Sylvia's Journal

Today we are meeting with the ‘high excellencies’ as senior government staff (or maybe it is people in power) are called here. There is some nervousness about dealing with them, a worry to displease them. Even with my team of highly educated and confident people, there are edges of fear and powerlessness. History has taught people here that men and women in power are arbitrary and finicky I suppose. It is a history that is too recent to forget. Of course by now I am rather anxious to see these high excellencies in the flesh.

Yesterday’s noodle soup breakfast contained pieces of everything that walks and swims: squid, shrimp, ground pork, duck, chicken and liver. It was good. The only problem with this kind of breakfast is that the wet and slippery noodles splatter the broth on my clothes.

Today I am skipping breakfast once more because I am leaving for the meeting hotel before the restaurant opens. Energy bars again.

Yesterday morning Naomi and I arrived during the morning devotional – a daily ADRA routine – and found the staff in conversation with each other in the small library that has been our home during the day. With Khmer or English bibles open in front of them they were comparing Salomon’s prayer, at the opening of the Great Temple in Jerusalem, with the Lord’s prayer. Staff responded to queries in soft spoken Khmer. This is possible because the Americans on the staff are either fluent or at least understand the local language.

I pondered about this as an organizational practice: a contemplative half hour before the start of the work day and talking with each other about matters of the heart and the spirit. I tried to imagine this happening at MSH (impossible, or maybe too late?) and the effect it would have. I have witnessed such a gathering at ADRA headquarters in the US with a much larger group and wonder how the intimacy can remain.

More prayers were requested, this time especially for our upcoming workshops to be successful and for people travelling. I liked that. We can use all the help we can get.

We spent more time going over old material, checking understanding of concepts, practicing on each other in Khmer and adding some new material. The confidence levels are rising which is a good thing because the day of the rookie facilitators’ solo performance is approaching fast.

For lunch we were invited to the country director’s home and while listening to Christmas music enjoyed a simple vegetarian meal under the watchful eye of the Jesus pictures I remember so vividly from elementary school which was a public school under the helm of a Seventh Day Adventist who put his church’s particular religious stamp on my early development, to the great irritation and consternation of my father. But I loved these Jesus pictures and was a lilttle jealous of all the children of my age, in all colors of the rainbow who got to sit on his lap. I also liked the lambs and lions sleeping at his feet. Yesterday;s picture was taking against the background of the construction site of the Great Temple or maybe it was the tower of Babylon, with the children, but no animals.

After lunch the countdown started towards today’s event with all the support staff busying themselves with the logistics. Although I had not intended to be the main facilitator today, in the end we all agreed that it would not be fair to put the team on the spot when there is much at stake and they don’t feel quite ready.

But a few days from now they will be on the stage. Next, on Thursday and Friday, will be a two day meeting in Kampong Chams province with the local ‘high excellencies’. From then on all meetings will be conducted in Khmer. My role will be to coach from the sidelines and give indvidual feedback in private. I simplified all the notes and we assigned sessions to pairs. Everyone is instructed to observe carefully what I do today, take copious notes and start visualizing themselves in front. This means that I have to stick to the notes myself, something that will be a little challenging.

After another yummy afternoon break with yet another new fruit among the abundance of fresh fruits, our expensive professional interpreter arrived to check on translations. The team fired English words at him which he returned, translated into Khmer. We had been a bit worried about this meeting because at first he was very busy establishing his credentials and we did not feel he was listening. But in the end the exchange was fruitful and agreement reached on which words to use for the various concepts. Everyone left in high spirits. We certainly had made huge progress since last Thursday.