Arrival in Tirana

Mirëdita All,

Just a quick (really) update to let you know what I have been up to since my last communiqué.

In July I attended the 16th World Council of YMCAs in Durban, South Africa as part of the World Alliance Staff team. Overall the event was a big success, though as is usual when you are part of the ‘host/organizing’ team, I actually saw very little of the conference itself due to the necessary behind-the-scenes work. The evaluation of the GOP process in the Sierra Leone and Russia YMCAs was completed and presented to the delegates. Information on the World Council and findings of the assessment can be found on the World Alliance website at http://www.ymca.int/index.php?id=647 and http://www.ymca.int/uploads/media/GOP_Evaluation_Final_Report_30_june_06_-_accepted_01.pdf for those of you that are interested.

From a personal perspective, the one negative of attending the World Council was that after returning from Durban and suffering from pain and swelling in my leg, I was diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis (an 8 cm/3 inch blood clot) in late July. The result of this was that I spent the next 10 weeks in Geneva (instead of moving to Albania in early September) undergoing anti-coagulation and blood thinning treatment and was ‘banned’ from airline travel during this time. However, thrombosis did not stop me attending the centennial celebrations of the Romford YMCA (England) where I grew up and gave me a good excuse to utilize the rail link from Geneva to London provided by TGV and EuroStar.

At the end of September I was cleared to return to work and the next day flew to Bulgaria to attend the YMCA Partner Group meeting whose purpose is to work with our Bulgarian counterparts in strengthening the YMCA movement there. From there it was on to the Field Group meeting in Albania and more brainstorming/planning to help generate the building of YMCA capacity in Europe’s third poorest country. From there it was a whirlwind of stops in Geneva, London, North Carolina, Chicago, London and……..

…….Finally in early November I landed in Tirana, Albania to begin my 12-month assignment in the Land of the Eagle (as Albania translates from its native language). My role here will be organizational development in the emerging YMCA movement. This will principally consist of strategic planning, human resource and leadership development through training, constitutional review, development of governance policies and procedures, and partnership and collaboration development to ensure long term sustainability. So far my experiences in Albania, besides the expected meetings and office set up responsibilities, have included eating sheep's eye, attending an Albanian wedding, and dodging uncovered manholes (lethal - particularly at night) on the streets and pavements of Tirana.

More on my ongoing experiences will follow soon. Please update your address books with my new contact information listed below.

Best wishes to you all and please let me know your news when you have the time.