Muchakamuchaka and Cultivating

Last Saturday, I arose to the sound of teenage boys yelling "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO".  At 5am.  And so I was awake, and my beloved neighbors (really - I love the excitement of living next to these guys) unknowingly got me to rejoin a Saturday morning ritual in the village that I'd been skipping (in favor of sleep...a right I reserve to keep in the future) - Muchakamuchaka.

Every Saturday at 6am, the kids in the village (often begrudgingly, but sometimes not so) gather outside their houses for an early morning run.  A staff member - usually a security guard - leads them in some stretches, and then they are off.  I am not ever one for running, but I think I could make running part of my life if I was always ran surrounded by 40 kids doing cheers.  As we run (at a very Micaela-acceptable pace, by the way) the kids take turns leading the cheers, which, according to my crude translation, seem to be about water, Rwanda and who knows what else.  I never really know what they are saying, but I try to yell AMAZE  (water) at the right times like the rest of the kids. It's awesome.  By the time we've run around the village twice, I'm exhausted, yet somehow exhilarated...enough to get me to blog at 7am!

After muchakamuchaka is farm - an activity I also attend only periodically (for both of these traditions both attending AND not attending are rewarding choices for me...sometimes much needed sleep and sometimes much needed fun...talk about win win!).  

A lot of times farm time is a time for the kids to get a good haha out of my mediocre hoing skills (improving, improving) and a time for us to swap songs (Rwandan ones for English ones).   It's also a time for us to make a lasting impact on the village, as we clear the weeds from the football field or plant jacaranda trees that will someday path the walkway to the school (please note that farm time does not always involve the farm).  Last week, as we hoed away massive amounts of brush (Bush was right...it is fun) a kid and I discussed entrepreneurship in a place with diminishing resources.  As we cleared brush on top of a mountain, he and I brainstormed about what new jobs could be created in Rwanda's cities.  The kids often call what we are doing during farm time "cultivating" (a word made significantly more beautiful if you hear it in a Rwandan accent).  I think it's an excellent way to describe the goal of Saturday mornings, and it's usually how I feel when I fall down into my bed after I've been cultivated.

Jobs in the Gulf of Mexico

Dear Mr. President,
I know you don't have so much time to read my blog (maybe only once a week, right?), but, when you get the chance, I have a story and an idea for you.

While traveling around Rwanda over the last month, I've seen a curious sight.  Hundreds of workers digging ditches, taking work breaks midday, and holding cables that look like red, gold and green ribbons along the side of the road. 

Why do these workers and ribbon-cables flank my rides to and from Kigali, you ask?  These workers are laying fiber-optic cables with the purpose of bettering Rwanda's internet connectivity.  This big investment may reap big rewards if it encourages more businesses to work in Rwanda, but I'm more excited about the immediate rewards.  Hundreds and hundreds are being employed to lay these cables, so this investment is improving lives in the short-term. 

This leads me to our own country.  I am, like so many others, worried about the long-term effects of the oil spill on our Gulf's ecosystem and the surrounding environment.  But I'm even more worried about the people who've lost jobs that depended on the Gulf's healthy waters.  After Katrina and the recession, another setback was the last thing the Gulf Coast economy needed.

While many fishermen and others no longer have livlihoods due to the spill, they do have something else quite unique.  They have a deep understanding of the waters the oil is currently polluting. While oil spill clean-up and tracking may not be their original training, they are particularly well suited for this task.  They know their way around the Gulf and its wildlife.

I see that in your proposed legislation you provide for funding for further inspections and environmental studies, as well as unemployment benefits and training for those who have lost jobs.  Can we instruct the employment training centers to train workers with the skills needed to address, track and ameliorate the spill's environmental impact?  Can we get these former fishing experts jobs in clean up, environmental tracking and seafood inspections? New skills are needed in the Gulf, and the recently unemployed men and women who once sailed and fished those seas are well-prepared for the job. 

One more step, to turn this short-term job solution into a long-term community strengthening plan.  How about getting these workers together to start to plan long-term development for their area?  We don't know how long it will be before the Gulf can have a fishing economy again, but something innovative can replace this economy.  Let's let these guys begin to work on it.

Thanks for your time.  Let me know how I can help.
Micaela

PS-Also, thanks for honoring Paul McCartney. Watching the White House rock out to the Beatles was too awesome!