Sending Diocese: Virginia

"In the recent weeks my assignment has been focused almost exclusively within Nairobi. While the NSCC headquarters are in Nairobi and most of my work is done there, since arriving in Africa I have been doing quite a bit of traveling with the NSCC. These last few weeks are the first time since my arrival that I've been in the same place for more than about a month at a time! The constancy of place and time in this recent period, especially in its overlap with the season of Lent, has been a blessing. It has provided me a wonderful opportunity to establish some roots here in Africa and I have found that I am enjoying the city of Nairobi in all its newness and peculiarities. At first it was simply a city I saw as overly crowded and polluted (especially for a boy brought up in Ashland, Virginia), but like anywhere else one calls home it's had a way of growing on me. It's a fascinating city with an incredible diversity of cultures and experiences. Peoples from all over East Africa and the larger horn of Africa region have made Nairobi their home, and so this city provides a fascinating amalgamation of culture. Kenyans, Ugandans, Tanzanians, Ethiopians, Sudanese, Arabs, Indians, and many other people (including Western expatriates, of course) have come to call Nairobi home. While I was expecting to get an introduction to Sudan in my time, I have also built relationships with people from other areas as well, and in the process obtained a much broader and varied picture of different societies, with a particular enjoyment of experiencing the predominating Kenyan society.

"Amidst finding enjoyment in my surroundings, my work with NSCC has been quite busy of late. At present the NSCC is organizing a follow-up to the Civil Society Forum mentioned in my December newsletter that will be an essential dialogue to inform the current peace negotiations between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M). Pray that this forum will address needed healing and reconciliation between conflicting parties in southern Sudan, and that it will strengthen the legitimacy of the current peace negotiations. In addition to this conference, the NSCC is also in the process of planning multiple grassroots People-to-People Peace conferences throughout southern Sudan. My work of overseeing NSCC's peace research grant documenting the methodology of NSCC's peace work, mentioned in my previous newsletter, has also continued. A particular challenge during this period has been that my immediate supervisor-the NSCC Programs Coordinator-is on a study leave in the United States, which has given me the added duty of overseeing his responsibilities in addition to my usual work as NSCC Liaison and Resource Mobilization Officer. While challenging, it has provided a good opportunity to expand upon leadership and management skills. With all of these events, the NSCC is also in a process of building its capacity to better handle an ever increasing workload. Pray for us as we hire new staff and make important institutional decisions in the coming weeks and months. On a personal level I'm looking forward to an expanded staffing capacity, for it will ease a bit of my own workload as well."