I am working on another fundraising letter. I am planning to mail it on Friday. If everything goes well I will post it here in a few weeks. I don't want anyone to read something here before they get it in the mail. Getting a letter is so rare these days that I want people to be able to truly enjoy that. It is hard going, though. I am not sure what to say. I want to tell people about my work here - but I what do I tell them. Do I tell them the many different things I have done (Met with the Zimbabwean organization, Youth Empowerment and Transformation, attended a meeting at the United Nations, talked with a man from Rwanda about his experiences, spent much time learning about the cultures of my colleagues, talked about HIV/AIDS in context of our spirituality and what the Pope recently said, and prepared presentations on what the WSCF does.) I am doing all of this while I am also trying to learn the inner workings of this organization. What is the IRO? (It is the office where I work). What is the UNDP? (It is the United Nation's Development Program). Like all organizations there are important people to know. (A few days ago I accidentally asked a former General Secretary if she was the former assistant... oops). I am learning slowly. I am also concerned that I will not be able to stay until March of next year. God willing, I will be able to, but perhaps I will be heading back to Austin in only a few months. I need to start praying harder! Prayer is our way of changing our own hearts, by listening to God. I am still working on fundraising. I am still praying.
I suppose it's not that I don't have anything to say - I clearly have quite a lot to say - but I don't know what to say or how to say it.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Maryann, I meant to write this in your other entry, you can change your keyboard to the US setting. Just go into your control panel, hit the regional and language options and change to english! It doesn't change what the keys say but does change what they do. Anyway, we are thinking about you! -Ryan
ReplyDeletethis one is hard to answer. I often feel like i have nothing to say. maybe try writing something as a stream of consciousness type of thing? write ideas and images down as they come to you, even if they seem out of place. from there you may see patterns (and form new mental connections) and from there get some insight on how you are planting seeds that will eventually help bring the world together. or something like that. metaphors are kind of mixed up. this is similar actually to why i like modern poetry. lots of the modern stuff mixes concepts together that you might not normally think of together, like wallace stevens' phrase "milky monsters of the brain". i can't remember what poem thats from but it sticks out. that makes me think "milk = nutrition for growth. monster = out of control. milky monster = nutrition out of control. what feeds the brain? thoughts. brain receiving too many thoughts. but the brain also produces thoughts. maybe the brain is the milky monster, trying to grow too many things at once." etc. Recognizing patterns among seemingly disparate concepts (gleaned from your experiences in geneva) could be a definition of 'insight.' Then spread that insight out in your letters to people.
ReplyDelete