Week VI - Day 1
Children on Lunch Break - Focus Phone Call
We drove around Juba for what I can't remember but, I do remember seeing children out walking about and wondering to myself, "Do they get out of school early?" When Taban's car ran out of gas during the middle of our trip, he went away on boda-boda to find fuel. Michael and I sat in the car and watched the school children navigate crossing the streets alone. When a group of what looked like high school girls passed us, I yelled out the window, "Do you guys get out early?" One of the brave girls told me they were on lunch break and that it was from 12 o'clock until 1:30.
As I sat in the car, beads of sweat pooling up in places ladies should not have sweat pooling up, I thought about our students back in the US. They get a 30 minute lunch where they must sit quietly and maybe have an opportunity to go outside to play. "I'm sure we can learn something from these people." is what I thought just as Taban came back with a container of gas.
Oh! I remember why we were driving around. We wanted to go back to the University of Juba to drop off my resume. While we were there, we also wanted to take a look at their library. We'd been told that there was an American who'd set it up and that it was "very nice".
After dropping off the resume, we walked across campus to the library. Upon entering, we passed through a metal detector that was not working because the power was out and the receptionist told us to leave our bags on one of the shelves. I scoffed and asked why but she did not give me a reason and simply repeated "You leave your bags here."
I was carrying my Dooney & Burke bag with all of my money, both US dollars and South Sudanese pounds. I was not about to leave the thing in the hands of strangers. Michael was carrying my Dooney & Burke laptop bag; its contents - a laptop, Moses Isegawa's book, and my journals. We looked at each other and then at the woman who told us (she never asked) to leave our bags.
As I got more and more irritated with her lack of receptional charm, I told Michael, "There is no way I'm leaving these bags. We are not here to steal books and I'm not risking having our money stolen. Let's go!" We marched out never even seeing one book.
Standing in the courtyard, I began to reflect on my attitude and thought maybe I was being a bratty American. So, I decided to go back and apologize for my behavior. Upon my re-entering the library and extending my hand (something EVERYONE does here) to greet her properly, she said, "You're back. You can place your bag there." It was then that I almost lost it but, I quickly realized that we were stuck in a language quagmire. So I left...again.
Many other fascinatingly frustrating moments took place throughout the day and by the time we'd reached the hotel later in the evening, I was feeling like, "What the fuck am I doing here?" I'd gotten frustrated with myself for allowing myself to get so frustrated by what seemed to be everything. And then, the phone rang. It was my personal cheerleader, Becky Wamala!
She was calling to let me know that she enjoyed my writing and that I should not lose focus. And that I was right for not taking a job where I would have been working for free. I was so relieved to hear her voice and receive the much needed encouragement. She'd been thinking about me and decided to follow through and try to call via WhatsApp and the connection was excellent. Becky's call was right on time and a confirmation of why we where in Juba. I was grateful.
Earlier that afternoon, I'd received a call from The Chairman to come and sign the contract. Initially, I'd ignored two of his calls but I answered the third one. I tried to let him know that I would not be signing the contract but, he cut me off and continued to make plans for the day. I was annoyed.
After seeing the children during lunchtime, we drove over to The Chairman's office. Feeling that I needed to handle the situation on my own, I asked Michael to wait in the car. I went upstairs to chat with the head of HR. He was excited to see me and said that he had the contract ready and that he'd expected me earlier. He asked me to wait for him in my office. I was annoyed that I'd been given an office but offered no pay.
While I waited in what was really The Chairman's office, two gentlemen were there having a deep conversation. Also in the office was the same young lady that we'd seen all the other times we'd visited his office. I found out that she was waiting for The Chairman to assist her with funds to get back to Kenya for school. Finally the head of HR entered with the contract.
Before he could begin chatting me up and much to his surprise, I let him know that I was not there to sign the contract. At which point, he said, "The Chairman will be here soon...he's in the building." It made me wonder if he'd actually been in the building all the other times I had shown up and waited for him. While waiting, I let the head of HR know that I could not work for no pay. He quipped, "The Chairman left the salary area blank because he did not want us to know how much you would make." Then The Chairman walked in just as I began feeling further annoyed.
I was quick to let him know that I was not going to sign the contract all the while doing some serious self talk, "Don't say you're sorry. Don't say you're sorry. Don't say you're sorry!". I remained calm and said, "Thank you so much for finding me a good fit for your team. Unfortunately, I am unable to sign the contract and work without a salary." Short and sweet with a quick hand shake and I excused myself; leaving him annoyed.
Talking to Becky helped me focus as well as put away the negative feelings of frustrations. Thank God for good friends and loved ones.
