"That's not relevant to me" ... Really?

I had a pretty bizarre conversation with one of the fellow FSD interns here this past week. I was reading a book called Irresistible Revolution, which I have read once, but brought it with me to Uganda because I figured it’d be good to re-read it here in this context. (I would highly recommend this book to everyone … it will challenge you, but it’s legit.) A brief and insufficient summary of the book is that it challenges the typical evangelical Christian lifestyle in America that so easily finds comfort rather than finds Jesus. The author challenges us to read the Scriptures and actually follow them, to actually follow Jesus, rather than following the ways of the “Christian lifestyle,” whatever that means.

Anyways, so I was reading this book, and this intern asked me what I was reading. So I started to explain it to her, and since the book brings up issues of poverty, war, peace, and love, the conversation naturally went in that direction. I knew that she was not a Christian, so I approached the conversation carefully, and I was interested to know what her views were. But we came to a point in the conversation that really threw me off.

She had said – in not exactly these words – that there was no God. So I asked her if she was an atheist. She said no. I explained to her what my beliefs were about the world as it is today, the Creator behind all of it, the story of redemption through Jesus Christ, and what it looks like to live a life that follows the Savior. And then I asked her to tell me what she believes. And it’s not that she didn’t have an answer. It’s that her answer was so bizarre: “That question’s not relevant to me.” What?!? Tell me what you think about the world. Tell me what you think about our purpose in life. Tell me what you think about all these people – not just Christians – but the majority of the world’s population that believes in some form of a god. “No. I don’t accept the question. It’s not relevant to me.” Again … what?!?

This girl studied philosophy in college, so she started quoting different philosophers to me about the question of truth, which I brought up. There are truths in the world, but I believe there is the Truth, that reigns above all things. So she started arguing that there is no over-arching truth, and that truth for one person may not be true for someone else. So I asked if she was a post-modern thinker. “No, not really.” So I can’t really put her in a box, per se. If you can, good luck (and please tell me where she falls. Thanks).

I’ve met many people that had a range of beliefs (or not) about God. There are people that believe another religion, which makes sense. There are people that maybe believe in Christianity, but they’re not really living it out (I like to call these people “lukewarm Christians” … and yes, I used to be one). There are people that flat-out believe there is no God. And there are people that don’t really know what they believe. Maybe their parents weren’t “religious,” so they’re not “religious.” Or maybe they’re disgruntled towards the church for one reason or another. (And by no means is this list of people exhaustive. It’s just a brief summary of the types of people I know).

But to have someone say that the question of faith and whether there is a God or not is “not relevant” to them … I have not encountered that before. I realize not everyone reading this blog is a Christian, but I’m guessing those of you that are not would at least acknowledge that there is maybe a God, you just might not know much about Him, or you’re just not interested. But to have the whole conversation about “God” deemed “irrelevant” really threw me off.

Thoughts? Reactions? Wisdom or advice? Thanks.

Am I a Tree Hugger?

Yes, I grew up in Eugene, known for its very liberal, “hippie” culture. And I went to college in Seattle, yet another liberal, environmentally-conscious town. But I do not consider myself a big “environmental activist.” Sure, I think that we need to respect the earth. I think that this is God’s creation, and we are to do everything in our power to protect and nourish the earth.

But I don’t eat organic. I drive a car (when I’m at home, at least). And I probably have a carbon footprint larger than I know. When confronted with this reality, I usually ponder it for a bit, but it has never really affected me enough to really become passionate about this whole “climate change” ordeal that has now become a huge global issue.

I guess I wasn’t looking at the issue through the right lens. When I would hear about climate change, I would hear about melting ice caps, or diminishing rainforests, or certain species of animals becoming extinct. And all these things, to be sure, are negative consequences of the way “man has ruled the earth.” But after attending this microfinance conference in Nairobi last week, I am looking at climate change through a different lens.

75% of the world’s poorest people are subsistence farmers, which means their livelihood depends on their crops producing a yield. So when extreme temperatures, droughts, and monsoons occur, and the poorest people cannot eat to survive, then “climate change” takes on a whole new meaning. When the world’s dwindling oil reserves are causing war, corruption, death, and oppression, then “climate change” takes on a whole new meaning. And because our natural resources are diminishing, our “wants and needs” in life are going to become much more expensive, thus making it even harder for the poorest to climb out of poverty, “climate change” takes on a whole new meaning.

So when I hear about fuel-efficient stoves that use a fraction of the charcoal required for common stoves, which means fewer trees are cut down to make charcoal (deforestation is one of the biggest problems in Uganda), which means the air is cleaner, I get excited.

When I hear about new irrigation technologies, such as manual-powered pumps that can irrigate up to 3 acres of land, so farmers are protected during droughts, I get excited.

