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6 Months of Reading

January 21st, 2012 3 comments

As of this week, we have been in Swaziland for six months.  In my last blog post I talked about just how much has changed in the past year and how I now feel we are settling into our "new normal."  One part of our new routine that I am very grateful for is that ability we now have to read much more.  I have always enjoyed reading – especially historic nonfiction – but now it is easy to fit reading into our days.  What is crazy is that I don’t feel like I have turned into a bookworm; however, that must be the case since I just realized that I had read well over 20 books in 6 months.  Here is the list in alphabetical order.

1984 – I started reading "Hunger Games" but Beth took the kindle from me, so I started reading the classic dystopia book.

Animal Farm – At one point a few months ago I found an old paperback copy of this book in the closet and decided it was probably one of those books that everyone should read.

Bonk – I love Mary Roach and after reading all her other books, I figured I should read this one too.

Cold Death (or something like that) – I am not sure of the title, but this was another paperback I found in the closet.  It was about a bunch of trappers that died in Canada.  Not a great read.

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas – Another one of those books that I felt obligated to read if for no other reason than to connect with the cultural references it creates.

Flight to Heaven – Thought it was "survival story," but quickly realized that was not the main point.

Freakonomics – I had a pdf copy of this given to me and really enjoyed reading it.  I love the "approachable science" type  books.

Heart of Darkness – I have had this book on my kindle for a while, but finally found the time to read it.  Unlike some "classics" that I feel like I should read, I really enjoyed this one.

HIV/AIDS: A very short introduction – I read this book on the airplane over.

Hunger Games Trilogy – Beth got me to read these.  I enjoyed the concept, and found them very engaging, but I thought the last book ruined the trilogy.

  • The Hunger Games
  • Catching Fire
  • Mockingjay

Journey on the Estrada Real – This book was written by an author whom we met here in Swaziland while he was doing a story on the Cabrini sisters.  I really like his wry humor and crazy stories.

Kitchen Confidential – yet another book I found in our closet.  It was entertaining.

Lab 257 – I just finished this book tonight and found it interesting, but a bit wandering in terms of the topic.

Love Mercy – It was very interesting to read this book since it is about friends of mine from Kentucky going on a trip to Swaziland.  It was odd to read a book about people I know going on a big journey to the place I live.

Stieg Larsson Trilogy – I hardly every read modern fiction, but absolutely loved these books.

  • The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest
  • The girl who played with fire
  • The girl with the dragon tattoo

The Communist Manifesto – Another book I have had on my kindle for a while and felt like I should read.

The five dysfunctions of a team – Since I am getting more and more into the management side of things, I wanted to have some fresh ideas to have bouncing around my head.

The Red Badge of Courage – I read this book when I was in school and had downloaded it awhile ago. I didn’t like it then, and thought I might have just been too immature to appreciate.  But unfortunately no… I still didn’t like it.

Unbroken – This was a great true story of an olympic runner turned solider turned POW.  Excellent!

 

Of all the books, Unbroken was probably my favorite.  I also really enjoyed Freakonomics.  I enjoyed reading the fiction books more than I expected I would.  I also found myself fascinated by the classics "Heart of Darnkess" and "1984."

Who knows what the next 6 months will hold.  On one hand, I have read a lot of the books on my "to read" list and I don’t have a lot of books I am dying to read.  However, I actually expect to have more time to read now that things have started to settle down.  All I know is that the next book I will be reading will be Tipping Point because I already have it on my kindle.

If you have any suggestions on what I should read next – especially in the exploration/survival and "approachable science"  genres – please send me an email or leave me a comment.

Categories: Thoughts Tags: ,

MLK Day in Swaziland

January 16th, 2012 No comments

Beth and I celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in Swaziland, and needless to say, it was much different than experiences in prior years.  We missed bundling up Mikayla (our own little MLK) for a cold march through Bowling Green Streets.  We missed attending the church service at State Street Baptist.  We missed processing through MLK’s legacy with like-minded people.

220px-Martin_Luther_King_Jr_NYWTS

We missed a lot, but we didn’t miss out on the remembrance.  I listened to King’s "I have a Dream" speech three times today.  The first time was in my office where I found it still causes tears to stream down my face.  The second time was at a staff reflection service, and the third was sitting at home winding down for the evening.

