Ripples

Lately, I have been Facebook chatting to a good friend in the UK; this morning the wife and I rang a tour company in Uganda, I've been texting another friend in New Orleans and I just finished gmail chatting to a fellow volunteer who is in Columbo, Sri Lanka for a wedding. When did I become so cosmopolitan?

In local news, there was no further violence at rallies/funerals organised by the opposition party in Arusha yesterday to commemorate the recent Police shootings. Phew.

'Under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy'
Murdock briefing Rambo in Rambo II

What I do have on today's plate however is a furious Government employee out for blood wandering in the office. My damning report about her crappy (sorry that was intolerant, I meant 'quality challenged') training for HIV/AIDS prisoners is holding up her collecting her expected pay cheque from my NGO. Sucks, but someone needed to take the bull by the horns. That's a metaphor. But it may still actually happen before day's end.

Don't worry, terrified readers, I'm making sure my report is read and owned by our own Monitoring and Evaluation Officer (chortle...sorry, love the title in a Tanzanian context) so I am not acting as a crazed lone (white) gunman taking on the Government. He can be pretty switched on, our M and E guy when he isn't bogged down in reactive work. He approached me at lunch to say our line manager had taken him aside to get his take on it all (ie the troublesome volunteer's latest crazy rantings) and he backed me and my take on the training to her 100%. Uplifting. He's taking his time to look at all my comments, it's great to see.

My line manager just seems dazed by this whole turn of events. Might help if she actually read emails, reports, anything once in a while. Out of her depth. Man, I'm harsh today..

She's begged me not to be too kali (fierce) about this. Cause I'm such a fierce person...I'm happy to meet with the trainers and discuss my concerns/rewrites but I can't give my assent to monies being paid (unless a boss overrules me) for training that is ridiculous. How does that help anyone??

Let's see what happens. Who knows what ripples will happen from this rock being thrown into the stagnant pool that is standardised State AIDS education.

mmm ETA ripples...