Dear Readers,
After a series of unfortunate mini-crises, I nearly had a meltdown. I really really need to have 1 day in Nigeria where no lecherous married man hits on me, no one tries to scam me and nothing breaks (I have a somewhat cynical theory that when a Nigerian tries to fix something, they start by breaking it more...).
Part of this breakdown is my newfound inability to communicate with my countrymen (Americans) about this experience (working in Nigeria, for Nigerians, with Nigerians...there are maybe a handful of foreigners in my temporary town).
Now, don't take this the wrong way, but it doesn't take much to be an 'Africa expert' in the US. I'd be curious to see how many such experts had spent more than 2 continuous months in an African country. I've only been to two--but I'm definitely the only American living in my town. Some pass through periodically, mostly oil workers and wayward academics.
The funny thing about being so isolated from other expats, is that I feel increasingly uncomfortable around my fellow expats--especially the ones who are just here to visit, or live within a cocoon (albeit a cocoon I sometimes envy--I'd do a lot for some real Chinese food, or regular access to decent bread and cheese).
I was asked by a friend who lives in the US, in the same wealthy suburb I spent one year of high school in (note to other expats, growing up moving around is great for kids--but please don't move them their senior year of hs), and I realized that I had no way to describe my experience to him.
This must sort of be what veterans feel--that even if people were interested and asked questions--you wouldn't know what to say. I can't even watch some US tv shows anymore because the ideal world depicted in those shows is so far from the reality...even the US reality, much less the Nigerian one.
Does embracing diversity of thought and culture mean that I'm actually more American?
I don't feel very Nigerian--I'm not. However, I do feel less and less in common with Americans, despite my passport.
I hope I learn enough here to be able to communicate back there.
Best,
Alena
Showing posts with label Buddhist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhist. Show all posts
Monday, August 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Patience, Grace and Goodluck
Dear readers,
Nigeria is never boring. It is also never easy. I know I speak as an elite, who is the guest of the highest power in the area, so if it isn't easy for me, it must be really hard for everyone else.
I have met people named Precious, Patience, Goodluck (I haven't met the President yet, but I've met many many men and women with the same name), Prince, King, Virtue, Grace, etc. I'm beginning to think that their parents may have named their kids those things not just because they are precious, but because they hope their kids will have these virtues, or be aided by their names. My Nigerian friend says its because their parents need those things :).
I'm learning a lot about myself here. I'm learning that when I'm frustrated, I sit in front of my Gohonzon and chant, and then I persistently push until I get what I want. Every now and then the frustration builds up and then I yell about it to a friend and then I get back to work. Although I suspect I'm going to need to push harder to get things to work the way I want them to.
There is a serious cultural bent (here and probably in many places) towards things that are flashy, look cool, and might even be cool. This is at the expense of day-to-day functional things. I'm learning that, perhaps due to my upbringing in China, where infrastructure is so important, that function is more important to me than beauty.
I don't need ten expensive ingredients in my food, I just need good, simple food.
I don't need fancy plateware that fries the microwave because of the gold trim.
I need some patience, grace and good luck. I also need to become more pushy. Hope this doesn't affect my personality long term!!
Best,
Alena
Nigeria is never boring. It is also never easy. I know I speak as an elite, who is the guest of the highest power in the area, so if it isn't easy for me, it must be really hard for everyone else.
I have met people named Precious, Patience, Goodluck (I haven't met the President yet, but I've met many many men and women with the same name), Prince, King, Virtue, Grace, etc. I'm beginning to think that their parents may have named their kids those things not just because they are precious, but because they hope their kids will have these virtues, or be aided by their names. My Nigerian friend says its because their parents need those things :).
I'm learning a lot about myself here. I'm learning that when I'm frustrated, I sit in front of my Gohonzon and chant, and then I persistently push until I get what I want. Every now and then the frustration builds up and then I yell about it to a friend and then I get back to work. Although I suspect I'm going to need to push harder to get things to work the way I want them to.
There is a serious cultural bent (here and probably in many places) towards things that are flashy, look cool, and might even be cool. This is at the expense of day-to-day functional things. I'm learning that, perhaps due to my upbringing in China, where infrastructure is so important, that function is more important to me than beauty.
I don't need ten expensive ingredients in my food, I just need good, simple food.
I don't need fancy plateware that fries the microwave because of the gold trim.
I need some patience, grace and good luck. I also need to become more pushy. Hope this doesn't affect my personality long term!!
Best,
Alena
Thursday, April 15, 2010
In honor of the Nuclear Summit, part IV
Dear all,
Here is part IV in my series of excerpts from President Ikeda's 2010 Peace Proposal.
