Communication can be difficult between Tanzania and the United States. Electricity outages are common in Karatu, internet is spotty and a seven to eight-hour time difference doesn’t help things.
So when fellow Kim was finally back in the states for a brief time after a 14-month stint in Africa, Judy had a generous (and smart) idea. She invited Kim and I (Jaime) to her summer home for a work retreat.
Judy lives on Martha’s Vineyard for the summer, and last month we spent just under a week at her beautiful, upside-down house (meaning the living space is up top and rooms are on the first floor). Finally collaborating together and in person, we put in solid work sessions and balanced each one with a bit of fun, whether it was riding bikes along beach roads or treating ourselves to delicious, local-yogurt lassis (which you’d never find in Tanzania!).
As our name suggests, networking is a big part of our organization. It takes getting the word out about what we do and how we make an impact in order for others to understand our purpose and join our cause.
So meeting various, interesting people on the vineyard, answering questions about what, exactly, life is like on the ground in Tanzania and building new relationships is not only enjoyable but also a great way to spread awareness about our goals.
After being abroad, it felt important to share what it’s like to live in Karatu and converse with listeners stateside about our work, its challenges and why it all matters.
NCN is in a transitional period, and we’re trying to solidify our branding. So in order to deal with big ideas that are going to set our course for years to come, we went to the beach a few times and took advantage of clearing our minds in endless sand and gentle waves— here we had sudden bouts of inspiration about NCN.
We brainstormed in an unconventional, but very effective way—we wrote down all words associated with our ideas on small rectangles of paper, and rearranged them on sliding glass doors.
Using this very visual method, we came up with potential, new organization names as well as a revamped vision and mission, all of which are now more in line with NCN’s ideas of progress into the future.
When we weren’t working, Kim and I enjoyed the luxury of a very knowledgeable local tour guide and very gracious host in Judy. She knows the island and its history like the back of her hand, and she was easily able to produce endless facts and interesting stories about the land and its people. We visited a historic lighthouse, ate lobster for the first time—freshly caught that morning by Judy’s husband Mark— watched sunset from the beach and spent a fun, productive day selling Maasai beadwork at the Chilmark Flea Market.
After chancing upon a poster, we had our most unexpected highlight, which was the chance to see Noam Chomsky, the renowned “linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, logician, social critic and political activist.”
After the showing of his new documentary, Chomsky, who is sharp as a tack, spoke and answered questions about topics that are pertinent to current situations in America and internationally.
All of us being stateside and eliminating the chaos that can be a big part of cross-country interaction was extremely advantageous. Though Martha’s Vineyard was an atypical spot for an intensive work session, it was a perfect location for getting away from outside stimulation and focusing on the work at hand.
