One or two out of three aint bad!!!

When people ask me why I am here, I still have difficulty answering that question. My short answer to deflect anyone from delving more deeply is to say ‘Save the world, Loose weight and find a man’!! So I thought that these 3 aims would be good blog material.....

Save the World – well of course I did this in the 1st 2 weeks!` Seriously though, this is the old development debate of whether you spend your time filling skill gaps verses capacity building with your colleagues. The capacity of the Ministry is so weak and ambition to change this so high but figuring out where best to put my energies is difficult and in the meantime I do a lot of gap filling! However I am confident that I can somehow shape out a more focused role for myself in the next month or so. Of course you can never save the world but doing something that could change lives, even one, feels good. However, this doesn't balance enough against my feelings of being totally useless and hopeless in the face of so much poverty and suffering.

Loose Weight – well this is pretty easy to do when you constantly sweat, living in 30+ degrees, no longer eat diary products and spend at least 50% of your life with the runs! However, this percentage is decreasing as my body get used to the local bugs!! I’ve possibly had dysentery (I don’t really want to know) and I’ve just taken my 1st ever day off work with this most endearing of complaints although mostly I am completely well and to be honest I needed a day to myself! Also I do eat most food I’m offered on the basis that it’s rude not to, but I don’t eat things that are clearly not a good idea (like fish heads and foofoo which is indescribable mush)! I’ve even eaten some street food, so it’s just a matter of time probably before I have to get out the worm medication!!! However my ability to loose more weight is offset by the rather large of amount of beer and cider that I seem to consume. The local star beer is rather good and starts at 50p a bottle. So I’ve lost a stone and another 3 or so to go, if I can keep off the booze!

Find a Man – well on the face of it this would be the easiest of my 3 challenges as I get asked for my phone number almost every day, the record being 3 times in as many hours! And I’m not just talking about old guys with one eye, but really hunky blokes half my age! I always politely decline as I question the motives of some of these apparently lovely lads, but equally living like a nun is rather boring!

The photos are of the workshop I attend last weekend in Makeni, plus brunch at Howard and Frankie's and finally a typical Krio village setting in Bombali district. So..... hence the title of the blog.... ‘1 or 2 out of 3 goals’, well, clearly 2 is achievable, 3 is impossible but I did love that Meat Loaf song!