“One day I really want to do work in Africa!"
It amazes me sometimes, how I end up getting to my goals. Everybody knows that I’m goal-oriented, disciplined, hardworking and I appear to accomplish a lot. I always have 5-year plan and annual goals, etc. But most people don’t know that time and time again I achieve my goals quite unintentionally. I’ll have a desire for a big thing and somehow, without me really aiming at it, I find myself just where I want to be. It's like in the regular course of things, I decide to do something out of conviction, or friendship or obligation or just because someone asked me and then, all of a sudden... I'm teaching in Africa and trying to help those who are committed to changing their country for the better.
Case and point: my decision to attend my friend’s youth leadership development workshop in Nigeria this week. I came because I had promised Pammy for 5 years that I was going to come and see what she does. I wanted to show her how much I admire her dedication, resilience, creativity and brilliance- that she left law school and developed an international consultancy that supports community and economic empowerment and development. She has worked all over Africa and in Mississippi, where she is from, on many of the toughest issues in some of the poorest areas around the globe. I also admire Pam because she possesses skills that i am quite weak at: she is super organized, planful and talks slowly and listens without interrupting!
But only yesterday did I learn that by accepting her invitation, I was accomplishing my own goals. In fact, I discovered yesterday that I am the honored guest here!! (Maybe I should have read the letter of invitation from the Development and Leadership Institute but I thought it was just a letter we needed so that I could get my visa quickly). As the honored guest and the “international consultant on diversity and leadership,” I was asked to make comments about leadership after a panel of really fabulous young men shared their views on Ron Heifetz’s (JFK School of Public Administration) 4 leadership principles. My heart and my head were so excited, happy and engaged -- to hear, to listen, to offer ideas, and to have such difficult principles grounded in the struggles of the people here in the River States. It was amazing!
And there is something really undeniable about how Nigerians speak- is it the accent, the passion, the volume, the call and response from the audience? I don’t know, but it is electric and sometimes wild. Also, the way they sing!
Yesterday as I sat in my sterile office park office—hot water at the ready, either by turning on the tap, or as the red spout from the filtered water cooler, or out the side of the coffee maker also sending a hot drip though the corporate-serviced coffee machine all embedded in the kitchen plumbing, not to mention the array of ladies rooms on each floor— writing some spin on the process of scripting capabilities into the plug-in of a backend data source for some client server software into an accessible yet technically accurate marketing piece, I clicked over to Verna in the Motherland 2010. Oh how I would have thrown in all the hot water for the cool checked buckets on Verna’s bucket list. Given the way you hap into your goals, Verna, I’d say someone put that electric coil in that bucket to make hot water for YOU.
ReplyDeleteI have so much more to say, but I’ll add one more thing here for now. The difference between the words, tone, and fun from India and Nigeria really stand out. More joking, enjoying and being your you in the blog from your motherland: how it is with family and heritage and what’s more yours. Thank you for getting at the big, the small, and the random of your time there. It’s all enormous; I really love reading you. Mary
Wow, what a lovely friend you are! i love reading your writing, your observations and love that you can, as we say, "feel me." I spoke to my dad today and I told him that everybody everywhere is black. I said, "dad have you ever been in a place like that?" He said, "never, baby, never." It is absolutely a new life experience. see ya soon. miss you.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited you got to achieve a goal. Of course! Our Father always manages to do exceeding abundantly above. 3:20 remember? That's our motto and theme for the year!
ReplyDeleteOh and HI PAMMY!!!! You look great and I'm going to keep my promise to visit too. It's on my "Glory List." (Ask Verna what I mean by "Glory List.")
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