October is frequently a very busy month for MCC country programs. It is a season when everything should be 'full under sail'. This is particularly true because much of September can be focused on orienting new volunteers, getting them placed, securing legal status for them to work, etc. This can be the main focus of the MCC Reps and administrative staff. By October, one-year volunteers should be in their assignment locations and living with their host families. With that out of the way, we can return to other operational aspects of our program, such as reviewing concept papers for new projects, receiving reports for ongoing work, and managing other administrative aspects of the program.
October and November are also months that are favored for visits from HQ and regional staff for the same reasons mentioned above. By December, people start to prepare for the holiday season, and things slow down again. The MCC East Africa region usually has its regional meetings in the month of October. This involves gathering Representatives and their families from the 6 countries that comprise the regional program, as well as regional office staff (countries are Burkina Faso, Chad, Kenya/Tanzania, Uganda, and South Sudan. A location is selected for the meeting; last year it was South Sudan. This year, however, we decided to meet in Kenya on the coast. We have gone several times to Turtle Bay Beach Resort, which has good conference facilities and is a great place to unwind.
Most of us travelled separately, arriving by plane on a Friday afternoon in Malindi. From there, it is a short shuttle ride to Watamu, where Turtle Bay is located. Our thoughtful area directors arranged for us to have the first two days virtually free so we could have some much-needed downtime. All of us are working in difficult contexts for different reasons, and having a chance to unwind on the beach is a real privilege. Rebecca, David, and I really like to do certain things when we are there, and we took full advantage of scheduling a snorkeling trip into the national coral conservation area just off the shore, among other activities. Here is a brief summary of the highlights of our time there:
Water activity highlights probably topped, for me and David, with windsurfing. I have always wanted to have a chance to learn to do it properly, and have had a few random lessons here and there. But we were each able to have 3 opportunities to go out for extended periods of time to improve our skills. I will admit that on 2 of the 3 days, the wind was quite high and the tide a bit rough, and we had less success. But on the second outing, the conditions were perfect, and we could go several kilometers back and forth offshore in front of the resort. It was a blast, although tiring, and turning the board remained a challenge.
On another day, we went stand-up paddleboarding on a nearby river that fed into the ocean. We went with the family of our Area Directors, Wawa and Kristen, and their kids (who really like David). Samuel, the MCC Chad Rep, went with us too. The wind made the trip going up the river quite challenging, yet most of us were able to make slow progress to our destination point-- a small island in a mangrove forest--where we were able to watch the sunset. The return trip was quite a bit easier as we were going with the current of the river.
I mentioned snorkeling, and several rep families went together on a short boat trip during low tide to some coral reefs that were just below the water surface. We were able to see quite a few species of fish as well as rays and eels. We spent a couple of hours out there before returning to the hotel.
We did do some body surfing during high tide as well in front of the hotel; however, in this season, there is quite a bit of dead seaweed that has to be negotiated when you are in the surf.
Our final water activity was a full-group boat trip on a dhow, actually two dhows tied together. It featured a slow trip down the river we paddle boarded on. We had a lot of really good food served to us while we travelled, and had a chance to jump off the boat into the water toward the end. This was also a sunset cruise, so we got to enjoy the view.
Other activities during our time off included a visit to the local snake park, as well as a trip to get ice cream for the kids. David, is older than the younger children, but they consider him sort of a special kind of leader who comes up with fun things to do.
During our days of relaxation, our leaders from HQ arrived, as well as other guests. This particular meeting featured strategies to maintain rep. and team mental health and well-being during stressful times. We had scheduled individual meetings with a counsellor as well as a spiritual director. The latter was new for me, but the opportunity to debrief and be counselled was very helpful, even for one session. The spiritual director was a Kenyan pastor named David Bucho, who also led our daily devotionals.
On the second day of meetings, we did something called 'speed dating', which was a short set of one-on-one meetings (45 mins each) where we went around and met various people from HQ, including the International Programs Director, Health Programs Coordinator, Donor Relations Representative, HR Representative, and Area Directors, to discuss topics relevant to our particular programs. It was a really good use of our time to have so much individual time with each person.
That evening, we did some line dancing led by Rebecca and me. We did some old favorites and introduced an interesting cotillion that gave us all a chance to try to execute a complex figure in couples. I likened it to our coordinated work at MCC with partners.
We had more conventional plenary meetings on our last day, where we heard some larger strategic discussions and how to manage cultural diversity on our teams. That evening, we capped the talk off with a cultural evening. We were invited to wear clothes from our own, or a favorite culture and do some kind of artistic presentation. Rebecca, David, and I wore Tanzanian clothes, but did a rendition of Wagon Wheel, an American country-western song. It was a good opportunity to play the banjo, guitar, and hear David's voice. He was greatly appreciated.
The next day, we packed up and began the next phase of our leadership gathering. While some folks returned to their country programs or back to the US and Canada, most of the Reps. stayed with us in Kenya for an extra 5 days to visit some of our projects in Kenya. It was a kind of learning tour.
So those of us who stayed in Kenya boarded a bus from Watamu and headed out for an 8-hour drive to south central Kenya to a town called Kibwezi to see one of our partners doing a food security project. Rebecca will give a report in the next blog entry.
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