as we forgive

The screening of the documentary _as we forgive_ was amazing! On par with the film Invisible Children about the situation in Uganda. What would you do if your family had been murdered by your neighbors, and then 40,000 of those neighbors (genocide prisoners) were released from prison at once because it was impossible to prosecute all the killers. Would you be willing to look that neighbor in the eye? Would you be able to forgive? If you had gotten caught up in the lies and propaganda and killed your friend, could you humble yourself to ask your friend's wife or child to forgive your unthinkable act? What would it take for you to feel free again? Can killers and victims live side by side in harmony?

This 53 minute film showed in a very real way the consequences of the Rwandan genocide. Two sets of killers and victims are brought together by reconciliation mediators. You see their pain, fight against bitterness, and for some, the freedom that offering forgiveness and receiving forgiveness brings. It reminded me a lot of the Truth and Reconciliation Council that brought about much healing in South Africa in the aftermath of apartheid. Which got me to thinking, how would our country be different if we had gone through the reconciliation process after slavery became outlawed, after the Civil War? Would today's gang violence, racial poverty, and overcrowded jails be non-existent? Would there have never been the LA riots?

Check it out: www.asweforgivemovie.com

International food crisis

More overview info on the international food crisis and a quote from our boss boss man Dave in DC...
http://www.mnnonline.org/article/11136
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2041382120080320?
pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Tomorrow I'm going to go see a screening of _As We Forgive_ on the Hill, "which tells the story of two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who murdered their families during the 1994 genocide. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the Rwandan government released over 50,000 genocide perpetrators back into the very communities they helped destroy. Without the hope of justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution, reconciliation. In _As We Forgive_, director and producer Laura Waters Hinson explores the extraordinary journey of two women from death to life through forgiveness.This documentary tells of Rwanda’s rebirth through the reconciliation of victims and perpetrators. The film focuses on what Africa can teach us and the potential that reconciliation has to transform families, neighborhoods, cities, and even nations."

I'll let you know what I think about it.

Networking

Today I got to have lunch with another RD who is also in a Nutrition Specialist position for an NGO here in Washington. She was throwing out acronyms and technical vocabulary, and, I understood what she was talking about! We were able to each contribute to the other's knowledge base - me, telling her about how we did growth promotion in a development context in Bolivia (her organization does more relief type work), and her, telling me about what collaborative groups to network with to meet other nutritionists out of our normal sphere of influence. I really enjoyed talking with her!

Food Shortages

Crazy stuff going on in Haiti this week. This might not normally be on my radar, but at the moment my office mate Mitzi is trying to confirm dates to do an AIDS training in Haiti, that was supposed to happen in April, which now doesn't look likely. I am enjoying sharing an office with Mitzi - she is a focused worker, so she motivates me to do the same, but at the same time she might turn around and say something random or silly, which gives me the freedom to do likewise. We're a good combo. And she's helping me to fill my social calendar.
So back to the problems with food shortages and inflated food prices in Haiti...and Bolivia...and Mexico...and many other countries around the world at the moment. Problems that have been steadily brewing for at least the past year. What is going on? What was the decision in the global economy that finally pushed things over the edge? And why the heck is the US growing biofuel (corn becoming ethanol) on good farmland, a crop that requires so much water that in 10 years the water table will be so low that wells will dry up in Kansas?! My theory is it's all interrelated. Our decisions in the US affect our brothers and sisters around the world in more ways than we can ever fathom.

Getting settled in

Yesterday I had my furniture delivered to my new place. Yep, that's right - I have a place to live, with only a 30 minute commute from my front door to my office door. I got permission to be gone a few hours from work to receive the shipment, and I ended up needing 4 of them! Turns out the delivery guys were not that familiar with DC. And, their primary language was Spanish. Good thing I speak that language! After several cell phone calls, many times of them getting lost (plus, I think they stopped and ate lunch, I don't blame them!), later borrowing a map of DC from my roommate Megan, I basically OnStared them in to my neighborhood. As they were moving the furniture up to my new room, one of the delivery guys asked how I knew Spanish. I explained that I lived in Bolivia for a few years. To that he replied, "And how many boyfriends did you have?" So I said, "...too many to count". :)

End of week 1

I did it, I survived week 1! Every afternoon I was getting a headache at around 2pm but it would go away once I got home. I think it's stress. But today, no headache. That's improvement. I learned something new about Ethiopia. They count their hours differently - daylight and nighttime. Our 12noon is 6 Ethiopian daylight. Makes a lot of sense to me! (This came up when a co-worker and I were trying to set up at conference call with Ethiopian health staff. We came into work early to catch them (7h ahead of us) before they left work for the day!)

And good news, I have a place to live! I will be moving in some stuff this Saturday, and hopefully move in completely on April 12, once I have furniture. More in the blog to come...

First Day at the Office

Well, I survived my first day back to work! Within the first hour I found out that I'll be headed to Ethiopia in May to teach a multi-day seminar (by myself!) that I only partially attended in Bolivia. The good news about that (and the bad news I guess!) is that I already know how much work I'll need to put in to organize and prep for it. A LOT! I got issued a cell phone too (so my temporary number is 703-627-2132 if you'd like to ring me up.) However the amazing miracle of the day was running into Katelyn, my friend's sister, on the sidewalk as I was walking to the Union Station Metro station and she was walking home from her internship. Crazy! What are the odds that I would run into the only other person I know in DC randomly!