In the swing of things

After sleeping well due to sheer exhaustion, jet lag seems to be settling in. Twice yesterday I found myself fighting to stay awake. Today (28 Nov) at 4am I woke up, and finally I’ve decided to get out of bed and write a little instead of going over yesterday’s events in my head.

Yesterday was a great day – I’m getting to meet so many people, and they are all very open about sharing what’s happening in their lives with me. Currently only senior staff and a few international students are at the conference. These first two days are a time both of focusing on staff needs, and also presenting opportunities that exist for student work in New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. Yesterday I head about the student movement in Vanuatu, where there is no full-time staff worker. Last year for the first time an apprentice worker went there, only 21-years-old and in his first year of training, green as grass, and yet the movement grew immensely, with many young men joining in for the first time. It’s sad to think that there are so many student groups worldwide that are without leadership or encouragement, like buds just waiting to blossom.

Lindsay Brown (former ‘director’ of IFES) spoke twice yesterday. He has stepped in to replace Daniel Bourdanné (current ‘director’ of IFES) who is unable to be here. I was very disappointed that I wouldn’t get to hear Daniel speak…but I haven’t been disappointed with Lindsay! In the morning he spoke on 10 lessons learned in 30 years of involvement with IFES, giving practical advice to staff workers. I liked the fact that he didn’t skirt around difficult issues, but dealt with topics such as the need to adjust one’s pace as one gets older, and the importance of ‘developing a bottomless capacity for disappointment’ when it comes to human beings! There is much of what he said I’d like to talk about in detail with some of you, and no doubt that desire will grow in the days to come. Eventually there will be downloadable MP3 files of the talks.

In the evening they interviewed me briefly, which was fun. My colleagues in the office will be proud of me – I was able to fit in the phrase from our new vision, ‘releasing student initiative’ and also introduced the gang here to the concept of us in the Oxford office being the ‘international service centre’ – though I also mentioned that while we liked the concept, we are still not entirely at ease with Daniel’s phraseology. Most here agree that it sounds a bit like a petrol station on a motorway. The comms team needs to work on it more I think!

Other than the conference…I attempted to go for a short run after lunch yesterday when I had a free hour. Not a bright idea, running on a full stomach, and I had forgotten how debilitating the heat can be. Only mad dogs and English men go out in the noon day sun…you can decide which I am. However, far be it from me to complain about the heat – it is delicious! Hot days and cool nights – what more can I ask for? In the night there were some spectacular thunder storms. Australia desperately needs the rain. In Melbourne, for example, they are approaching the dry season with reservoirs at only 32% capacity.

Enough rambling. Today I may get to join a group guests who are sightseeing, so tomorrow I may have a more exciting blog.

At this early hour of the day, short on sleep, I feel I’m not adequately communicating how great it is to be here. Singing with the group yesterday, though, I had a strong sense that this conference is not just about me meeting people, about learning what’s happening, and bringing back to the office all sorts of information. What’s happening here is for me, too

Below are 3 pics, in order: the two best friends of a jet-lagged me, and Lindsay Brown (in case you wonder who is he and if he is male or female!) eating breakfast.

p.s. This blog is a day late…I’m only now in the early evening having time to upload what I wrote this morning.