Week VIII - Day 2

Meeting Time

We were blessed to have made an acquaintance with Michael's old friend Acuil (also Michael's traditional first name – meaning: born after twins). Michael had been trying to get in touch with him for a while and finally caught a break one day when we stopped by the Secretary General's compound and inquired about Acuil.

We were given a phone number to call and hoped that he answered when Michael finally rung him. Excited to hear from his old friend, Acuil confirmed a meeting time with us right away. He stopped by the hotel and we sat enjoying water and small talk. Acuil brought with him one of his books and gave us both autographed copies. I was totally impressed and happy to receive information on the history of South Sudan as I thumbed through the book.

While discussing our various professional backgrounds, we learned that there would be a meeting later that day with some young South Sudanese who were interested in making basketball big in the area as well as launching a website. I was totally interested and asked if we could join. Because we've not been able to meet a lot of new people, I'm sure I came across as begging for the opportunity to join the meeting but I didn’t care.

The meeting started at 4pm and almost everyone was in attendance at the exact time; impressed again. There were introductions all around and then they got down to business. Basically they were coming together in order to brainstorm and assign follow-up tasks before launching the website. What excited me the most about the meeting was that everyone was engaged and willing to offer up some form of information to get things moving quickly. I was even given the opportunity to share some of my thoughts and they were well received.

As I sat both listening and participating, I wrote notes down on things Michael and I needed in order for us to be successful on our journey into “starting something”. I was also energized by spending time with people who were planning to do something positive in South Sudan. SSBF – South Sudan Basketball Federation committee members were there to work and it was evident by their timeliness and preparation for the meeting. We left feeling good about meeting new people.