Well, I started writing this post yesterday, and lost the whole thing in another computer crash. My ego is being tested, as I was so proud of my new laptop purchase.
A brief summary of this week, as I fear another crash:
Wednesday - played soccer for the club I coach and play for. We lost our final game of the tournament, forcing elimination. Close game, 1-0, disappointing. Also watched my team Arsenal lose to Barcelona in a very close 2-1 European Champion's League final ending at 4 am.
Thursday: woke up early to meet my replacement, and then flight delayed until afternoon. spent afternoon chatting about the project. went to shelter coordination mtg. and discovered our timber donor is closing their project in september, even though they started delivering wood 6 months late, so they expect us all to receive double the targeted amount each month until then. I need space for 2 acres of wood every month, and trucks to move it.
Friday: woke up in the middle of the night with burning eyes, photosensitive. spent morning briefing new manager (I hope they stay, they're still not confirmed), and spent the afternoon in bed. Pain in eyes kept waking me.
Saturday: this morning the pain is still there, I will go see the paramedic (our only medical staff available) to have a look in my eyes, I may have to fly to Medan for treatment. Doesn't seem to be infection, telltale signs not there, I suspect abrasion or allergic reaction. The second half of the couple that should replace me arrives this morning, so they are going to visit the project with Tumpal, my project coordinator, while I hide in the office and take painkillers. That's it for now! Chris
Friday, May 19, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Late night rumblings
Well, sitting in the office at 11 pm, yet to go home, my stomach rumbles started shaking the desk, and then the office floor started rolling, and the door swung open, and I realized we were in the throes of an earthquake.
I've lost my fear of earthquakes, but not the sick in the stomach feeling they cause. This one was a 6.8 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usmuaw.php) that came in two phases, a rumble and then a shake. It was over in one minute, and I went back to work. At least it didn't wake me from sleep! This morning was my second medical evacuation for another NGO. Samaritan's Purse, in our partnership with Mission Aviation Fellowship, has become the main support for UN and NGO evacuations from Nias, as there is insufficient medical service, and insufficient plane service as well.
The excitement of the early morning ambulance ride, and the late night earthquake have done me in, and I'm going to bed.
I've lost my fear of earthquakes, but not the sick in the stomach feeling they cause. This one was a 6.8 (http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usmuaw.php) that came in two phases, a rumble and then a shake. It was over in one minute, and I went back to work. At least it didn't wake me from sleep! This morning was my second medical evacuation for another NGO. Samaritan's Purse, in our partnership with Mission Aviation Fellowship, has become the main support for UN and NGO evacuations from Nias, as there is insufficient medical service, and insufficient plane service as well.
The excitement of the early morning ambulance ride, and the late night earthquake have done me in, and I'm going to bed.
Monday, May 15, 2006
About Time
So, six weeks plus. No excuses. Except massive virus attacks that required formatting four computers twice each, and mine three times; mobilization of our project, initiation of a brick making project, loss of two staff, hiring of new ones, and a bunch of things I don't want to talk about.
The status is this: alive, mostly healthy, coping with my project.
The project stats are this:
Months in progress: 6
Houses built: 3
Houses in progress this month: 40
Staff:182
Concrete blocks made each day: 1200
Cubic metres of timber in my warehouse: +/- 300
Tonnes of materials moved daily: 30 to 50
Number of km. on my motorcycle in 6 months: 6000
Km. on truck: 30,000
Time it takes to get to projet site: 1hr. 12 minutes
Distance to project site: 27 km.
The at home stats are this:
No. of bars of mobile signal at my house: 0
No. of channels of TV: 0
No. of meals involving seafood each day: 2
No. of meals I eat each day: 2
Kg. of coffee consumed per week in our office: 2
Kg. of sugar consumed per week in our office: 5
No of DVDs watched more than 4 times this year: 5
No. of games of chess played: 100
No. of games i've won: 2
No. of shoes destroyed by our puppy, Bobo: 10
So, in summary, I had a new manager come to help me run the base, and let me focus on start brick production. After one month he was reassigned to cover a shortage when family pulled another manager home, returning my staff to my totalitarian reign.
However, that month was enough to lift my head above the water, and see a raft. This month has been about learning to row, as I empower my staff to make decisions, and spend more time focused on individual weaknesses. We have restructured our logistics, to get a more smooth system, hired more field staff to expand our supervisory role, and built up our brick supply.
This month is the visits month, as our regional director visited at the start, and last week HR Manager. This week, my replacements, Paul and Periskila (like Priscilla) Brinks visit, as well as our Livelihood and microfinance manager Jenny, who will look at possibilities for supporting business initatives, and helping people support themselves financially. Finally, after a staff retreat next weekend, we will have a visit from the country director and new assistant country director, who was country director of Vietnam while I was there. It will be good to see David Chang and his wife Adele and their lovely kids again.
Now that things are settling, I will have less excuses, and work on more regular postings. I still expect to be in Canada by July 6.
The status is this: alive, mostly healthy, coping with my project.
The project stats are this:
Months in progress: 6
Houses built: 3
Houses in progress this month: 40
Staff:182
Concrete blocks made each day: 1200
Cubic metres of timber in my warehouse: +/- 300
Tonnes of materials moved daily: 30 to 50
Number of km. on my motorcycle in 6 months: 6000
Km. on truck: 30,000
Time it takes to get to projet site: 1hr. 12 minutes
Distance to project site: 27 km.
The at home stats are this:
No. of bars of mobile signal at my house: 0
No. of channels of TV: 0
No. of meals involving seafood each day: 2
No. of meals I eat each day: 2
Kg. of coffee consumed per week in our office: 2
Kg. of sugar consumed per week in our office: 5
No of DVDs watched more than 4 times this year: 5
No. of games of chess played: 100
No. of games i've won: 2
No. of shoes destroyed by our puppy, Bobo: 10
So, in summary, I had a new manager come to help me run the base, and let me focus on start brick production. After one month he was reassigned to cover a shortage when family pulled another manager home, returning my staff to my totalitarian reign.
However, that month was enough to lift my head above the water, and see a raft. This month has been about learning to row, as I empower my staff to make decisions, and spend more time focused on individual weaknesses. We have restructured our logistics, to get a more smooth system, hired more field staff to expand our supervisory role, and built up our brick supply.
This month is the visits month, as our regional director visited at the start, and last week HR Manager. This week, my replacements, Paul and Periskila (like Priscilla) Brinks visit, as well as our Livelihood and microfinance manager Jenny, who will look at possibilities for supporting business initatives, and helping people support themselves financially. Finally, after a staff retreat next weekend, we will have a visit from the country director and new assistant country director, who was country director of Vietnam while I was there. It will be good to see David Chang and his wife Adele and their lovely kids again.
Now that things are settling, I will have less excuses, and work on more regular postings. I still expect to be in Canada by July 6.
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