Banking on Obama

So the Irish Banks eh! Soon ye'll all be keeping yere money under the matresses again. Lets hope the goverment doesn't bankrupt themselves bailing them out. Here it has taken me less then 3 months to open a Bank account! (careful the sarcasm doesn't drip on you now). One of the guys at work kindly got a Barclay's rep to come out to meet me. After jumping through a few hoops he finally had all the documents he needed. Unfortunately he went off on Christmas holidays but never came back. So my application disappered. Of course no-one told me and it was 2 weeks into the New Year before I actually found this out. Apparently Barclays have a high turnover of sales staff. I made an attempt to open an account with Equity Bank but didn't have the required letter from VSO. Finally Co-operative bank gave me an account when I arrived in with the correct letter and a friend from work with an longterm account there. Sorted. (Also, my work visa is on its way, so I can leave and re-enter the country at will.)

On Saturday (17th), I was asked by a colleague to visit a company out near the airport to advise on IT Management Systems. The company makes and refurbishes Speed boats (fibre glass and engines - cool!). It was interesting to compare a commerial entreprise's operations with how we do things at Bombolulu. It was a short visit as we had to hurry back to oversee the painting of the yellow floor lines in Bombolulu's stores. Later that night I met up with a few volunteers for some food and then went to see the Obama movie which was good enough as political documentaries go. He is some man for one man.

The highight of the week was the Obama inauguration. It is hard not to be affected here by the upswell of optimism at his election. I'm dubious as to the tangible benefits Kenya will experience, but what a role model for the youth of Kenya. I have decided to put aside my cynicism and jump on the bandwagon, "Yes we can!". We had a power cut here, half way through the speech. The bit I saw was fair good though.

Monday morning was "Rasha, Rasha, kidogo"- a bit drizzily (my favourite kiswahili phrase so far!). The week was focused around a management meeting on Thursday. It was a challenging week of reflecting on what has been achieved/not achieved in 2008, and identifying what our goals are in 2009. It was good to hear hard questions being asked in an open forum. At the centre of the plans is the Kaizen philosophy; remember "Alone we are weak, Together we are strong".

My friend Maj sent me over a copy of the Irish times (December 6th). I sit reading it in the evenings, sipping my coffee...nothing but misery, and the odd receipe for mince pies. In 'An Irishman's Diary' Frank Nally talks about the joy of the open fire. He calls it '...the most charismatic figure in the room.'. True. Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.

M.


Cutural learning
A fellow volunteers cultural learning for the week...
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