A visit to an old friend.

Today, I and a friend went to visit another friend who is an artist. All three of us went to secondary school together but we hadn't met physically for about three years, although I was in touch with both of them.  My visit was majorly to discuss business, but like we always did in the old days, we used up a good 5 - 6 hours laughing and catching on our lives. So typical. 

We discussed everything under the sun; life, family, politics, religion, health and definitely the good old days and the people we went to school with. It was interesting that we were talking as if we last met just a few days ago. We just seemed to pick up from wherever it is we left off. 

Now, we are all grown up, supposedly, lived life and seen what the world is like. We have been through happy times, sad times, difficult times, uplifting times and all the kinds of times in between. We have all traveled beyond our country's borders, either for school or work and seen different cultures and met different people. But at the core of all that is that we are still the same people we were back the with our short hair and wearing red skirts and white blouses in school except maybe a little wiser.

There are some people you might meet after several years and you just can't strike up a conversation with them nor do you even feel comfortable being around them. Well, for us today, it was a successful reunion. We were still as comfortable as we were back in school. To be honest, I don't know whether it was that we have similar upbringing, hold the same values or whether we have that kind of friendship which involves mutual respect and the knowledge that everyone has something they have achieved in life and deserve to be respected. 

Anyway after hours of catching up, we finally got down to business. Again the ideas were flowing, support for each other and recognition that like were a team in school, we had to be a team to build something else, this time away from the laughing and stories. Finally the lessons we learned about teamwork, being creative and building social networks were coming in handy, because much as were are friends we went into different professions. 

I must say it was a great day, I feel lighter, hopefully so do the others. The lesson I learned is that in life no matter how independent you would like to be, you will always need someone for something even if it is just for a great laugh.

Why do we always forget that Human Resources are part of the system?

Last week I traveled to one of the districts in my country. Now anyone who knows me knows that traveling and I are not really "friends". Although some of my best adventures where while I was traveling. Anyway I traveled because I had some work to do.

Like any other district far from the Capital city, it is not that industrialised and yet it is the source of most of the cement that has built this nation. However, the thing that struck me most was that we had gone to sign an Agreement with the district leadership to strengthen the health systems, yet we found the major government hospital closed. Staff were on strike because they had not been paid for months.

The once very active hospital is abandoned and is as silent as a morgue. Infact walking into the hospital, one gets the feeling that they are walking through a ghost town.

While looking around, we came upon the two ladies. By my colleague's estimation one is about 5 - 6 months pregnant. She had come to the hospital for her regular antenatal check up but found it closed. The other one is pregnant too but barely showing. According to her, she came to hospital because she felt some pain in her tummy (for lack of a better word). She was told that the health workers were on strike and would open the Antenatal Clinic on Monday (This was Wednesday).

As lay people, and not even employed by the hospital, we could only talk to them and sympathise. As people who work in the health sector and especially as women, we felt the patients' and the health workers' pain.

So as we signed the agreement to give the district money to strengthen health systems, we hoped that it would help to ensure that the district has it in mind that the human resources are part of the system to be strengthened.

The empty compound

Waiting area

Waiting area

This was so dry, it had not been used in days

The Antenatal Clinic was locked

Got published......

Finally I have two pieces written, edited and published on Yahoo. Part of my dream come true.

Why the Libraries in Sub Saharan Africa are Facing shut down and information rules the world

Fake or Genuine: University Choices

Resturing and job cuts

So after four months of waiting, waiting and even more waiting, the Board and Management have finally decided on who goes and who stays.

Staff are called in for an impromptu meeting and for once everybody is on time.

However a few minutes to the meeting, knowing that my job is one of those to be cut, my boss calls me for a one on one session so he can cover his bases. And while I appreciate that he bothered, I don't appreciate that it took him this long to call me in for this, because now it becomes a double blow. Although, I appreciate that it is a tough job to do.

Well, we sit in and two presentations are made. What do I go away with after the meeting? That I might or might not be out of a job at the end of this week. There is something callous about any presentation on job cuts. No matter how polite or apologetic you try to be, you are left feeling like a mean guy who yanked a favorite toy away from a child.

When that letter finally makes it to your desk....

Today I saw another colleague fight to hold back tears. With donor demands, funding and job cuts, this is a common sight in many companies relying on donor funding. And no matter how well prepared you think you are, you are never prepared for that moment when you see the ink on a piece of paper telling you that your services have been terminated.

While the person leaving is more affected by the letter, there is "stayee's guilt" for those who still have their jobs albeit temporarily. There is also thoughts about having to take on the duties that Management assumes are non-existent. There is also anger towards those who make the decisions or the powers that be for doing this to both the one leaving and the one staying behind.

And so today as my colleague declares she is not going to touch a thing, my desk is full and piled up with work. Thoughts of resigning cloud my mind. So while Management (this sounds like a dirty word right now) is busy walking around to check on whether people are doing their job, you are thinking about 101 ways to get rid of Management. You want to walk up to them and tell them that the reason there were two job descriptions and two people to hold the posts is because there was that much work.

In fact, this is not the time to have some weird motivational speaker giving you that nonsense about work smart, prioritize and yet leave some time for yourself and your family.

You know you are growing old when ....

I was invited to be part of a team to facilitate a workshop for adolescent girls. We started off with a tense team of teenagers staring at us like we had two heads. That is when it struck me that I am certainly growing old if I am now the facilitator and not the participant.

When did I stop being an adolescent? I mean there was no warning or anything apart from a few aches and pains here and there. Well, those years are gone. As I looked at their shinning but very timid faces, I knew exactly how they felt. I used to be so timid, a mouse was more outgoing. I hoped that nobody would see me especially the teachers who were likely to pick on me. I got so good, they sometimes forgot I was even then.  But today, I wanted to reassure those young ladies that like me, they would soon outgrow it or be forced to be well spoken.

All the mushy stuff aside, I did not really understand their slang, didn't quite know the celebrities they said they admired, nor did I understand why some of them were dressed like they were older than their age. Goodness me, I am slowly turning into my mother. Yap, old age is definitely setting in.

But standing there and having something to share with them, made me proud that I could now stand up in front of such a judgmental and giggly group and impart "wisdom". Let's hope they picked up something I said as well as what I wanted them to see from our conduct.

I live in an urban area that is actually a rural area

I live a few kilometers from the Capital City. One would expect that I have access to all the comforts living in a city would offer. Well in a country like ours, the comforts include, horrible roads, slums, semi permanent shop structures and leaders who seem to have shady dealings.

Well, on the way to my "by the neighborhood standards" acceptable house, I found that the river was over flowing. I didn't know about it until I got there. Since the rest of the place was dry, I assume the river path must be clogged with rubbish. And who is going to clean it up? We the citizens who throw the rubbish there, are going to wait for our leaders and the Government to come clean up.

And so we have to wade throw contaminated water until the river water reduces. eeewwww. I thought this only happened in places that are far from the Capital and therefore the Government never looks there (I too blame the Government for this hahahaha).