Friday "online water-cooler moments" at Dadamac February 4, 2012
Bidi Bala - N Central Nigeria
I was about to grab a lunch time sandwich when I noticed Bidi Bala (from Fantsuam North Central Nigeria) come online.
In recent months he's been facing even tougher challenges than usual because of post-election violence, and related staff shortages, see Community Cohesion and Conflict Resolution
This extra pressure means he hasn't been at the Dadamac UK-Nigeria team meetings for a while. I thought he'd be too busy to chat, so I just Skyped him a smile and a wave. Fortunately he'd just completed a difficult job, and was about to take a break too. We had a had a much appreciated quick catch up on work and family news.
Fola - SW Nigeria
Then I noticed my google chat box, Fola (from Dadamac's outpost in Ago-Are, SW Nigeria) had dropped by to explain that poor connectivity had prevented him joining us at First Thursday this week. See First Thursday of the month- so I was "at home" on the Internet for an hour Life in Nigeria is never easy. In a chat last weekend he was telling me how things were returning to normality after the fuel price increases and strikes. Normality too as returning in a less welcome way, with a return to delays in teachers' pay coming through. For the previous couple of months salaries had been paid on time, to the delight and surprise of the teachers. The new governor was getting high praise!
Sasha - Serbia
Later, as I was about to go offline for the evening, I was delighted to get a Skype message from Sasha - in Serbia. It's a long time since we've been in contact, mainly because Minciu Sodas where we met is no longer active. He asked for a voice chat, and we had an excellent link, very clear and with minimal delays.
It's always hare to know where to start after a long gap, so I was telling him about the "Landscape of Change" response to rising unemployment. See P2P and Landscape of Change Sasha was interested as unemployment (due to a collapsing economy) is a long-standing problem in Serbia. He shared with me something he had recently posted to a discussion on the theme "What does it feel like to be in a collapsing economy". I share it again, and the links he gave me.
It feels like the end of the world. Everything you know and thought stable is melting around you. You feel the pressure mounting up while you are in a dark small place, deeply claustrophobic. You also feel like pursued animal cornered by predators. There is nowhere to go nowhere to run, nobody to help you. It feels like the end of the world. Depression starts to grow, health crumbles. You don't have enough to eat, and what you eat is of very low quality. Borders are closed and you are unwanted in other countries. You are pariah, despised and outcasted for no reason. You lose all or most of the little pleasures of life, you look your friends and family suffering but you cant help much. It feels like a meat grinding machine and you are the meat. It will push you until the pressure becomes too much, many will crumble. Health problems become rampant, depression becomes collective. Many people lose their compass and start believing wild lies and illusions (crazy ideologies, superstitions). People go back and try to find and connect to deeper reality, religion is back even if most of that is ill understood and really not too deep.If you are like most of the people you will continue to believe in things that aren't there any more: you go to work even you don't get paid for many years (to keep the job), follow rules that don't apply anymore and are useless. If you are intelligent enough all this can push you to evaluate the deepest of your assumptions and beliefs. Hopefully this will lead you in good direction.
Now a few suggestions: people who had some resources (financial reserves in foregin stable currencies, real estate, land) fared much better at least until they spent it. Having some prices skills was very valuable, but only later in the process.
Keep your health, as if your health goes there are no medicines(drugs) and no helpful doctors and working institutions.
In my life, family was essential. If not for support from my family, I don't think I would be alive now to write this. You cant believe how essential it is to have somebody to support you in any way possible. Just the fact that is there someone who cares for you can give you hope and strength in the darkest of the times.
Understand that the disaster is man made, you are not personally responsible for it. Don't feel guilt as that will kill you. If you are dead you can't help your family and friends. Things change and there were much worse period in history than what you endure currently. There is still beauty in life, nature and art. And it is free no matter how poor or desperate you are. Be brave things will change. After storm there is always beautiful weather
http://www.quora.com
http://www.quora.com/What-does-it-feel-like-to-be-in-a-collapsing-economy
http://pdfernhout.net/beyond-a-jobless-recovery-knol.html