Post Numero Two

August 2^nd, 2009

Soooooo, the first post was boNGO speaking and I'd like this one to actually be me, dave, speaking. I've sent twenty notices throughout my friends and family on facebook about this blog, so i hope that perchance some of you will be reading this :-) Rather than write pompous assertions in a stuffy tone, it would feel much better to speak with each of you directly, as if we are all together around a fireplace or a campfire. Here in Malawi we host the 'Open boNGO Development Forum', which is for people from all over the world, from all walks of life to get together and discuss what works and especially what doesn't work in development practices here and abroad. I would love to see any feedback to what I share here, and to open up a platform for discussion and even action on behalf of any progress we make. This of course requires your participation, so in advance: thank you for sharing!

I have not been doing a proper job of sharing stories and experiences from our work with boNGO, so this blog/newsletter/platform can also be a great way to broadcast everything we have going on the ground here in Malawi as well as to hear from you fellow explorers of progress what's going on in your corner of the globe. I will post links to all the good news and interesting information I come across and want to share, and please you all help yourselves if you have relevant and non-vulgar material to post.

I'll start by mentioning some books I've been poring over lately:

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. Autobiography detailing his involvement in manipulating governments around the world, via overestimated economic forecasts, military coups and assassinations, into immeasurable debts, which are then repaid in natural resources. Valuable insight for Americans into how the US's foreign policy is presented and perceived at home versus abroad.

The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abrams. The premise of this book is that we are only human in contact and conviviality with that which is not human. By separating ourselves from the natural world in favor of a more isolated and synthetic human existence, we are losing our ability to communicate at a more synaesthetic, sensuous level. Even our writing system has detached us from the undercurrent of life that goes on around us, focusing on words as ideas rather than the fountain of inspiration that has always existed in nature.

Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das. The hardest book I've ever read. This is the third time I've tried reading it now, as for me it demands very sincere intentions, actions, and words in its practice, and as I'm far from perfect it's a mighty challenge! Still, it's one of those things I want to learn the hard way.

The next three books I gave to my friend Katie for nursing me through my malaria. She told me she wishes she read more, so to help her get back into it at the local second-hand bookshop I found the three books I remember most from my childhood:

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. Perhaps the first book my parents ever read to me. Follows young Harold as he follows the moon, inventing his landscape and his journey using his purple crayon.

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia. Possibly the second book my parents ever read to me. The life of a leaf in the park as he experiences the changes of the seasons. Brilliant for understanding loss and change.

Something Under the Bed is Drooling by Bill Waterson. Any explanation needed here? If you haven't yet read any Calvin & Hobbes I recommend you find some soon soon and remember what it's like to be a devious kid.

Feel free to share any thoughts y'all may have on these books and to share any good reads you have as well!

To share some personal experience with you, after spending the other week recovering from malaria, I've unfortunately been laid out on the floor all this past week having pinched a nerve in my back and lost the feeling in my legs. I'm now up and about and getting the feeling back, my gait somewhere between that of a baby and that of an old man, which I guess is right about where I am in life right now.

Meanwhile, our Malawi Program Director Justin Namizinga (his surname translates to 'BOOM!') has been very busy closing the school term and getting ready for our upcoming big annual teacher-training. Let me be honest here with you folks, we've been financially surviving on very little here in our operations. This is of course made easier by our community-centered approach, which allows much of the initiative to be supplied at the grassroots level, more sustainably so as well as fiscally responsible. For over a year and a half now much of our running costs have been supplied by our friend Antoine, and I'd like to take a moment here to thank him immensely for keeping us afloat and helping to expand our partner communities and the reach of children we can educate. Another million thank you's to everyone else who has contributed to the progress of our work here in Malawi and around the world! And please, if anyone is feeling generous today, we can certainly use help preparing to train 50+ new teachers in holistic, localized early childhood development. Please click here to make a donation!

Life, Love, and Learning,

Dave