And when I hear about affordable solar-powered lights that can be charged during the day and give light to a family for 4-6 hours at night, preventing the need for further energy usage or providing light to those unable to afford power, I get excited.

So no, I’m not a tree-hugging liberal hippie that thinks that plants have souls and that’s why they deserve to live (these people are out there … YouTube it). And I don’t think I’m going to change my career path to suddenly advocate for environmental purity. But I do think this is a HUGE issue that maybe is not always framed properly to help people understand how grave an issue it truly is. That’s all. I’ll get off my pedestal now. Thanks for reading.

(But maybe try riding your bike or taking the bus to work today, or simply donate a little money, or inform yourself by going online and find out what’s really happening to our world.)

Nairobi!!

Last week, two other FSD interns and I went to Nairobi, Kenya to attend the 2010 Africa-Middle East Microcredit Summit. For those of you who don’t know, this is essentially the Super Bowl of the microfinance field. Each year, there is a regional conference somewhere, and every few years, a global conference (next November in Spain!). This was the first-ever summit held in Africa, so it was kind of a big deal.

I would have loved to just fly to Nairobi from Kampala (the capital of Uganda), but that wasn’t exactly economically feasible. So, a long bus ride it was. And by the beard of Zeus, this was a long bus ride! And bumpy! Now I’ve taken long plane flights before, but those seem like a vacation compared to this. We left Kampala at 7pm on Monday, and got into Nairobi around 8am Tuesday morning. So naturally, we tried to sleep on the way there. Well, I’m pretty sure I got at most 2 hours of real sleep. It’s just a little hard to sleep when you’re head is constantly being rattled back and forth, and you occasionally fly out of your seat. But I don’t want to paint this horrible picture … we got there safely, and the cost was minimal. So although it seems easy to complain, I really can’t complain too much. And on the way back, I saw 3 zebras on the side of the road! Who needs to go on a safari, right? By now, I’m used to seeing lots of cows and goats on the side of the road, but seeing a zebra was new, which was pretty sweet.

On a separate note, Nairobi is so much different than Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It is much more of a western city, which makes sense, since it is the central trading hub for all of East Africa. There are big buildings, paved roads, nice parks, and restaurants with “real” food. All of those things are much harder to find in Uganda, even in Kampala. And the people there are a different kind of “friendly” than here in Uganda. Most of the locals I have met here are usually poor subsistence farmers with limited education. They are incredibly warm, friendly, and hospitable, but I can definitely feel like I’m on a different plane than them. But the locals I met in Nairobi were very western. They spoke English very well. They were educated and you could have a “normal” conversation with them. Now, one caveat is that this is indeed the central city in Kenya, and I’m sure the rural communities there are similar to here. But I was stuck by the vast differences in my surrounding environment in Nairobi as compared to here in Masaka. It was a nice breath of fresh air to stay at a hotel with a shower, eat a variety of western food, and talk with westerners outside the normal small group of people in Masaka. Sidenote: one of the interns knew someone in Nairobi, so we were able to have our own private, guided walking tour of Nairobi, which was great.

Kenyatta International Conference Center, location of the summit

A nice park in the middle of Nairobi, similar to Central Park in NY

Me with the other interns (Jay and Fennie) and our "tour guide", Collins

A delicious Italian dinner!

Yes, a camel just cruisin' along City Hall Way in the middle of Nairobi

Yeah, this conference … awesome! There were some big names there, some big people in the microfinance community. There were a lot of well-known organizations there, as well as some of the new, cutting-edge companies that are supporting microfinance activities. It would take far too long to explain to you all that I learned, and I’m guessing most of you aren’t incredibly interested in all of that, so I’ll spare you. But know that it was very worthwhile, and I gained a lot from being there. Not to mention shaking hands, talking, and taking a picture with Muhammad Yunus – the grandfather of microfinance himself! I also did some good networking while I was there, so we’ll see if that turns into some potential job opportunities come June (too early to tell now).

There was some "cultural" dancing before the opening ceremony, which was actually very impressive!

Some very important dignitaries were on hand, including the President of Kenya, the Queen of Spain, and the Princess from the Netherlands

Yeah, that's right. Me and the man!

And a group shot with the "celebrity" of microfinance

So now I’m back to work in Masaka, realizing I only have 8 more weeks left of this internship. And since I’ve already been here 10 weeks, that doesn’t seem like very long! There’s so much work I still want to do and a number of different projects I want to implement before I leave, so I’m actually feeling a little bit of “time crunch” for the first time. But I think this is a good thing – it will keep me motivated when it’s easy to fall into the “Africa routine” of living life at a slow-motion pace.

I think that’s all for now. I hope you are all doing well, and please let me know if you have any specific questions (I’m sure I’m leaving out certain parts of my time here, but I don’t know what you want to know … let me know!) Thanks.