Meetings

All good people agree, / And all good people say, / All nice people, like Us, are We / And every one else is They: / But if you cross over the sea, / Instead of over the way, / You may end by (think of it!) looking on We / As only a sort of They !
-Rudyard Kipling, from We and They



The style of meetings in America is very different from the style of meetings in Uganda....

Your meeting is in America at 8:30
You come from your office at 8:34
You're late

Their meeting is at 10
They come from their fields at 12:30
They're right on time

Your meeting is
In a conference room
In a board room
In an office

Their meeting is
In a dim, crowded sitting room
In an old run-down courthouse
Under a tent
On benches in a mud brick building:



On benches outside the local clinic:

In the middle of a field under a tree:

At the edge of town under a tree:
Under a tarp held up with wooden poles:
In a church with a straw floor:


When you look around, you see
Beige-
Walls with neutral paint
Generic framed art
Gray-
Carpet
Padded chairs


If they look around, they see
Green-
Banana trees
Papaya trees
Jackfruit trees
Mango trees
Avacado trees
Maize

Brown- Dirt roads
Mud brick houses


To your meeting, you wear
A sports coat

Slacks

A dress suit

Low-heeled pumps

An appropriate hairstyle

A conservative tie

A watch

To their meeting, they wear

A gomesi

A button-up shirt

Second hand western clothes

Repaired sandals

A head scarf

Bold prints

A rosary

-

You bring

A laptop

A big legal pad

A nice heavy pen

-

They bring

A baby

A small spiral notepad

And a cheap plastic bic

You meet with these particular people
Because you work in the same department
Because you all have deadlines

They meet with these particular people
Because they live in the same village
Because they all have concerns about HIV

Your kids are
At daycare
With a nanny, playing with educational toys
Sitting at a desk while their teacher draws shapes on the board

Their kids are

At the meeting:

On a mat nearby, playing with a plastic bag

Sitting outside while their muzungu draws shapes on her notepad:
At your meeting, you get
Coffee


At their meeting, they eat and/or feed guests
Tea with milk

Matooke with beef:

Matooke with pork
Matooke with g-nut sauce

Matooke with g-nut sauce and fish
Luwombo, sauce wrapped up in banana leaves:

Cassava Sweet potatoes
Greens
Eggplant
Cabbage


When a very important person comes to your meeting, you give him
An honorarium

When a very important person comes to their meeting, they give her
Matooke
Avacadoes
Beans
Greens
Passion fruit
Sugarcane
Jackfruit
Brooms
A live chicken
Eggs
Entuntuno (sour berries, so good!)

Your background noises are
The click of nice shoes on a hard floor
The air conditioner cutting off
A cell phone
The copy machine

Their background noises are
Goats
Birds chirping
Kids
Roosters
Motorcycle taxis

You eat
At a table
With a fork

They eat
On a mat
With their fingers:


That is how you are very different from them.

But, at your meeting, you
Discuss ideas
Work together
State your opinions
Point out interesting things
Become very intent
Are frustrated
Are confused
Get bored
And laugh

And at their meeting, they
Discuss ideas
Work together
State their opinions
Point out interesting things:

Become very intent:

Are frustrated:
Are confused:
Get bored:
and Laugh:

And that is how you are the same.