for the camera charger.
10.46: Delegate the job to someone else.
10.47: Discuss an issue over payroll with someone – explain it’s pro-rata’d from when the contract starts.
11.00: Receive a letter with information pertaining to an HR issue last week. Read and discuss with Person 1.
11.50: Discuss payroll issue with someone who doesn’t appear to be on the payroll. This is problematic.
12.00: Try ringing two different people at the Bukavu support base to discuss payroll. No answer. Write email instead.
12.05: Go and check emails on the BGAN (satellite internet thingy)
12.10: Return to office. Laptop makes a loud beeping noise and starts declaring that the hard drive is broken. Wonder if it was the 3-4 minutes of sun. Run diagnostics.
12.15: Discuss payroll issue further with our missing payroll employee. Give him a cash advance on his salary instead. Hope I’ve done the right thing.
12.35: Diagnostics still showing a hard drive error. Laptop not working. Pray.
12.40: Another payroll issue with someone who has more children than the infants allowance is showing. Wish the HR Administrator was here to deal with this.
12.45: Meet some visitors who are here to talk to Jean-Pierre. Give authorisation to Jean-Pierre to use the projector at the WASH (water and sanitation) cluster meeting this afternoon.
12.50: Laptop running memory tests. No-one waiting to talk to me. Decide to go and eat lunch whilst I have the opportunity. Finish washing underwear. Rice, ugali, beef, vegetables for lunch – quite tasty but far too much.
Is it really only lunchtime?!
13h15: Return to the office. Reboot the laptop. It’s working! Hooray! Thank God.
13h18: It’s quiet in the office as most people are on lunch break. Read emails whilst I get a chance.
13h25: Continue calendarising budget (working out what month we’re likely to spend what money in) which I started yesterday whilst waiting at the airport. Interrupted by Mama Mkubwa (our cook) with the guard for translation (she only speaks Swahili and my Swahili just isn’t that good) to discuss what food is needed when visitors arrived tomorrow.
14h00: Meet with Person 2 over HR issue
14h45: Ring Betsy, the Deputy Programme Director, to discuss HR issue.
14h50: Finish calendarising the budget. Check out where we’re likely to run into difficulties.
15h25: Write various emails - budget issues, appraisal feedback, donor reports.
16.00: Meet with Person 3 over HR issue
16h40: Meet with Felix, our Logistician, on the set-up of our new sub-base. Interrupted by another person with a question over payroll. Felix leaves to pick up some papers. He’s gone for over 10 seconds and his chair in front of my desk quickly gets filled.
17h10: Arnold pops in for a quick chat on the days work.
17h13: Person 4 arrives to discuss HR issue.
17h19: Wonder if the AC’s role is always so busy.
17h20: Feedback to Madelaine on the HIV budget.
17h25: Continue conversation with Felix on procurement and requisitions. Sign off some purchase requests. Discuss the prices we need to find out for an emergency project for displaced people in Kalima.
18h00: Try ringing our Logs Manager. No answer.
18h01: Read appropriate parts of National Staff policy manual for dealing with HR issue.
18h20: Find Yvonne still working. Suggest she goes home before it gets dark. Arrange to meet tomorrow.
18h25: Write email on logistics and HR stuff.
19h15: Go to send emails. Remember one I’ve forgotten one on security and write that. Send by BGAN
19h30: Officially finish work for the day. Go and eat dinner. Pancakes, fish and vegetable stuff. Give the rest to the guards. Eat an apple. Bit bruised – it did come with me from Bukavu.
19h50: Read through the statements for HR issues with my French dictionary at hand. Wonder whether to write the report now or leave it till tomorrow. Tomorrow wins.
20h15: Start writing a blog entry about what I did today.
20h55: Watch an episode of House and enjoy a piece of (fair-trade) chocolate a very kind person from the UK sent me.
21h45: Go to sleep, perchance to dream.
NB: This may not be a typical day. I only returned to Kindu yesterday, and Benoit is away on leave which means I’m in charge of 30 people, 2 projects and investigating an emergency project…
7.30am: Alarm goes off. Walk blurrily to the door and unlock so the house staff can start work.
7.31am: Throw buckets of cold water over myself. My hair is definitely due for a wash – haven’t washed it in about 4 days. Slightly less blurry eyed.
7.40am: Start unpacking my bag which I was too tired to do yesterday. Give the cook a grater, a vegetable peeler and spatulas I bought in Uganda (the potato masher got beheaded en route). Realise I need to wash my underwear.
7.55: Force down some porridge made by our cook.
8.00: Devotions – sing in French and Swahili. I’m leading devotions today (that’s a nice welcome back!) which I do for the first time ever in French. Felix translates into Swahili giving everyone else a second chance of understanding what I said. Then prayers and announcements. My French holds up. Sort of.
8.45: Quick chat about the HIV training proposal with Madelaine.
