Off to Africa

I'm off to Africa!

I have been asked to present three Insight Seminars in Africa. Two in Mozambique and one in South Africa. This is a tremendous opportunity, both for developing the seminars and for me, personally.

For the seminars, these pilots will help us develop and refine our presentation, especially in the context of Mozambique's people and culture, which is very different from the culture of the U.S. and South Africa (though in different ways). These seminars provide a great opportunities to show the seminar in action and demonstrate the impact it has on the participants. As we continue to hold seminars, we will accumulate a ever-increasing amount of data to use in defense of the seminar’s principles, and to facilitate partnering with other organizations to develop additional seminars. Contextualizing the seminars to address the specific interests and needs of the people of Mozambique will also prove both stimulating and challenging.

On a personal level, I believe that this experience will help me to understand the core principles behind the seminars better, as well as giving me a broader perspective on the human condition – that is, how people think and live. The more cultures I interact with, the more I can understand how people, in general, are put together. While in Mozambique, I want to spend time with the locals who Safari Insight Mission is working with and get their perspective on the situation in Mozambique. I would also like to get their perspective on Americans, especially American missionaries, and find out not only what they think of us, but what they want us to know about them.

Marginal Notes:

As I review the previous paragraph, I notice far too many usages of “us” and “them”. It is, I think, an unfortunate necessity that requires such phrases. At the end of the day, there is really just “us” whether we mean those of us in America or those of us in Mozambique. Without a clear understanding of the differences between Mozambique culture and American culture, however, we will never reach the point when we can comfortably cease to talk about “us” and “them” and instead talk about just us, in our various locations and cultures. It is my hope that this upcoming trip will help us all to learn more about each other and how to work together. Accomplishing this will provide some basic tools to help combat the racism and apathy that creates so much hardship in our world.