In praise of Annie and Kenya update

One of the best decisions I made a few years ago was to find a supervisor who could help me cope with the institution that I work in. That is I speak with Annie about once every 6 weeks for an hour or so about my working life. It is easy for me to get swamped by sheer busy-ness and lose a sense of how I am and where I might want to be going. Why not talk to colleagues you might ask? Well I do but they are often caught up in the same madness.

Annie isn’t and she has wide experience of public and private institutions. She has helped me define and stick with my own agenda, what I want, what I am trying to achieve, helping me to step back and not take too much too personally. And it works and it is not magic and it is hard work AND I have done better than I expected better than it might have been without her help.

I have just been through a very hard time. The run up this Autumn to the new phase of my work in Kenya has especially hard with severe problems both ends. And then to top it all last Friday my project was cancelled. The Kenyans did not take this lying down and wider counsel prevailed here and by Tuesday this week the project was revived. We are licking our wounds. I feel shattered but my spirit will be fresh enough by the time of my next visit to Nairobi on the 4th January 2009.

So at this point I would salute all of you who have supported me and the Kenyan project oveer the years. I had such a strong sense that this was what I was called to do. ‘Why me?’ and ‘Do I have the necessary skills?’ were questions that arose but I couldn’t ignore the success of similar work by me and my team in Britain and trust that I could find a good way to do something similar in Kenya. Whatever happens it wont fail through the commitment of the Kenyans involved nor mine.

Your thoughts for the success of this 6 year project matter more than you might imagine.


Bill on bike in the frost and rain!