We drove around Juba for what I can't remember but, I do remember seeing children out walking about and wondering to myself, "Do they get out of school early?" When Taban's car ran out of gas during the middle of our trip, he went away on boda-boda to find fuel. Michael and I sat in the car and watched the school children navigate crossing the streets alone. When a group of what looked like high school girls passed us, I yelled out the window, "Do you guys get out early?" One of the brave girls told me they were on lunch break and that it was from 12 o'clock until 1:30.
As I sat in the car, beads of sweat pooling up in places ladies should not have sweat pooling up, I thought about our students back in the US. They get a 30 minute lunch where they must sit quietly and maybe have an opportunity to go outside to play. "I'm sure we can learn something from these people." is what I thought just as Taban came back with a container of gas.
Oh! I remember why we were driving around. We wanted to go back to the University of Juba to drop off my resume. While we were there, we also wanted to take a look at their library. We'd been told that there was an American who'd set it up and that it was "very nice".
After dropping off the resume, we walked across campus to the library. Upon entering, we passed through a metal detector that was not working because the power was out and the receptionist told us to leave our bags on one of the shelves. I scoffed and asked why but she did not give me a reason and simply repeated "You leave your bags here."
I was carrying my Dooney & Burke bag with all of my money, both US dollars and South Sudanese pounds. I was not about to leave the thing in the hands of strangers. Michael was carrying my Dooney & Burke laptop bag; its contents - a laptop, Moses Isegawa's book, and my journals. We looked at each other and then at the woman who told us (she never asked) to leave our bags.
As I got more and more irritated with her lack of receptional charm, I told Michael, "There is no way I'm leaving these bags. We are not here to steal books and I'm not risking having our money stolen. Let's go!" We marched out never even seeing one book.
Standing in the courtyard, I began to reflect on my attitude and thought maybe I was being a bratty American. So, I decided to go back and apologize for my behavior. Upon my re-entering the library and extending my hand (something EVERYONE does here) to greet her properly, she said, "You're back. You can place your bag there." It was then that I almost lost it but, I quickly realized that we were stuck in a language quagmire. So I left...again.
Many other fascinatingly frustrating moments took place throughout the day and by the time we'd reached the hotel later in the evening, I was feeling like, "What the fuck am I doing here?" I'd gotten frustrated with myself for allowing myself to get so frustrated by what seemed to be everything. And then, the phone rang. It was my personal cheerleader, Becky Wamala!
She was calling to let me know that she enjoyed my writing and that I should not lose focus. And that I was right for not taking a job where I would have been working for free. I was so relieved to hear her voice and receive the much needed encouragement. She'd been thinking about me and decided to follow through and try to call via WhatsApp and the connection was excellent. Becky's call was right on time and a confirmation of why we where in Juba. I was grateful.
Earlier that afternoon, I'd received a call from The Chairman to come and sign the contract. Initially, I'd ignored two of his calls but I answered the third one. I tried to let him know that I would not be signing the contract but, he cut me off and continued to make plans for the day. I was annoyed.
After seeing the children during lunchtime, we drove over to The Chairman's office. Feeling that I needed to handle the situation on my own, I asked Michael to wait in the car. I went upstairs to chat with the head of HR. He was excited to see me and said that he had the contract ready and that he'd expected me earlier. He asked me to wait for him in my office. I was annoyed that I'd been given an office but offered no pay.
While I waited in what was really The Chairman's office, two gentlemen were there having a deep conversation. Also in the office was the same young lady that we'd seen all the other times we'd visited his office. I found out that she was waiting for The Chairman to assist her with funds to get back to Kenya for school. Finally the head of HR entered with the contract.
Before he could begin chatting me up and much to his surprise, I let him know that I was not there to sign the contract. At which point, he said, "The Chairman will be here soon...he's in the building." It made me wonder if he'd actually been in the building all the other times I had shown up and waited for him. While waiting, I let the head of HR know that I could not work for no pay. He quipped, "The Chairman left the salary area blank because he did not want us to know how much you would make." Then The Chairman walked in just as I began feeling further annoyed.
I was quick to let him know that I was not going to sign the contract all the while doing some serious self talk, "Don't say you're sorry. Don't say you're sorry. Don't say you're sorry!". I remained calm and said, "Thank you so much for finding me a good fit for your team. Unfortunately, I am unable to sign the contract and work without a salary." Short and sweet with a quick hand shake and I excused myself; leaving him annoyed.
Talking to Becky helped me focus as well as put away the negative feelings of frustrations. Thank God for good friends and loved ones.
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