We have officially reached the last quarter of 2009, and the beginning of the rush to plan 2010. The time to scramble towards year-end targets and meet annual goals. The time to review budgets and finish filing systems. The time to start thinking ahead to what new projects await and how old projects need to be revived and if existing projects will continue. I've been spending most of the alert waking moments at the office for the past week or so. (I'll blame my blog-silence on that. By the time I leave my messy desk, my eyes are begging for a break from the computer screen and my creative energy would rather direct itself to an endeavor other than the written word -- like eating food cooked by my flatmate (thank God for people who unwind by cooking up a storm) or hitting the town to follow around our favorite Hip Hop DJ's for some dancing.)
In the midst of all this busyness, much of which is restricted to the confines of Microsoft Word Documents and A4 sized paper, I must intentionally remind myself of the people--both my colleagues and our clients--behind the goals and targets; the real lives represented by the numbers and statistics; the invaluable relationships simply recorded in the files. Remembering, and investing in, these people, lives and relationships takes a lot of time and energy. But that's the good kind of Busy.
A couple of weeks ago, I was witness, and part, of a day that sustains me through the mundane yet overwhelming tasks of long work weeks like this one. I had the once again amazing opportunity to document a day of Freedom. The IJM team partnered with local government officials to rescue ten people from slavery. The patriarch of the bunch and his wife had three small children plus two married children living with their spouses and working for the same rock quarry owner. The middleaged couple had been bonded labor slaves for fifteen years. Please read the story on IJM's website, currently the top story in the Casework Bulletin.
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