Rice Fields to Rush Hour

Life continues on its lazy axial spin and in the ironies of life I find myself in the burbs with a 2-door garage and the proverbial white picket fence. Ex-Khmer Rouge generals shooting burglars across the street, moto-congested streets flooded half a meter deep from monsoon rains, gut soup, and expansive rice fields… all these seem but a dream in this sterile, cookie-cutter continent that smells of ajax and hair products instead of fish sauce and sweat. The persistent brown clay that still adheres to my rock climbing gear seems to be the only physical proof of my life that existed a scant 8 months ago in SE Asia.

What dimension is this? What burb on what planet entices me from my third word adventures? Or is it really me? All good questions. It is in fact me. Upon completion of my contract in Cambodia I made my way back to the States where a job interview was awaiting me. Two interviews in fact. One with World Vision as their water program manager in Papua New Guinea, and one with a growing NGO called Blood:Water Mission. Long story short I found myself in a u-haul heading to the deep American South and the soul of country western music. Blood:Water Mission is an amazing organization formed by the Christian band Jars of Clay to address the HIV/AIDS and water scarcity crisis in sub-Sahara Africa. It is by definition a funding agency, which is both ironic and a great blessing: ironic because I’m so not a a donor, but a blessing because to be an effective field worker I need to understand the backend of NGO’s, how they operate State-side, and what it takes to engage Americans.

It’s a double blessing because BWM is a great organization – it’s a small group of people my age with an amazing passion, not only for serving others, but a commitment to understanding and implementing best practices in international development. Hired on to head up up the ‘1000 Wells Project‘ which is focused on providing clean water solutions to communities, I started in February and have be able to speak into the direction and formation of the organization’s strategies, visit international and professional agencies around the country, and I’ve already hit the African continent on a three week tour of Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda.

In addition to their project strategies I’ve had fun wearing different hats from photography and writing, to leading workshops, helping with media production, and setting up and maintaining their computer systems. Did I mention it’s a mac-based organization?! That’s what really sold me on BWM – they gave me a mac laptop and let me use cool and effective software. No PC junk used here! ) (ok, actually we do have one lone, rejected PC we keep in the corner just to laugh at or kick whenever we feel depressed or vexed).

I head out to Africa again in September, this time checking out some AIDS opportunities in Kenya before shipping out to Zambia to investigate some programs we have been funding in that part of the continent. I’ll follow again in October for another trip; this one more relational than project oriented, building community relationships and helping some of our staff and board engage in the field side of our activities.

So life is a little different than it was eight months ago. Every morning the garage door opens grudgingly when I press the remote, and the automatic sprinkler system takes pot shots at me as I break for the car. 30 minutes of traffic offer little in the way of entertainment besides the occasional bumper sticker, but I make up for it by listening to Spanish audio courses and practicing my harmonica. We have a real house with a backyard where Araella plays in a sandbox, swings on a swing, and practices slacklining. We go bicycling, which usually involves people staring and shaking their heads as I whiz by with Araella strapped to my back in a pack, and we take frequent trips to the park. It’s a good place to be. Not one I want to be in forever, since the call of the wild still sounds clear and strong. But for now I’m in an amazing place and blessed to be a blessing.

I’ll post some entries I made about the Africa trip on BWM’s website and I also want to put up some closing remarks about Cambodia before I sign off on that chapter of my life. Hopefully that will put me back in the blogging groove.