Blood Diamonds to snap out of it

You may have noticed my blogging absence. I don’t have any excuses, well a few sort of excuses: blackouts, no internet access outside of Lusaka, a bad week with nothing nice to say. I have uploaded a number of posts from the last few weeks. There is always stuff happening, but at the end of the day I have no desire to rethink the things I’ve been thinking all day. It seems that days are either really good or really bad – sometimes both in one day. To break out of my manic-depressive work trance I went to a movie tonight. A movie! In a theatre!

After overcoming the initial shock of sitting in a typical North American movie theatre complete with big cushy seats, overpriced junk food, and people on first dates, I realised that a big screen and thematic music was just what my brain needed. I’m not sure what this says about me, but it took a Hollywood movie with Leonardo DiCaprio set in the diamond fuelled Sierra Leone civil war to snap out of constantly dwelling on everything going on around me. It’s funny how I needed something as artificial as a movie to remind me that there will always be things happening, whether I am here or not. Leonardo DiCaprio’s characters says something to the effect of ”Peace Corps come to Africa and only stay long enough (two years) to learn that they can’t make a difference.” I don’t see myself getting to the point of being so disillusioned that I don’t bother doing anything, but I can understand how it happens. For the most part, I can still find some purpose in organising a meeting or facilitating on one workshop at a time. However, it is distressing to learn of how many people have come before me to do what they can, but ultimately they leave and nothing really becomes of it. People create manuals and hold workshops, but ten years later people are more or else still producing the same manuals and workshops. It’s unfair to say that small improvements are not made, but I make my own head spin wondering if there is a better way.

Side note: someone I know here, who used to trade gems in Angola says the diamond industry really is as insane as portrayed in the film. I am curious how this movie will affect diamond sales and how many people will let go of the diamond ring engagement fairytale.