Sylvia's Journal

Yesterday was a long day that included a change in continent during the night. It is only when I got to the airport that I realized how tired I was. The prospect of two days vacation in Holland was appealing, especially since it included Axel who was waiting for me upon arrival at Schiphol at 6 this morning.

Yesterday I ended my assignment with a brief stand up meeting with the MSH team during which we discussed the operational plan that needs to be implemented between now and August, to launch the leadership program.

I checked out of my hotel early and thereby missed my last chance at breakfast at Don Vito’s, the Italian restaurant on the ground floor of my small hotel, wedged in between the London Café and the Fitness Centre. Breakfast at Don Vito’s sounds more interesting than it is, although it’s worth it just for the coffee which comes out of a giant espresso machine; the kind you’d find all over Italy but rarely in the US.

Laika the MSH driver took me to the Hilton where I arrived just in time for the morning break of the meeting which brought my colleague Karen to Addis. Among the 30 or so participants I recognized two, one from Ghana and one from Tanzania whom I remembered from previous assignments, one 4 months ago and the other 9 years ago. The conference consisted of PowerPoint presentations followed by group discussion around a case study. I had a hard time getting into it and stayed in the background.

At lunch Karen and I sat with the Ethiopian delegation which consisted of an older doctor with his young and timid staff. It was hard to get them to talk about management and leadershp. They used vague language and I suspected they really didn’t understand what management and leadership really meant. Maybe someone had convinced them that they needed management and leadership training. My quick and dirty needs assessment gave me no clues at all. Nevertheless, now that we are establishing a local leadership development team, we can offer them something of value. It would be a less complicated and costly arrangement than having to fly people like me in from afar.

Karen was on after lunch and executed a flawless presentation, the one she had practiced on me on Sunday and refined after that. The group discussion afterwards around a case study started haltingly; once again it appeared that people were not sure what they were supposed to say. The discussion heated up when one person asked whether leadership could actually be taught. With that we were off on a more engaged conversation with people debating that question rather than the four questions that the case study posed. The whole thing remained somewhat unfocused which was predictable since the desired outcome of the discussions was not entirely clear to anyone.

The organizers of the conference were happy with how things were going; but it was not my kind of conference. Having seen other modalities for people to learn and engage together, I find myself quickly bored with the more traditional style that marked this and a thousand other meetings and workshops that take place throughout Africa and the world.

I arrived at the airport with many ecstatic couples with tiny or not so tiny adopted Ethiopian children on their way to a new homeland and family. I have never seen so many adopters and adoptees together in one place. One wide-eyed little boy navigated the escalator with a huge grin on his face while holding on for dear life to his new dad’s big hands, new mom hovering lovingly behind him. He was on a big adventure; everything was new.

A nice KLM steward seated me in an empty row, far away from crying babies, which allowed me to sleep throughout the flight to Amsterdam. When I woke up we were getting ready to land. A sign, mowed in a field in gigantic letters, welcomed me home in Dutch. The message was signed by Holland’s largest producer of sausages and canned soups and stews, flooding me with memories about winter meals on dark afternoons and camping dinners with my brother in Vogelenzang.

It is a gorgeous day in Holland with everything in bloom and birds chirping. We are off to buy fresh asparagus from the field. They are white and fleshy here and worth a trip to Holland, just for that.