kspencerinafrica

eyes re-opened

2010-07-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

Everywhere. Something new. My eyes are opened and re-opened again. Women on the streets carrying enormous loads of items for sale on their heads. Young boys carrying heavy buckets of bread. I went for a run on the beach and a boy started to run alongside me. He only began talking once I said something to him. He spoke little English. He came from Guinea. He wants to learn English. He sleeps under

Boliva, Peru and off to the Ecuadorian Amazon

2009-06-26T19:12:00.000-07:00

After an exciting start in La Paz, Andrea and I made our way to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca. It was everything we had hoped for. A heavenly hotsel overlooking the town and the lakeshore, sunset hikes up the hillside, sunshine and great company. Along with three Brits we picked up in a restaurant our 5-some took off on a day long hike and then a tiny motorboat ride out to La Isla Del

Welcome to Bolivia

2009-06-10T10:36:00.000-07:00

2 days without sleep and I have been running on empty since my 6am arrival in La Paz. Still have yet to be let into a room in this little backpacker's hostel, which meant l had one of two options today: sit with my bag in the cold little hostel or leave my bag with all the other unattended bag to wander around the city. I chose option #2, which despite my exhaustion, proved to make for a lovely

Varanasi

2009-06-08T15:30:00.001-07:00

Written March 27, 2009The Ganges sparkles with hundreds of candles floating on the water. The air is filled with the sound of bells and the music of the nightly puja ceremony. The breeze is warm and, I'm afraid, filled with a slight smokey musk coming from the cremation fires nearby. I wonder what David Whyte would write if he was sitting here...listening to, watching and

Where the earth meets the sky

2009-06-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

"Meantime let us count our blessings - I mean those thousands of peaks, climbed and unclimbed, of every size, shape and order of difficulty, where each of us may find our own Mt. Everest" - HW TilmanWritten March 9, 2009:I used to look up the hillside on summer trail rides, aspen tree leaves sparkling in the sunlight all around me, and I'd imagine riding to that place where the top of the hill

All Kinds of Beautiful

2009-04-30T08:48:00.001-07:00

"Running all around all around... all kinds of beautiful". You never know what you are going to get or how things will end up, but I still believe that it all happens for a reason. I attended the annual ARC gala with my mom, dad, and Teddy in late February. At the event, a young man, who was blind and autistic, played the piano absolutely beautifully - such a gift. Dan Wilson, formerly the lead

Shoshoni

2009-04-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I had to go to India, but all I had to do was drive 45 minutes north of Boulder, Colorado to get a taste of the ashram experience. At Shoshoni I observed silence for 3 days, I turned off my phone and computer and retreated into myself. I meditated for an hour at 5am every morning, I did two yoga classes and one pranayama (breathwork) class each day, and went to an evening meditation or

kspencer not in Africa

2009-04-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

In the past whenever I have had the freedom to choose where to go I have almost always found a way to choose Africa (hence the title of my blog). When December 5th arrived and I had 8 months of freedom ahead of me with the world as my limit, Africa was, for the first time in my life, not on my immediate agenda. After a month of visiting and spending time with family and friends who I hadn't seen

Start Close In

2009-04-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

After that autumn morning and some honest conversations with friends and family, I knew that leaving my job was the first step. I wasn't sure what would come after that, but I trusted that the next step would come to me after I took the first one. David Whyte's poem guided me through the difficult week or so leading up to my resignation.Start Close InStart close in,don't take the second stepor

The moment I knew I had to make a change

2009-04-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

It was a warm autumn day in Washington D.C. and I was sitting outside at my favorite little coffee shop around the corner, Java House. I love sitting in there on that picturesque street and watching the world quietly go by. On this one day I let my mind wander away from the GRE workbook in front of me to thoughts that have frequently tugged at my mind. For whatever reason, this time when the

