Sylvia's Journal

Yesterday things started to speed up. If I had not gotten that idea myself my dreams last night would have informed me. They were of the multi-tasking and sensory overload type such as trying to answer a phone when a noisy speaker truck drives by (the type they use here n Nairobi to broadcast election messages). But there were also babies being born, old movie reruns with extras I knew and a doctor’s check-up. For now I will let these swirl around in my mind while I figure out which marching orders my subconscious has hidden in these dream for me for today. I suspect there is something in them about letting go and letting something be born while taking care of myself. The latter will be a challenge as today I will do double duty: after the workshop I will jump in a taxi and head down-town for a work session with East African nurses who are re-writing the nursing curriculum in the Hilton Hotel. That’s how these things work here. They asked me to talk with them about adding something better in it about management and leadership than what they currently have: theories from dead white men from the US.

Yesterday I had set my alarm very early so I could do my exercises, write in my journal, have breakfast and be on time for Josephine and John to pick me up around 7 AM. When we got to the venue at the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA) Ida and William were already there, preparing. There was still much to be done, and there were the usual ‘start-of-workshop’ glitches. But we pulled together nicely as a team and the day unfolded much as we had expected, except for the fact that we were missing some the KIA faculty (even though we are at their place) and we were all very cold. In Kenya there are also climate surprises; global warming has made the usual weather pattern unusual.

It was a long day and even longer as there was homework for all of us and for me more exercises, footbaths and all that. Being up and on my feet most of the day took its toll: my foot was swollen and stiff, my neck and shoulders sore. The icepack was waiting in my mini fridge and did the job while I soaked my foot and answered my email; I can do all these things at the same time.