8.50: Transfer money so Yvonne, our finance administrator can start paying the salaries. Show her how the payslips work. Sign the authorisation for the travel movements for the week.
9.20: Catch up with Jean-Pierre, our PHP (Public Hygiene Promotion officer). Discuss the site selection of our water project and the per diems for BCZ (Government health workers).
9.50: Quick catch up with Arnold (Food Security Management) about the distribution of seeds.
10.00: Notice a load of the animators hanging around in the hut outside waiting for the payroll before they’ll go to the field. Go and give them the photos I had printed in Uganda so they can start creating the presentation boards.
10.09: Bearded by 2 people wondering how to photocopy data when our photocopier is broken. Send them to logistics to arrange to get it copied by someone in the town.
10.10: Meet with Sadok, the Monitoring & Evaluation person. Run through his plan for the week and discuss the different ways he can verify that the beneficiary selection has been done well. Chat about gathering ‘stories of transformation’. Interrupted in the middle by Josephine (our cleaner) who wants to know if the clothes unpacked on my bedroom floor need to be ironed.
10.45: Go hunting for the camera charger.
10.46: Delegate the job to someone else.
10.47: Discuss an issue over payroll with someone – explain it’s pro-rata’d from when the contract starts.
11.00: Receive a letter with information pertaining to an HR issue last week. Read and discuss with Person 1.
11.50: Discuss payroll issue with someone who doesn’t appear to be on the payroll. This is problematic.
12.00: Try ringing two different people at the Bukavu support base to discuss payroll. No answer. Write email instead.
12.05: Go and check emails on the BGAN (satellite internet thingy)
12.10: Return to office. Laptop makes a loud beeping noise and starts declaring that the hard drive is broken. Wonder if it was the 3-4 minutes of sun. Run diagnostics.
12.15: Discuss payroll issue further with our missing payroll employee. Give him a cash advance on his salary instead. Hope I’ve done the right thing.
12.35: Diagnostics still showing a hard drive error. Laptop not working. Pray.
12.40: Another payroll issue with someone who has more children than the infants allowance is showing. Wish the HR Administrator was here to deal with this.
12.45: Meet some visitors who are here to talk to Jean-Pierre. Give authorisation to Jean-Pierre to use the projector at the WASH (water and sanitation) cluster meeting this afternoon.
12.50: Laptop running memory tests. No-one waiting to talk to me. Decide to go and eat lunch whilst I have the opportunity. Finish washing underwear. Rice, ugali, beef, vegetables for lunch – quite tasty but far too much.
Is it really only lunchtime?!
13h15: Return to the office. Reboot the laptop. It’s working! Hooray! Thank God.
13h18: It’s quiet in the office as most people are on lunch break. Read emails whilst I get a chance.
13h25: Continue calendarising budget (working out what month we’re likely to spend what money in) which I started yesterday whilst waiting at the airport. Interrupted by Mama Mkubwa (our cook) with the guard for translation (she only speaks Swahili and my Swahili just isn’t that good) to discuss what food is needed when visitors arrived tomorrow.
14h00: Meet with Person 2 over HR issue
14h45: Ring Betsy, the Deputy Programme Director, to discuss HR issue.
14h50: Finish calendarising the budget. Check out where we’re likely to run into difficulties.
15h25: Write various emails - budget issues, appraisal feedback, donor reports.
16.00: Meet with Person 3 over HR issue
16h40: Meet with Felix, our Logistician, on the set-up of our new sub-base. Interrupted by another person with a question over payroll. Felix leaves to pick up some papers. He’s gone for over 10 seconds and his chair in front of my desk quickly gets filled.
17h10: Arnold pops in for a quick chat on the days work.
17h13: Person 4 arrives to discuss HR issue.
17h19: Wonder if the AC’s role is always so busy.
17h20: Feedback to Madelaine on the HIV budget.
17h25: Continue conversation with Felix on procurement and requisitions. Sign off some purchase requests. Discuss the prices we need to find out for an emergency project for displaced people in Kalima.
18h00: Try ringing our Logs Manager. No answer.
18h01: Read appropriate parts of National Staff policy manual for dealing with HR issue.
18h20: Find Yvonne still working. Suggest she goes home before it gets dark. Arrange to meet tomorrow.
18h25: Write email on logistics and HR stuff.
19h15: Go to send emails. Remember one I’ve forgotten one on security and write that. Send by BGAN
19h30: Officially finish work for the day. Go and eat dinner. Pancakes, fish and vegetable stuff. Give the rest to the guards. Eat an apple. Bit bruised – it did come with me from Bukavu.
19h50: Read through the statements for HR issues with my French dictionary at hand. Wonder whether to write the report now or leave it till tomorrow. Tomorrow wins.
20h15: Start writing a blog entry about what I did today.
20h55: Watch an episode of House and enjoy a piece of (fair-trade) chocolate a very kind person from the UK sent me.
21h45: Go to sleep, perchance to dream.
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