Tumika Sa Iku Napita: Work Time Is Flying By!

Blogging is both a curse and a blessing. Writing can be entertaining but seems almost fruitless when you are ongoing so much at once.

Besides writing a 38 page market research paper, life has been pretty good. After a month of roaming around Lubumbashi, the bureaucratic hurdles, institutional disparities and buzzing backup generator have become practically normal. I was flabbergasted to find that there are no less than 4 government bureaux in charge of mineral imports and exports, all of which had a merry time sending me around in circles. In the meantime, the National Office of Employment ironically makes due with 5 employees for a province of several million people. Talk about priorities.

Some of my most interesting discoveries have been at La Brioche, the only true coffee shop in town and my appropriated second office. Unfortunately, the everyday lushois is largely uneducated. Political conversations often turn sour and the interventionist card seems always blindly played. As much as I dislike United States foreign policy, I cannot help but chuckle at these grand discourses. Mismanagement and corruption are often larger than the individual, however, self-pity and selfishness do not improve national unity in any way. In reality, if the oppressed accept to be oppressed, are they not just as condemnable as the oppressor?

In microfinance, the politics are similar. People easily blame the institution but rarely criticize their own work. Humility would truly help us all. I am the first to fail in this domain. Culture is a beautiful gift that is often misinterpreted. Westerners want to impose a business-oriented façon de faire while Africans are reticent to endorse a different approach. With some 10 days left, my long term solution would simply fall along the lines of unity. Easier said than done though.

Each sunrise is a new opportunity to learn and each sunset is a grace to reflect upon. Despite the trials of the day, the horizon is glowing red and tomorrow a new path will appear from within the darkness. Keep praying for the DRC.