2010 Peace Proposal
Toward a New Era of Value Creation
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International
Expanding frameworks for non-use of nuclear weapons
To date, the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) has represented an effort to fill the gap in the legal framework left by the absence of any treaty or convention providing a blanket prohibition against the use of nuclear weapons. In 2009, NWFZ treaties entered into force in Central Asia and Africa. These followed similar agreements covering Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. The decision by so many governments to eliminate nuclear weapons from so many regions around the world is truly significant.
Although the preamble to the NPT, which entered into force forty years ago, calls on signatories to “make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples,” it is clear that the nuclear-weapon states have not fulfilled that obligation.
The NPT does not, of course, accord these countries an open-ended right to possess nuclear weapons. Despite this, their continued adherence to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence has had the effect of encouraging both “vertical proliferation” (expanded and enhanced nuclear arsenals within nuclear-weapon states) and “horizontal proliferation” (the spread of nuclear technologies to other states and entities). The real-world effect has been to shake and undermine the foundations of the NPT regime itself.
The time has come for the nuclear-weapon states to develop a shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to break free from the spell of deterrence—the illusory belief that security can somehow be realized through threats of mutual destruction and a balance of terror. A new kind of thinking is needed, one based on working together to reduce threats and creating ever-expanding circles of physical and psychological security until these embrace the entire world.
As evidence of the nuclear-weapon states’ genuine resolve to move beyond deterrence, I urge them to undertake the following three commitments at the 2010 NPT Review Conference and to work to fully implement them by 2015.
1. To reach a legally binding agreement to extend negative security assurances—the undertaking not to use nuclear weapons against any of the non-nuclear-weapon states fulfilling their obligations under the NPT.
2. To initiate negotiation on a treaty codifying the promise not to use nuclear weapons against each other.
3. Where nuclear-weapon-free zones have yet to be established, and as a bridging measure toward their establishment, to take steps to declare them nuclear non-use regions.
I have no intention of underestimating the difficulties that lie in the way of realizing these commitments, especially the second and third. But it is important to stress that these are political decisions that the nuclear-weapon states can take now while maintaining their current status as possessors of nuclear weapons.
Stay tuned till tomorrow!
Best,
Alena
Here is part IV in my series of excerpts from President Ikeda's 2010 Peace Proposal.
2010 Peace Proposal
Toward a New Era of Value Creation
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International
Expanding frameworks for non-use of nuclear weapons
To date, the establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZ) has represented an effort to fill the gap in the legal framework left by the absence of any treaty or convention providing a blanket prohibition against the use of nuclear weapons. In 2009, NWFZ treaties entered into force in Central Asia and Africa. These followed similar agreements covering Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. The decision by so many governments to eliminate nuclear weapons from so many regions around the world is truly significant.
Although the preamble to the NPT, which entered into force forty years ago, calls on signatories to “make every effort to avert the danger of such a war and to take measures to safeguard the security of peoples,” it is clear that the nuclear-weapon states have not fulfilled that obligation.
The NPT does not, of course, accord these countries an open-ended right to possess nuclear weapons. Despite this, their continued adherence to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence has had the effect of encouraging both “vertical proliferation” (expanded and enhanced nuclear arsenals within nuclear-weapon states) and “horizontal proliferation” (the spread of nuclear technologies to other states and entities). The real-world effect has been to shake and undermine the foundations of the NPT regime itself.
The time has come for the nuclear-weapon states to develop a shared vision of a world without nuclear weapons and to break free from the spell of deterrence—the illusory belief that security can somehow be realized through threats of mutual destruction and a balance of terror. A new kind of thinking is needed, one based on working together to reduce threats and creating ever-expanding circles of physical and psychological security until these embrace the entire world.
As evidence of the nuclear-weapon states’ genuine resolve to move beyond deterrence, I urge them to undertake the following three commitments at the 2010 NPT Review Conference and to work to fully implement them by 2015.
1. To reach a legally binding agreement to extend negative security assurances—the undertaking not to use nuclear weapons against any of the non-nuclear-weapon states fulfilling their obligations under the NPT.
2. To initiate negotiation on a treaty codifying the promise not to use nuclear weapons against each other.
3. Where nuclear-weapon-free zones have yet to be established, and as a bridging measure toward their establishment, to take steps to declare them nuclear non-use regions.
I have no intention of underestimating the difficulties that lie in the way of realizing these commitments, especially the second and third. But it is important to stress that these are political decisions that the nuclear-weapon states can take now while maintaining their current status as possessors of nuclear weapons.
Stay tuned till tomorrow!