Today in Takaungu

2009-01-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Takaunguin my mindI sat on the roof and sketched in my journala picture of the other rooftopsI sat on a mat with Grace and the kidsmy familyunder the stars and palm treeswe discussed how strange it is those moving lights in the skywe ate coconut ricesilent in the breezeI walked the girls to school in the morningand then I ran through the villageinto the Indian ocean wearing all of

let go and let God

2008-07-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

“Let go and let God”. Cory’s words keep coming into my mind today. Appropriate for a Sunday in Kampala when the city center empties and people fill the churches and other places of worship. How perfect to have been able to practice my own “religion” this morning. Numerous friends referred me to Kevin and Gavin, who have a beautiful home on the outskirts of the city. More modest than the average

back to Uganda

2008-07-12T12:45:00.001-07:00

After a 7 hour drive, a 4:30am wake up and a long day of plane rides, I arrived at the office suitcase in hand both physically and mentally exhausted. When I checked emails from the airport during a layover I saw that there was some talk of my going to Uganda to do some work for a proposal. However, there had been talk of my going to Uganda multiple different times during the year and it had

how I want to know that sun

2008-07-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

"...we are the one terrible part of creation privileged to refuse our flowering. I know in the text of the heart the flower is our death and the first opening of the new life we have yet to imagine...How I want to know that sun, and how I want to flower and how I want to claim my happiness and how I want to walk through life amazed and inarticulate with thanks". David Whyte's words have counseled

Lagos

2008-02-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

Determination, desperation, isolation, resentment…a few of the words that come to mind as I look at the man’s face as he steadily pushes his wheelbarrow full of barrels of a mysterious substance up the slope of the expressway. Was he born here? Or was there a time back in the village when a cousin told him of a land of opportunity and the younger boys cheered as he packed his bag and hopped onto

15 Minutes From Africa

2008-01-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Abuja, Nigeria. People warned me before going to Abuja, that this was not a “fun” destination. That it doesn’t feel like Africa. Thankfully, since this was my 6th trip over to Africa and 13th African country to visit, I didn’t feel a real need to see the “real" Africa. I felt ok having low expectations. I immediately recognized why others are not excited about assignments in Abuja. It is unlike

Coffee from Kenya to Nigeria

2008-01-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me well knows that one of the things I enjoy most in life is a good cup of coffee. The comfort in holding a warm mug with both hands, the soothing sense as it warms me up from the outside in and inside out. I look forward to my coffee everyday no matter where I am, but I don’t think I really learned the depth of my love until I began traveling in Africa, where a good cup of

Prayer in the Parking Lot

2008-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

In today’s reading from "Mediations from the Mat", they talk about Abhyasa, or practice, and how it "is really about making something a priority".I haven’t been able to focus on my yoga practice as much as I would like to recently. The 3 weeks leading up to my trip in Nigeria were busy and I rarely found the time, or made the time, to get on my mat and practice, not even to just sit and meditate

"The Bush"

2008-01-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

My operations manager is as intense as I expected, but I didn’t anticipate how hard core she would be outside of the office! First day in Abuja and she had me mountain biking. It was an absolute blast and an excellent way to start my three weeks in the country. 3 guys and the two of us hit the road beginning in a wealthy neighborhood where the Governors (big guys in Nigeria) have their "lodges"

Welcome to Nigeria!

2008-01-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

Mohamed handed me his business card towards the end of our flight and said that if I ever needed anything or stopped in Rome to please give him a call. Director of IFAD Africa (IFAD being a donor organization financing agricultural development projects), I had a feeling that I would make use of this offer. I did not realize that I would need him 30 minutes later!First one off of the plane I was

In the blink of an eye

2007-03-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

It’s as though I closed my eyes for a second and woke up two weeks later. I feel like I returned to the U.S. yesterday, and years ago at the same time. On the last night the participants of the GYPA Global Kimeeza were in Uganda we had a reflection session where I gave them words of advice and preparation for the reverse culture shock and adjustment that they would face upon returning home. I

Reflecting on my role with GYPA

2007-03-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Brooke Jordan, a participant on this past January's Global Kimeeza II asked me to write a bit about what I am doing with GYPA, why I am doing it, what inspires me etc. It turned into a bit of a journal (or blog) entry. Since anyone who reads this is reading it because they are intersted in what I'm doing, what my thoughts are... I thought I'd share it here as well...I have always been devoted

Whitney gives me publicity :)

2007-03-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

My incredibly supportive friend, Whitney Bull, sent Hamilton College the article in the East African Business Week (in previous post) and as a result, the following appeared on the Hamilton website. Although I was kind of embarassed by the article (and some of its false facts), it does feel good to be recognized. More importantly, however, is how good it feels to have friends who encourage me,

2007-03-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

The following is an article that was published a few weeks ago in the East African Business Week on GYPA. Although Ben created a few facts (I was never a "research fellow" for the Corporate Council on Africa!), he wrote a great article that articulates the value of GYPA programs. East African Business Week; Unveiling OpportunitiesHow Uganda, American youth syndicate could create jobs

Current Events...

