Week 41 (29 Apr – 5 May 2007)
We left Eldama Ravine at 9am on Sunday. It was a beautiful morning – cool and bright with the sun shining through the trees. As we drove towards the edge of the Great African Rift Valley we saw right across the plain to the ridge on the other side and the mountains beyond. Having studied the formation of rift valleys at school with the African Rift Valley as the main example it was quite and experience to find we were actually driving along it and up the other side. The main road is being repaired so we went on the older road. Well, track. As it was dry the lorries stirred up the dust so much that it was like a very heavy fog and we could hardly see the vehicle in front let alone those coming the other way. This was a problem at times because very few stayed on the correct side of the road – avoiding the ruts and potholes was more important. It’s a bit unnerving seeing a huge lorry suddenly appearing out of the dust and heading straight towards you. Being Africa, the vehicles don’t travel any slower than under ‘normal’ conditions! The road itself was so rough that a couple of very very big speed bumps were the smoothest part of the drive! When we got past this part and were nearing the top of the cliff we had a great view of the extinct volcanoes. The journey today was only 4 hours – with stops to give Bill, the driver, a rest. We arrived in Nairobi at 1pm in time for lunch at the AIM Mayfield guesthouse.
The conference was being held at a convent that ran a large conference centre. There were only a few double rooms so we had to separate but at least were opposite each other. Each room is like typical student accommodation but with its own en suite bathroom and shower. Electricity and running water – what luxury! But only for 5 nights. Our first session began at 6pm with an introduction to the LeaderLink team.
Monday to Thursday
The conference programme began at 8.30am each day. There were five 90-minute sessions that ended at 6.30pm. Wednesday had an extra evening session. So there was little free time and was a bit gruelling, especially at the beginning when we were tired from the journey. The topics we covered were:
Biblical Guidelines for a Christian leader
The Leadership Challenge
Introduction to Leader Development
Becoming a more Facilitative Leader
Transferring Organizational Culture and Values
The presenters were all from the US but with experience working overseas both with business and missionary organisations. The sessions included times for reflection and discussions and were generally very helpful and thought provoking. We also appreciated learning about other jobs, especially as not everyone was from AIM. Many of the delegates were African and it was interesting hearing their perspectives on the issues we discussed.
We had two final sessions on Friday before leaving on the first leg or our return journey. Two of our passengers had changed so Steve and Audrey were replaced by Tim and Dale. Tim is an AIM-Air pilot with many years experience in Africa but he seemed to have a disaster story to cover every event.
On Saturday we left “Sunrise Acres” at Eldama Ravine by 8.15am not long after the sunrise. It was very picturesque. But we tended to keep our eyes on the road in anticipation of the bumps and vibrations and trying to remember which side of the road the traffic should actually be on. Oncoming traffic also weaves around to avoid potholes on their side of the road. We had a couple of nice breaks and arrived back at Lyn’s flat in Kampala at 5.45pm a bit tired and dazed.
The conference was being held at a convent that ran a large conference centre. There were only a few double rooms so we had to separate but at least were opposite each other. Each room is like typical student accommodation but with its own en suite bathroom and shower. Electricity and running water – what luxury! But only for 5 nights. Our first session began at 6pm with an introduction to the LeaderLink team.
Monday to Thursday
The conference programme began at 8.30am each day. There were five 90-minute sessions that ended at 6.30pm. Wednesday had an extra evening session. So there was little free time and was a bit gruelling, especially at the beginning when we were tired from the journey. The topics we covered were:
Biblical Guidelines for a Christian leader
The Leadership Challenge
Introduction to Leader Development
Becoming a more Facilitative Leader
Transferring Organizational Culture and Values
The presenters were all from the US but with experience working overseas both with business and missionary organisations. The sessions included times for reflection and discussions and were generally very helpful and thought provoking. We also appreciated learning about other jobs, especially as not everyone was from AIM. Many of the delegates were African and it was interesting hearing their perspectives on the issues we discussed.
We had two final sessions on Friday before leaving on the first leg or our return journey. Two of our passengers had changed so Steve and Audrey were replaced by Tim and Dale. Tim is an AIM-Air pilot with many years experience in Africa but he seemed to have a disaster story to cover every event.
On Saturday we left “Sunrise Acres” at Eldama Ravine by 8.15am not long after the sunrise. It was very picturesque. But we tended to keep our eyes on the road in anticipation of the bumps and vibrations and trying to remember which side of the road the traffic should actually be on. Oncoming traffic also weaves around to avoid potholes on their side of the road. We had a couple of nice breaks and arrived back at Lyn’s flat in Kampala at 5.45pm a bit tired and dazed.
posted by J & A McAdam at 3:30 PM
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