Meetings

One aspect of living here is that you sometimes feel that you never quite know what is going on. Things seem to happen, or not happen, without you quite knowing how or why! Meetings, be they with individuals or groups illustrate this well. In fact, the way meetings happen altogether is different here, it makes forward planning tricky!

Little appears to be arranged a long time in advance. So, a couple of weeks ago there was a quarterly review meeting to which all heads of department were “invited” (the invitation said you were expected to attend). The meeting was to be on Friday but the invitations went out on the Wednesday. One consequence was that a planned two day visit to a northern area, to review progress on ENP work (see “What we are doing” blog) was cancelled so the BDD Co-ordinator could be at the meeting.

After Peter’s first working day, a Friday, the plan was that a ‘programme’ would be arranged, starting on the Monday, for him to find out what was happening. However, on the Sunday the BDD coordinator came round to say that he was going to be away for three days, from that afternoon, reviewing ENP work in the South, so no programme would be arranged until later in the week. This visit was known about on the Friday so the programme was never going to be done on Monday. When the programme did start many of the individual meetings had to be rearranged. Similarly, Gill has had various meetings she has gone to only to find they have been cancelled. Everyone else seemed to know but she didn’t, or there is a meeting you find out about an hour before it is due to start.

Quite often we need to speak to an individual. If you try to fix a date in the future they are more likely to say “shall we talk now”, and there is an expectation that we will. This means that, when you say you’d like to meet, you need to be prepared for the meeting right then, not think you’ll be ready for the later date. Also, if you don’t meet then the response might be “I’ll be around tomorrow morning”, so you go the next day and find the office locked. You ask if so-and-so is around and you may be told that they are away for a few days, or that they will be around later. Gill spent about four days visiting an office to talk to someone before she finally caught him in. She had found him in one day but he was talking to someone else. If you go in in such circumstances then they will stop what they are doing and talk to you, but Gill did not want to be rude and interrupt, so left them.

It just takes getting used to, once you begin to understand the way it works (I was going to say understand the ‘system’ but am not sure that would be the right word!) then it is OK. A great thing here is that relationships are what matters, building relationships and making time for people, however busy you are. Relationships are fundamental. It means that, whenever you walk past people you great them, say “Bonjour” (or “Mbote” in Lingala – see were learning a bit) and often shake their hand. If you know them, even if only vaguely, then you stop and chat. Increasingly we are finding that this is how you build the relationships, and build trust so that you can have useful discussion at other points.

These informal, chance, meetings can also be really useful. Earlier in the week we needed to get to Arua, in Uganda, for supplies. We had arranged a lift with some volunteers we have met who are working with the Catholic church but needed to get to the church and did not know how to get across town to it. Gill met someone and asked for directions and his response was to say he would arrange for someone to come with him and he’d collect us on his motorbike (this is the common form of transport here, many rides can be hired but the roads are very rutted, potholed and not good [no tarmac at all here]). People are incredibly helpful here! It all went well and we have now been brave enough to try being on a ‘moto’. They drove safely! If we had not had the chance meeting we are not sure what we would have done.

 

A couple of weeks ago Gill met the bishop in her meanderings. He told her that there was some IT work he’d like her to do. First question: if she hadn’t bumped into him would he have mentioned it? A meeting was arranged – the bishop is very reliable! He does plan his meetings, and is relatively strict about time, most unusual here. There’s a library in the nursing college behind our house and he wants the records computerising. He also wants the catalogue to be available to students on the internet. He’d also like all the student records for the college computerising. Mmmmmm! This presents her with something of a dilemma. How to produce a system with the technology they have, that will do the job, be maintainable by local people, and that she can write!

Work has begun….

Here's a picture of something, not Gill working!

Nothing to do with meetings (we don't have any photos of random meetings), but this is an injured local resident. Spot the missing leg!