Hurry Up and Wait!

So, here's some insight into some of the difficulties/frustrations of my day-to-day work:

The current objective: Outreach

Thursday, I planned with one of my co-workers, to go do outreach in one of the villages we've serviced (i.e. sending books to the schools). In February, we sent them a shipment of books, promising a follow up visit in the next month - that trip never came. In the past months, we've brought up going back, but it's never happened. I've also tried to put some parameters on what exactly "outreach" means. This still remains fuzzy, but I decided to jump at the most recent suggestion that we go to the village at least to check out things.

In February, we left them with no labeling system, no instruction on care for the books, or how to read aloud to students, or how they could use the books in the classrooms. This is why I'm arguing that there are two parts to outreach - the logistics and the content. Build the shelves and get the books there, but then support them in USING the materials, too. We've lapsed on this particular village, but there's always next time, and definitely we can jump in now and try to help if we can.

We decided on Monday, today, to go. Last night, upon trying to confirm the trip, it was decided to put off until Wednesday, since the village/school had not been informed we were coming; one of those things no one thought to do, or, if they thought of it, no one did it, myself included. We'd need to call them today. This morning, I get a note from my co-worker, asking me to make the call and to go in search of a phone card to use - Toshao should have one - because we have a village phone and a radio and THEY have a village phone (a lengthy process to endeavor in, but still, appreciated) but you have to use phone cards to make any call), but not a radio. Ok, so I found Toshao, and asked him about it; he said he'd have to look for the card, but wouldn't forget. I reminded him once and have spent the day doing other things and waiting to make that call.

See, what you do is, once the phone opens up, you dial in the phone card code, then your phone number, and wait/hope for someone to answer the phone wherever you're dialing. Once the phone is answered, you state who you're looking for and most likely they are away, so you tell them you'll call back in 10 minutes, hopefully enough time for the person to be fetched and to come. That's assuming that no other calls are made to the phone you're using, and no one else tries to make a call on your phone. You can only Bogart it for so long.

School got out and thinking it'd be a good time to catch the Headmistress, went in search of the Toshao. I biked to his house, only to find that he's left to go to his farm for the afternoon. I suppose there's always tomorrow...

So, I spend my entire day just waiting for a phone card to make a phone call to CHECK on making a trip to this village - there's still the actual planning of the trip and then actually GOING on the trip and then actually DOING what we PLANNED to do on the trip. And that's assuming I actually get the phone card in time to make the call tomorrow... and assuming our phone works, and their phone works, and I actually get a hold of the teacher tomorrow and they'll be around to accommodate us...

we MIGHT just get this trip made in the next month or so.

Then there's the NEXT village we've already begun the process of servicing...

UPDATE: Toshao actually brought the phone card over late that afternoon. Tried for half hour to call, didn't work. Tried next morning, and then at lunch time, too. Couldn't get through. Then carried it to my partner, and he's out with malaria, unable to travel. We'll try again next week.