Best,
Alena
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
In honor of the Nuclear Summit, part II
Dear all,
Here is the second installment of President Ikeda's Peace Proposal, the part that focuses on nuclear abolition.
2010 Peace Proposal
Toward a New Era of Value Creation
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International
When the Soka Gakkai was founded in 1930, Japan and the world were shuddering under the impact of the financial panic of the previous year. People were afflicted by a deepening sense of dread and unease. Writing at that time, the founder of the organization, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), called for a transition from a dependent or even an independent way of life to what he called a contributive way of life. He rejected a passive, dependent way of life in which one is swayed by and at the mercy of one’s surroundings and the conditions of the times. He likewise rejected a way of life in which we are capable of looking out for our own needs but remain indifferent to the sufferings of others.
He urged, instead, a contributive way of life as described by the Buddhist maxim that when we light a lantern for others, our own way forward is lit. The source of illumination needed to dispel the chaos and darkness of the age is to be found in actions that bring forth our own inner light through committed action on behalf of others.
The second president of the Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda (1900-58), as heir to Makiguchi’s spirit, declared: “I wish to see the word ‘misery’ no longer used to describe the world, any country, any individual.” He put this conviction into practice through his efforts dedicated 4 to peace and people’s happiness and to the construction of popular solidarity rooted in a philosophy of respect for the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.
Surveying the challenges that confront contemporary global society, I am convinced that nothing is more crucial than an essential reorientation of our way of life based on a commitment to the welfare of all of humankind and the entire planet, such as Makiguchi and Toda called for. Rather than stand to one side and ponder how the future might develop, we must focus on what each of us can do at this critical moment, the role each of us can choose to play in changing the direction of history. We must strive to make a proactive, contributive way of life the prevailing spirit of the new era.
On the basis of this recognition, I would like to offer several concrete policy proposals focused on two main challenges. The first challenge is nuclear weapons, which continue to threaten humankind as the ultimate embodiment of a cruel and blatant dismissal of the needs and welfare of others. The second is the structural distortions of global society where poverty and other threats continue to undermine the human dignity of vast numbers of people.
What do you think so far? What are your thoughts on nuclear weapons? Where does the average person stand on this issue?
Best,
Alena
Here is the second installment of President Ikeda's Peace Proposal, the part that focuses on nuclear abolition.
2010 Peace Proposal
Toward a New Era of Value Creation
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International
When the Soka Gakkai was founded in 1930, Japan and the world were shuddering under the impact of the financial panic of the previous year. People were afflicted by a deepening sense of dread and unease. Writing at that time, the founder of the organization, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi (1871-1944), called for a transition from a dependent or even an independent way of life to what he called a contributive way of life. He rejected a passive, dependent way of life in which one is swayed by and at the mercy of one’s surroundings and the conditions of the times. He likewise rejected a way of life in which we are capable of looking out for our own needs but remain indifferent to the sufferings of others.
He urged, instead, a contributive way of life as described by the Buddhist maxim that when we light a lantern for others, our own way forward is lit. The source of illumination needed to dispel the chaos and darkness of the age is to be found in actions that bring forth our own inner light through committed action on behalf of others.
The second president of the Soka Gakkai, Josei Toda (1900-58), as heir to Makiguchi’s spirit, declared: “I wish to see the word ‘misery’ no longer used to describe the world, any country, any individual.” He put this conviction into practice through his efforts dedicated 4 to peace and people’s happiness and to the construction of popular solidarity rooted in a philosophy of respect for the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.
Surveying the challenges that confront contemporary global society, I am convinced that nothing is more crucial than an essential reorientation of our way of life based on a commitment to the welfare of all of humankind and the entire planet, such as Makiguchi and Toda called for. Rather than stand to one side and ponder how the future might develop, we must focus on what each of us can do at this critical moment, the role each of us can choose to play in changing the direction of history. We must strive to make a proactive, contributive way of life the prevailing spirit of the new era.
On the basis of this recognition, I would like to offer several concrete policy proposals focused on two main challenges. The first challenge is nuclear weapons, which continue to threaten humankind as the ultimate embodiment of a cruel and blatant dismissal of the needs and welfare of others. The second is the structural distortions of global society where poverty and other threats continue to undermine the human dignity of vast numbers of people.
What do you think so far? What are your thoughts on nuclear weapons? Where does the average person stand on this issue?
Best,
Alena
Monday, April 12, 2010
In honor of the Nuclear Summit, part I
Dear all,
I am watching the Nuclear Summit closely. I am strongly dedicated towards nuclear abolition--not just for the removal of the weapons themselves, but for making an important step forward as humanity--to realize that we shouldn't use fear as an weapon. Nuclear weapons may seem remote to those of us who grew up after the Cold War, but they're still very real.