Processing through the day with our Swazi staff was a real treat.  After all, while most of them know of King, none of them really understood the full significance of his life and legacy.  There were 5 Americans there: our family and the two sisters.  Sister Diane is old enough to remember the march and the effect it had on the nation.  Sister Barbara is old enough to have seen many of the effects of the civil rights movement come into fruition.  Beth and I are old enough to realize just how fortunate we are to live in a more enlightened time.  And, Mikayla is old enough to live in MLK’s dream of a world where "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

Reflecting on the speech in Swaziland provided a fresh view of King’s vision.  We have experienced a total racial inversion in the last 6 months from a world of white super-majority to white super-minority.  But, we are doing it in a country that has largely been spared the racial tensions of it closest neighbors and the world as a whole (The white and black on the Swazi flag represent racial unity, which is unique in this region).  Also, it was profound to hear Martin Luther King speak about the "blank check" his country had written him since so few of the promises for freedom and equality had been fulfilled.  We heard those words in a country where the new constitution promises freedoms and liberties that few have seen implemented.

Finally, it was significant to celebrate an "American" holiday by delving into a discussion of how Kingdom usurps Empire.  In a nutshell, this was the vision and dream that King shared with the world: things are not the way they are supposed to be, but we are a trajectory of total restoration.

Our celebration was much different than years past, but it was equally as significant.

[By the way, if you haven’t listened to King’s I Have a Dream speech today, please take the time to do so.]

2011 Year in Review (AKA: US to Swaziland in 5 years or less)

January 14th, 2012 3 comments

The coming of a new year gives us a reason to reflect on the year that was. Inevitably, we notice how fast time goes by and how, in a relatively short time, so much can change. That notion of mutability was amplified for us in 2011.

One year ago, my wife Beth and I both had jobs we loved. We lived in a comfortable house in a quiet sub-division where we knew our neighbors. We had a great support network of friends and family. We drove cars that were paid off. Our daughter had every luxury a one-year old could want. Heck, one year ago, there was probably snow on the ground, Christmas candy on the table, a Netflix movie streaming over the Internet and left over food from our favorite restaurants in the fridge.

Today, as I am writing this reflection, I am sitting in the dark because a summer storm has knocked electricity out. My whole family is sweating because it hit the high 90s today and the humidity is unbearable. My back hurts from cutting the grass with a glorified machete. Going to town today to get our mail and groceries meant 30 minutes on dirt roads through the bush and then another 10-15 on “tar roads.” We are still mourning the loss of our dog that was killed by a 7’ black mamba. Everywhere around us people are dying of HIV, TB and neglect.

One year ago we lived in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Today we live in Swaziland, Africa. And you know what? I wouldn’t change a thing.

In January of last year Beth was teaching, I was preaching, Mikayla was playing and life seemed normal. By March we had begun selling our stuff, saying the first of our goodbyes, making last minute arrangements and preparing for a huge transition. In July, everything we ever owned was either sold, stored, loaned out or in our suitcases and we would spend 72 traveling from the life as we knew it to the bush of Swaziland. A month later we had taken in two TB positive twins as foster parents, had experienced oppressive heat of the Swaziland lowveld, and begun to learn what it means to live in a new culture. By the end of the year, while still far from full adjusted, we had begun to accept our new normal.

Snow day 051 
January in the States

Mbabane and Mountains 150 
December in Swaziland

Suburbia to Savannah in a year may sound like an incredibly quick transition, but in reality it was the culmination of nearly 5 years of planning, praying and preparing. In 2007, Beth and I began to take inventory of our lives and started talking about our long term goals. Up until then, our lives had floated along a very positive trajectory; we were very happy with the way our lives were turning out, even if we weren’t overt about planning. But, slowly we realized that all the things in life we wanted to do could not co-exist. We could not commit to staying in Bowling Green to make a difference while also talking about pursuing Ph.Ds at distant colleges. We couldn’t talk about living overseas while also talking about living in intentional community with our friends. Simply put, we had to make a decision about which direction our lives would take in the coming years.

You would think a big decision like that would be difficult, but it only took one conversation over dinner to decide that at some point in our lives, while we raised our kids who were yet to come, we wanted to experience life outside the United States. I think even early on we realized that it was not important to have all the details figured out, but rather we had to know what general direction we were headed and then be faithful in pursuing it.