2007-03-02T06:41:00.000-08:00

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4686&l=1

2007-02-28T06:51:00.000-08:00

Paicho IDP Camp"What would it take to live as if neighbors, strangers, even enemies are brothers and sisters? To always protect women and children and to stand in the onslaught of every moment for something more beautiful than what we now believe in..." - UgandaRisingThe following is from Uganda Conflict Action NetworkCall Congress to Pass Urgent Resolution Supporting Uganda Peace Talks

Normalizing Conflict

2007-02-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

What continually amazed me in Gulu was how people seemed to move about life as though nothing had ever happened to them. One woman named Ana told me how her sister had lost both of her husbands to the rebels. One had been murdered in an ambush. Soon after her sister remarried her second husband was "hacked to pieces" in front of his parents whom he had been checking on. Ana told me this as

"We may be poor, but we are able"

2007-02-20T02:31:00.000-08:00

I arrived in the relaxed state previously described to sit with the women’s group for the last time before my departure for the US. The plan was for me to join them at their regular Sunday meeting, but to arrive an hour earlier than usual. They were all sitting in their bright African clothing on mats laid out on the ground in the shade of a tree. I was given my usual place on a coach in front

Sunday in Namuwongo

2007-02-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon in Kampala. A cloudless sky, the hot sun, a cool breeze, and empty streets as all of the city’s inhabitants were in church, made for an ideal boda ride through the hilly capital city (A boda boda is a small motorcycle). Empty city streets are a rarity in East African cities. In fact, I can’t recall a single day when the streets of Nairobi were anything other than

One Mango Tree & one woman's story

2007-02-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

During the past few weeks significant progress has been made in our One Mango Tree venture. When I am not working on writing reports, emails or trying to sort through my millions of thoughts for GYPA, I have been in Namuwongo with the women’s group. One of my biggest weaknesses is over-commitment and I was definitely concerned that I had given myself too many tasks when I decided to stay and

Tikkun Olan

2007-02-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

When Jared asked me what I wanted to do with my life, I couldn’t really articulate. When I asked Jared what he wanted to do with his life, he replied “Tikkun Olan”, which translates as “healing the world”. This led us into a typically insightful conversation over how such a life goal can be manifested.I think that many of us who enter into the field of development in any way have an underlying

Without Expectation

2007-02-15T08:51:00.001-08:00

One lesson that has been reinforced during the last few months is the pointlessness of having expectations. The only appropriate expectation to have is that nothing will ever work out as you had initially expected. If you go into an activity as simple as going to the super market with the expectation of finding exactly what you are craving, you will almost always leave disappointed and with the

Brief Encounters

2007-02-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest parts of traveling alone is the time it leaves for journaling, and the necessity I end up placing on writing as it becomes my only outlet. Another aspect of traveling alone that I value is the openness it creates, particularly with regards to meeting other lone travelers. Unfortunately, the two don’t always compliment each other. When I encounter someone who I am able to

In the residue of memory…

2007-01-31T07:03:00.000-08:00

“I wake in the middle of the night to dead silence. The stars have vanished. Am I dreaming? I have the sense my body is beached, embedded in warm sand. The ripples of my windpipe, ribs, and spine hardly break the mackerel wave of the sand dunes around me. From here I could keep very quiet and watch the world…The pilgrimage is complete. Life is a barren waste to cross and along the way we’ll

Innocence Defined

2007-01-31T07:02:00.000-08:00

Something I think about a lot since Kenya is how a lot of the time I feel sensitized to the things I see in Africa. I can walk into an HIV/AIDS clinic and see tiny children who clearly have only days left and I can walk out and go onto the next activity relatively un-phased. I don’t know if un-phased is the right way to put it, clearly I am affected and upset, but I don’t cry in situations that

