Diaries

After a whole month in Lagos, I returned to the southern city of Port Harcourt on the 17th of April. The 9 hour journey left me exhausted, so I decided not to show up at the office the next day. At 8am the following morning, I knew my stay-at-home plan would not work; I was already itching to go see what's up at the office.

The front desk officer smiled and called out "Timothy"! Where have you been? Her excitement, I was later to find out, was not unconnected to the two "foreign looking" parcels that arrived the previous week. She handed me the parcels. One was from the US with that all American FEDEX stamp . I did not need a prophet to tell me that the color yellow and the picture of someone leaping to shake off limits represents DF. I tossed the other aside and tore open the evelope. Behold! It has arived.
"And what Inspires You" The magazine quickly asked me. I stopped and did a quick review of what inspires me.I am deeply inspired by time and those that make it count. Those that invest time; those that see it as a resource, hence invest it wisely; those that make a difference in the lives of others. I a inspired by the lives of ordinary people that maximize 24hrs to build life-changing systems that last.

The new year has kicked in with full force. Life and work is back to normal flow and rhythm. For those who make new year resolutions, how is that coming on? Well, if you have not made up your mind on what to do this year, stop by the D&F website and take a look around. I bet you'd find something to inspire you! I write from the perspective of one who's been there!
 
Pick a Project, apply and prepare to free your creative juice. You will not regret it.
 
For me, hmmmm. There are tons of ideas I plan to let loose this year. And I think it's time to visit the DREAMAID page! Enjoy the year as it unfolds!
 
Timothy Ogene slitdrum.tumblr.com

This last diary entry has sat on the backburner of my mind (and on my continually growing to-do list) for quite sometime. With the approach of the Cebu project, I cannot believe it has been over six months since my Schliersee adventure began… since I boarded a plane to head toward what I knew would be a three-month, life changing experience…I just didn’t know how. Nor did I try to fathom how, instead just simply opening myself up to take in the whole beautiful, challenging, unique journey – with each moment building upon the next. As the Schliersee fellows gathered in tiny, quaint Bayrischzell, we developed an instant bond, brought together by the grand ideas of some inspiring people. But I also feel a bond to the fellows I haven’t met – to those of the Istanbul project – as they followed (danced!) on our heels through their own three-month experience – and to those new fellows, the Cebu project. My anticipation for their upcoming adventure grows and I cannot wait to be a little fly on the wall as I see their videos, their photos and read their diary entries. My fellow fellows of Schliersee, the special people we met in Germany, and the D&F staff are on my mind everyday – a small detail within my day-to-day routine makes me think of one of them, or all of them, or a moment, or a feeling from those three-months. I smile as I take note of the memory – whether it is a song on the radio that makes me think of Andres’ singing, or simply hearing an accent of a visitor to the museum where I now work, or just a longing I have to walk down to Room 35 to experience the “heat” of India & Nigeria (whew - how can you keep that radiator up so high?!? :), or up to Kiki and Sulava’s room where the door was always open (although they might not be in there! :). When reading the news, often sad and disturbing, with earthquakes, bombings and kidnappings, etc. I am comforted by these experiences that we had as Schliersee fellows, which the Istanbul fellow shared, and that will connect us to all the future fellows. Everyday I learn another way in which the fellowship has enhanced my time here on this increasingly smaller Earth – I look forward to continuing this discovery. This fellowship isn’t over! Best wishes to the Cebu Fellows!

It has been some two weeks that I came to Nepal after my fellowship was over. On the first day of arrival I was sort of blank as I was not really able to think maybe because of very less sleep in the plane and jet lag too.

It is very funny that all the least developed countries (L.D.Cs) or developing counrties have all the bad things in common.I remember once me, Jack, Timmy, Julius and Denise sharing and talking about the public transportation system in our countries over our dinner at Bella. We were all telling on as how we travel in buses, how the conductor comes to collect money,how crowded is the bus, how we shout or bang the roof in order to stop the bus so that we could get off, what kind of characters do the conductors have (they generally are rough,undisciplined and bully type). I remember Denise saying she calls “Paro” “Paro” to stop the bus whereas we say “Roka” “Roka” to stop the bus. The buses stop wherever they like so that they could collect a passenger even in the busiest street, even in front of the traffic but if we want them to stop then they say it’s illegal to stop anywhere and we must stop at exact bus stations. It was frustrating to take a local bus all the way to a hotel and then to my house. And here I would also like to borrow the same phrase from my fellows and I too believe this is what we call the Charm of the Chaos. This charm of the chaos is universal in poor countries . why???

On the first evening after my arrival at the hotel I did not know that I had acted funny. I went for a short tour of “Thamel” the tourist hub of Kathmandu with a packet of pop corns in my hand. I felt that passers by were staring at me. And I felt that they were staring at me because all of them knew that I had returned from Germany. “Funny” It sounds like a story I read in high school where a poor man gets some money from the bank for the first time and he feels that every one walking on the street knows that he has some money in his pocket. And they all are after his money.

I was and am proud that I had accomplished my fellowship and I was very happy first because I would meet my parents and my relatives, second I could tell them never ending stories about Germany and about my stay and third it was obviously a great matter of pride to receive an international fellowship and to accomplish it. This has been the biggest event in my life till today.

In the beginning after I arrived at home I was feeling awkward. It was little hard to believe that I had left Germany…… At times I felt blank and empty and I also felt that I had lost track in my life. I had missed quite a lot of things since some things had changed and few big things had happened. But now after some two weeks my life is back in the same old track where it is not easy to do anything and now I am no more” Deepakovich” or the” general” or the “dpac” or the Tom of “tom and jerry” or “the hard working mt everest guy” or the “dimag” or “the man with the brain” or “the man goes with the soup”and so on and so forth but now I am “Deepak sir” (once who ever has taught in school always becomes a sir which means a teacher) or “Deepakji” or” Basnetji”. And I am back in my stamina or firm and ready to score a century or “hattrick” like in DEDON’s football ground.