In that vein, I will spend most of the week posting excerpts from President Daisaku Ikeda's 2010 Peace Proposal, which focuses on the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Hope you enjoy--please feel free to post events/thoughts/articles related to this issue:
TOWARD A NEW ERA OF VALUE CREATION
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
(Excerpted Translation)
On January 26 and 27, the annual Peace Proposal by SGI
President Ikeda was carried in the Seikyo Shimbun newspaper.
The following is a translation of the portion carried on January 27 dealing with specific policy proposals in the fields of nuclear abolition and human security.
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss several proposals that I believe can support efforts to resolve the current crises faced by the world and construct a new order of peace and coexistence for the twenty-first century.
The global economic crisis has had a severe impact on the lives of citizens in many
countries. There is also concern that one of its impacts will be a slowing or scaling back of international cooperative efforts to respond to the complex array of global issues, including poverty and environmental destruction. We must avoid a vicious cycle in which crisis gives rise to pessimism, which in turn exacerbates crisis.
In terms of finding a path toward the resolution of global issues, the year 2010 will be a critical one, with a number of important meetings scheduled, including the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May and the special summit in September on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
We must remember that there is always a way, a path to the peak of even the most towering and forbidding mountain. Even when a sheer rock face looms before us, we should refuse to be disheartened, but instead continue the patient search for a way forward. In this sense, what is most strongly required of us is the imagination that can appreciate the present crises as an opportunity to fundamentally transform the direction of history. By mustering the force of inner will and determination we can convert challenges into the fuel for positive change.
I will post more tomorrow.
Best,
Alena
I am watching the Nuclear Summit closely. I am strongly dedicated towards nuclear abolition--not just for the removal of the weapons themselves, but for making an important step forward as humanity--to realize that we shouldn't use fear as an weapon. Nuclear weapons may seem remote to those of us who grew up after the Cold War, but they're still very real.
In that vein, I will spend most of the week posting excerpts from President Daisaku Ikeda's 2010 Peace Proposal, which focuses on the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Hope you enjoy--please feel free to post events/thoughts/articles related to this issue:
TOWARD A NEW ERA OF VALUE CREATION
Daisaku Ikeda
President, Soka Gakkai International (SGI)
(Excerpted Translation)
On January 26 and 27, the annual Peace Proposal by SGI
President Ikeda was carried in the Seikyo Shimbun newspaper.
The following is a translation of the portion carried on January 27 dealing with specific policy proposals in the fields of nuclear abolition and human security.
I would like to take this opportunity to discuss several proposals that I believe can support efforts to resolve the current crises faced by the world and construct a new order of peace and coexistence for the twenty-first century.
The global economic crisis has had a severe impact on the lives of citizens in many
countries. There is also concern that one of its impacts will be a slowing or scaling back of international cooperative efforts to respond to the complex array of global issues, including poverty and environmental destruction. We must avoid a vicious cycle in which crisis gives rise to pessimism, which in turn exacerbates crisis.
In terms of finding a path toward the resolution of global issues, the year 2010 will be a critical one, with a number of important meetings scheduled, including the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May and the special summit in September on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
We must remember that there is always a way, a path to the peak of even the most towering and forbidding mountain. Even when a sheer rock face looms before us, we should refuse to be disheartened, but instead continue the patient search for a way forward. In this sense, what is most strongly required of us is the imagination that can appreciate the present crises as an opportunity to fundamentally transform the direction of history. By mustering the force of inner will and determination we can convert challenges into the fuel for positive change.
I will post more tomorrow.
Best,
Alena
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Tamils and the Sinhala...no one won.
Dear Readers,
Well, most of you are probably familiar with Sri Lanka's 30 year civil war, full of hyper-nationalism, guerilla warfare, rape and violence. If you're not, this article gives an oversimplified summary of the past and important current events. Hindu against Buddhist, with Muslims caught in the middle. All on a tiny island with some of the highest education, literacy rates and equality for women in South Asia.
Well, hopefully this is the beginning of the end. All the best to the people of this beautiful place.
NMRK.
Alena
Well, most of you are probably familiar with Sri Lanka's 30 year civil war, full of hyper-nationalism, guerilla warfare, rape and violence. If you're not, this article gives an oversimplified summary of the past and important current events. Hindu against Buddhist, with Muslims caught in the middle. All on a tiny island with some of the highest education, literacy rates and equality for women in South Asia.
Well, hopefully this is the beginning of the end. All the best to the people of this beautiful place.
NMRK.
Alena
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