Over the next several years we researched opportunities, got in contact with people on the ground doing ministry, and gradually allowed our future to be shaped. It was a lesson in balancing intentionality with ambiguity. We had to learn how to stay on course pursuing a reality that we did not yet understand. We had to be bold in making decisions, but humble in allowing those decisions to change if needed. Slowly, as the details came into focus, we began planning for a life in Swaziland, Africa.

In July of 2010, Beth and I flew to Swaziland and met with over 20 individuals and organizations. Our goal was not to find a job, but to see what sort of work was going on and where we might fit into it. At the conclusion of the trip we were more confident than ever that we were on the right track in moving to Africa, but completely unsure of where we would end up. Once again, we continued planning, even if we didn’t know the details.

In October we were offered positions at Cabrini Ministries (http://www.cabriniministries.org)  in the St. Philips. The irony is that St. Philips is in the lowveld bush; that means it is in the middle of nowhere and ridiculously hot. We had intentionally avoided researching any opportunities in the lowveld because of the environment. However, when Cabrini offered us the positions, we realized that even if the location was not right, the place was perfect. It offered housing, paid a modest salary, was a safe place to raise a family, and provided the opportunity to live immersed in Swazi culture. Most importantly, it was a place where good work was being done that we could be a part of and the skills we brought were exactly what they needed.

In July 2011, when we finally arrived, we realized very quickly that the faithfulness and diligence of our preparation had paid off. When we began looking to live overseas, we wanted to be a part of restorative work that was driven by community needs and assets. We also wanted to head to place where we could be shaped as individuals and a family. We certainly found both. Here at Cabrini we are in one of the most forgotten areas of the country all of our work is dedicated to serving the needs geographically around us. We have an HIV infection rate of nearly 40% and nearly half of children under 18 are either classified as orphans or vulnerable children. In response to this Cabrini offers a full-service HIV/TB clinic and a child care program that includes 7 levels of care from comprehensive residential care to one-time needs assistance. Last year over 2,000 people received direct care or treatment support from the organization. One of the most phenomenal things is that most of our staff began as clients and have been capacitated to do the work needed. For instance, our current database administrator was left for dead on her homestead dying of HIV and TB and was slowly nursed back to health by our nursing staff. 2 years ago she had never seen a computer and now she manages a healthcare database that is more robust than what the government hospital runs! Of our 55 staff members, all but 3 are from Africa, and 44 of them are from within 25 miles of Cabrini.

interviews and staff 080
Cabrini’s Staff

In looking back at the transition we have gone through, it is easy to make things sound much more incredible than they really are. I can make the Kickert’s sound like heroes, but the reality is that most of the time, life is pretty mundane. On one hand crazy things happen here all the time (we have had two black mambas and a cobra killed within a couple yards of our front door in the last week), but then when I look at my actual day, I spend most of it behind a computer writing grant reports or doing IT work. Sometimes we spend 25% of our time without electricity, but we have decent access to internet. There are days where I may be in a national level planning meeting, only to come home and find that I have to chase cattle out of the garden. Last night Beth cooked cookies for the “Ambassador” to the EU (European Union) while I spent hours formatting report documents. I learned real quick that I can’t take myself too seriously.

A lot has happened in the last year, but all of it has been part of a dynamic yet consistent movement in our lives. Some people move overseas with only a few months notice; it took us 5 years. The hard part has not been the transition, it has been staying on course even when there isn’t a lot of action.

I have no idea what the next year or the next 5 years will hold for us, but I am confident it too will part of this direction we have been heading in for quite some time.

-bk

Cutting the Grass the Old Fashioned Way

January 12th, 2012 1 comment

When we first came to Swaziland, I found it odd that Swazis tended to get rid of all the grass in their yards, preferring instead to have "swept dirt."  That didn’t make sense to me since people in the US spend thousands on keeping their yards neat and green.

But, the first time I cut the grass the way most Swazis do (with a machete-like tool called a "slasher") I quickly understood the appeal of dirt.

Here is a video of me giving it my best at Swazi lawn care.

 

It is a short video because as soon as Beth started filming, I had to take a break!