Monday, August 20, 2007

A Meeting Like No Other

Some described it as one of the best and most constructive meeting they had ever attended.

We are yet to come back down to earth after what we experienced on Saturday.

The SDV volunteers mostly listened as others present made a case, sometimes passionately, for why the community should support SDV.

Their appreciation for what we are doing was humbling and touched us deeply.

The meeting ran close to three hours, and was conducted almost entirely in Lugisu. Just about everyone present, young and old, men and women (though mostly men), those who visit SDV regularly and those whom we welcomed for the first time, stood up to share their thoughts and suggestions. And what they shared was often personal and touching.

We will meet again next Saturday, after they have a chance to consult the community widely, and agree on some concrete steps forward. But, that should be mere formality, since we already know that we are here to work together with the community for a long time.

And as you can expect of us by now, we didn't miss the opportunity to introduce the new visitors to our laptops!

We will try to publish a follow up post with some translated quotes from the meeting.

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