"As a child, it is my right to play"

2007-01-31T06:54:00.000-08:00

One of the main reasons I traveled to Gulu this past weekend was to attend Abramz’s breakdance classes at a local NGO called HEALS. Aside from being a captivated onlooker, I was there to take pictures and video that I will combine with footage from the Kampala classes in order to create a fundraising video for the project. Abramz and his two incredibly talented friends Hakim and Abdul spent an

Deo Gracias

2007-01-31T06:50:00.000-08:00

When we brought the American participants to Gulu 2 1/2 weeks ago, our only guy, Kris, and I went and got a soccer ball to go play with the kids on the field behind hotel Kakanyero. The first boy we encountered was named Deo Gracias (12 years old). Deo immediately offered to teach me how to play “futbol”. Soon our number went from about 5 to more than 20. Kris was able to play with some of

Space and Time

2007-01-31T06:46:00.000-08:00

Overlooking Gulu town from the Kakanyero balconyIt’s amazing, the small things you notice, the small things you experience when you go to a place for a second time – or maybe it’s just when one is alone. When you are alone all of the space that was filled with conversation, planning, wondering about others, laughing with others, activities together…becomes empty space…empty space open to even

Settling in...

2007-01-23T05:47:00.000-08:00

During the last few years I’ve “lived” in 5 different places (Minnesota, Kenya, South Africa, New York, and D.C.) and each time it’s become more and more easy to adapt quickly, settle in, and feel comfortable and at home. I’m not sure if it’s my love for the region, life’s daily content, the manageability of the city, the friendliness of the people, or if I’ve just learned how to make any new

Current Events

2007-01-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

While Halle and I were on one of our long matatu (taxi) rides to Sipi Falls, on the border of Uganda and Kenya for a two night vacation, we heard that Alice Lakwena passed away in a Kenyan Refugee Camp. Alice Lakwena was the founder of the Holy Spirit Movement over 20 years ago, a movement that in some ways gave birth to the current conflict with the Lords Resistance Army. I'm not sure what the

On Our Own - written Jan 17th

2007-01-20T06:20:00.000-08:00

I am sad to say that I have not had time to so much as pick up my journal in the last week and a a half. I am behind in my journal, which means that my blog is far from an updated account of what I've been up to and what my plans are.Before going further there are a few important people to introduce. There were 4 main leaders of the Global Kimeeza II Summit (along with some others, but for the

Africa is an addiction

2007-01-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

Seriously... I don't know how to explain it, but you just can't get enough! I've extended my stay in Uganda for another month, who knows from there... Halle, my U.S. Kimeeza II co-coordinator, is hanging around for another week so once we drop the participants at the airport tomorrow we're going to check into a nice hotel for one night for some re-grouping, non-starch food, laundry, 100 warm

What about the girls?

2007-01-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Sometimes people (including myself in the past) forget that not all child soldiers are male. The number of girls who have been abducted in northern Uganda and other regions of conflict is astounding. When abducted they are made into sex slaves as well as fighters. Sister Hellen from an organization called Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate took me with her yesterday to visit their project

Canokema David

2007-01-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

Today we took the participants to GUSCO Gulu Support the Children Organisation, a rehabiliation center for abducted children who return from the bush. There are only 6 children at the center currently, down from upwards of 300 at any given time 2 years ago. They assume that this means that fewer children are being abducted.We then went to Paicho IDP Camp, a 40 minute drive from Gulu town. Many

2006-12-29T11:43:00.000-08:00

"What would it take to live as if neighbors, strangers, even enemies are brothers and siters? To always protect women and children and to stand in the onslaught of every moment for something more beautiful than what we now believe in"-UgandaRising

Uganda January 2007

2006-12-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

On January 2nd - 17th I am co-leading GYPA's Global Kimeeza II in Kampala and Gulu Uganda. The theme of the program is: The Role of Youth in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda. Although the 20 year conflict is not yet over, with continued dedication and effort on the part of the Ugandan government, the Southern Sudanese government and the international community, peace will come to northern Uganda.