I won't spend this entire blog post writing about my 23rd birthday, at the risk of sounding self-centered. But I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm having a nice day, even though it's Monday and I'm here at work, and thank you all for the b-day wishes :)
Life in Kenya continues to be good. The most significant event that occurred recently was OAIC's Executive Committee meeting, which took place on the 10th and 11th of March. You might be asking, what is an Executive Committee meeting and why is that interesting enough to be in a blog post? Well, read on anyway.
OAIC's Executive Committ
ee meeting is an annual event bringing together all of the organization's top officials from around the African continent to discuss our current state of affairs. I met leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, and people from other parts of Kenya as well. For most of the meeting I was the only woman present, so I'm thankful that at one point the leaders discussed the need for more female leadership at higher official levels of the organization. Yet I have to admit that it was an odd feeling to be a young American woman sitting in an official meeting with several older men from different parts of Africa. I did not let that intimidate me, though, and enjoyed getting to know each of the members. I was even asked to present in front of the Committee about the new OAIC website that I have been working to improve over the last six months. And after the meeting was over, I had the opportunity to conduct individual interviews with each of the Committee members to find out what is going on with OAIC in other regions of Africa.
One of the most interesting aspects of the meeting was hearing about OAIC's chapter in the DRC. The Committee member from the DRC is an elderly man in his mid 70's known as Papa Zeyi, who I have to say is quite a character. Claiming to speak only French, he showed up at the meeting wearing a short-sleeved pin-striped suit and leopard print sunglasses. When he spoke, his comments could easily turn into twenty minute long monologues, with the poor translator trying desperately to keep up. He talked about how African Independent Churches in the DRC are leaving OAIC because the organization has not done enough to support and engage with them. It is true that there is a definite language barrier within OAIC. Although it is an international, pan-African organization, the Francophone countries are often at a disadvantage and there is less programming in these places as a result. However, I believe that in the case of the DRC the major problem is a lack of funds, which the OAIC International Office encourages its chapters to raise for themselves. Papa Zeyi reported that the OAIC staff members in the DRC use his own house as an office, free of charge, because they do not have the money to rent their own separate building. Because of this lack of resources, there is not enough funding for programs, and thus the churches are leaving the organization. However, the General Secretary contradicted Papa Zeyi, saying that when he had visited the DRC last year, he had met several young church members who were very enthusiastic about joining OAIC. It is obvious that there is a clear divide between the older and younger generations within the DRC's OAIC chapter, and this needs to be addressed. Eventually after these discussions with Papa Zeyi, the Executive Committee decided to hold a workshop in the DRC sometime this summer to establish better footing, and to reinvigorate the organization within the chapter.
Papa Zeyi (left) with the leader of OAIC's Uganda Chapter.
Now that the Executive Committee is over, I have my hands full with writing stories and news updates to use on our website. Attending the meeting made it clear to me that my fieldwork and on-the-ground activities are not the only interesting aspects of work at the organization; even at the executive levels there is work to be done, problems to be solved, and stories to be written.
Life in Kenya continues to be good. The most significant event that occurred recently was OAIC's Executive Committee meeting, which took place on the 10th and 11th of March. You might be asking, what is an Executive Committee meeting and why is that interesting enough to be in a blog post? Well, read on anyway.
OAIC's Executive Committ
ee meeting is an annual event bringing together all of the organization's top officials from around the African continent to discuss our current state of affairs. I met leaders from Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, and people from other parts of Kenya as well. For most of the meeting I was the only woman present, so I'm thankful that at one point the leaders discussed the need for more female leadership at higher official levels of the organization. Yet I have to admit that it was an odd feeling to be a young American woman sitting in an official meeting with several older men from different parts of Africa. I did not let that intimidate me, though, and enjoyed getting to know each of the members. I was even asked to present in front of the Committee about the new OAIC website that I have been working to improve over the last six months. And after the meeting was over, I had the opportunity to conduct individual interviews with each of the Committee members to find out what is going on with OAIC in other regions of Africa.One of the most interesting aspects of the meeting was hearing about OAIC's chapter in the DRC. The Committee member from the DRC is an elderly man in his mid 70's known as Papa Zeyi, who I have to say is quite a character. Claiming to speak only French, he showed up at the meeting wearing a short-sleeved pin-striped suit and leopard print sunglasses. When he spoke, his comments could easily turn into twenty minute long monologues, with the poor translator trying desperately to keep up. He talked about how African Independent Churches in the DRC are leaving OAIC because the organization has not done enough to support and engage with them. It is true that there is a definite language barrier within OAIC. Although it is an international, pan-African organization, the Francophone countries are often at a disadvantage and there is less programming in these places as a result. However, I believe that in the case of the DRC the major problem is a lack of funds, which the OAIC International Office encourages its chapters to raise for themselves. Papa Zeyi reported that the OAIC staff members in the DRC use his own house as an office, free of charge, because they do not have the money to rent their own separate building. Because of this lack of resources, there is not enough funding for programs, and thus the churches are leaving the organization. However, the General Secretary contradicted Papa Zeyi, saying that when he had visited the DRC last year, he had met several young church members who were very enthusiastic about joining OAIC. It is obvious that there is a clear divide between the older and younger generations within the DRC's OAIC chapter, and this needs to be addressed. Eventually after these discussions with Papa Zeyi, the Executive Committee decided to hold a workshop in the DRC sometime this summer to establish better footing, and to reinvigorate the organization within the chapter.
Papa Zeyi (left) with the leader of OAIC's Uganda Chapter.Now that the Executive Committee is over, I have my hands full with writing stories and news updates to use on our website. Attending the meeting made it clear to me that my fieldwork and on-the-ground activities are not the only interesting aspects of work at the organization; even at the executive levels there is work to be done, problems to be solved, and stories to be written.
