The Sudan - 15

How many workshops, meetings, brainstorming sessions have you been in where a response to "what are our threats?" was "Landmines"? No nor have i... until now.

We started with prayers - a reading from the Koran and a reading from the bible. My toes were curling at the thought of it, but in actual fact it was a rather nice and respectful way to start proceedings. And the two "His Excellencies" graced us with their presences. One addressed the assembly in English and talked of the troubles of Sudan and the hope that we were part of the solution. The other spoke in Arabic and i have no idea what he was saying; which made me a little anxious as i was supposed to pick up after he'd finished - fortunately Fiaza did the transfer for me.
Some of our conversations today were in Arabic. Fortunately we had people who could translate back and forth, but the majority of the event was in English. Now i think i reletively sensitive to the listening and comprehension needs of people from other countries - i try to speak clearly and slowly and choose my words carefully, but today i had a couple of people ask me if i could speak a little slower. Have you ever tried to talk for a whole day at half speed? its painful. You would think that this would provide me with useful thinking time while my mouth slowly churned out the words, but no - it simply meant i was having a conversation with myself about how painful it was to talk so slowly.

There are about 40 people in the workshop - and about a 50/50 split male/female. Every one is very nice. Four of the men chose to wear ties (that truly is hardcore in this heat) everyone else is much more relaxed in thier dress. Me? today for the first time i felt a bit sweaty - is it my nerves? the running around? or is monsoon season approaching?
I discover a new challenge for the facilitator-in-sudan. You need twice as much masking tape as you might use in cooler climes. Every room here has 2 or 3 fans and aircon turned up to 11. not only does it make the room noisy, but it also turns it into a frikking wind tunnel - you cant hold the flipcharts and postit notes down without a lengthy strip of tape.

We dont take a break here, we take breakfast. At 11am - its as big as an evening meal! I didnt partake. I was offered what looked like a hamburger. I didnt want to offend so accepted, took a bite and discovered chicken inside - pinkish and a bit rubbery? Spit or swallow? I think its a bit rude not to swallow... so i did. I await the outcome.

All in all a successful day i think. people seemed pleased, client seems pleased (despite wanting to continue planning for tomorrow until 11.30 pm). Its always a good feeling to get day 1 under your belt