tough times

i am just back from LLW where I enjoyed my friends' company, a theater play, a concert and a dinner party the first time in ages - my live is crazy here - i work 15-18hrs a day or more and sleep 5-7).

conditions are difficult in many respects

1. living together with the peoeple i am supervising

2. no social outlet apart from these supervisors

3. contradiction between super simple life (no running water) & depending on technology to work, between slow motion in rural Malawi and strict deadlines and tight time lines dictated by the US.

4. limited resources (both in terms of finances & manpower but also due to simple living
conditions)

5. almost no prior training and very tight time lines that do not allow for a lot of planning -> i stumble into everything and mostly do trouble shooting and picking up pieces. here, nothing ever works the way it is supposed to work.

6. limited financial resources also imply that i cannot pay my personnel (as much as they would like / in a timely manner) -> creates difficult a work atmosphere and i am already on my 4th labor dispute! my enumerators decided they will not work on these conditions - they are on a strike, yeah!!! that actually gives me some time to wrap up things before I look ahead. as crazy as it sounds, i am a little relieved about this short break that it gives me. on the other hand this means that we might have to put a new team together (and start training people from scratch!)
we'll see what comes next....