Both And...

Old Bo thinks he's an Eagle

The place: deep in the heart of Kenya.
The Task:  To set up a Village Leaders Training Institute

I met with the Chief to secure permission and solicit his lead in choosing the people to come to the training. He appeared genuinely interested in what I had in mind and agreed to help out if I would come to a community meeting the next day.

The next day, I arrived at the clearing as planned, encountering as I got closer, a huge crowd. There must have been 500 local citizens. This was nearly incredible since this  was an extremely rural area and people must have come from as much as twenty miles away to be able to gather 500.

"Surely" I thought, "He did not misunderstand me."  The thought of  the logistics involved in training this many escaped my sense of possibility:  the translation, the group processing, the work day, the implementation plans by villages, meals..

The Chief asked me to tell the people why I was there and to invite those who wanted to be village leaders to come and get trained.

He introduced me and  all 500 people fell silent. Even the breeze ceased for this brief moment - well sort of!!

I hadn't said three sentences when the Chief interrupted, took over and began talking in his local language to all these people.

That was it. I had all the time I was going to get.

I don't know exactly what he was saying to the people. He took a long time, and the Kenyan staff I was with told me he was holding an official meeting that had nothing to do with our being there.

I began to suspect that I had been used by this Chief as a way to gather his constituents.

The Village Leaders Institute was a success, as they usually were. We had a place to hold it, people to do the cooking, and about twenty leaders got trained - a normal sized group.

I imagine that Chief kept his word about helping me, since all the logistics were taken care of, but I am sure I helped him as well.

When is a time you have been used to your own benefit?