Ruben bloggar frå turar, innland og utland: Another story!

Second quarterly report, even though it's only 2 weeks since I sent the last one. Here we go:

9. Please give an example of a positive experience either from work, the host family or from the community you live in. Please formulate this as a story.

Another Story

My last story was so good (in my opinion) so I don’t know how to give you a story that will answer your expectations. But I’ll try.

My meeting with the General Secretary of NIF (Norwegian Sports Paralympic and Olympic Committee) which didn’t go like planned.

Two weeks ago I was told that the General Secretary (GS) of NIF, Inge Andersen, would come to Lusaka and he wanted to meet us volunteers over breakfast. I was so excited! Meeting with one of the most important people in NIF, if not the most important! I tried to sleep the night before, but was thinking how it would be to meet him, and maybe making a good impression so he would remember me until I send my job application to NIF. I knew it would be hard to be remembered by a guy who meets new people all the time in his busy schedule.

So the day had come, Tuesday 12^th of November 2013, and I went to the gym early to relax and get decent shower (lot better than cold water from a bucket in our bathtub at home). I met Anja outside Southern Sun Hotel were we was invited for breakfast at 07:30 AM. We came early, around 07:10, and I asked the reception if they had a wheelchair I could borrow. After a bit of explanation (where I did not tell the truth) I got the wheelchair, and me and Anja had some fun outside the hotel before rolling into the breakfast area, there we bet Anita and Helene, Norwegian volunteers in Kabwe and Livingstone.

So, then it was just to wait. The first person that come around half past seven was an employee of NIF, Bjorn something. He is an elderly man, which, in my opinion don’t have the same sense of humour as me. So he didn’t really get the wheelchair joke, so after a while, I felt uncomfortable and took it back to the reception. Then more of the NIF staff came, Tom and Diane, which heard about the wheel chair joke and thought it was a bit funny. I sat next to Tom and he was a very interesting guy, who have been working with sports for a long time. But Inge Andersen, the GS of NIF didn’t come. The guys had an appointment at the Norwegian Embassy at 9 AM, and just before they were going Mr Andersen arrived. He said he thought we were coming with them to the embassy, so he didn’t rush, but now he realized his mistake and said he would sit with us for 5 (which became 10) minutes.

Unfortunately some was talking so much that Mr. Andersen didn’t get to say much, which was very frustrating, and he never saw me in a wheelchair. But at least we got to meet him, greet him and say good bye. Hopefully we will meet him again sometime.

BUT I did surprise someone with my wheelchair, because when I walked to the breakfast buffet one of the ladies that worked at the hotel said: “YOU!” and I answered “ME!” with a smile. I walked to the ladies and they said this:

“We saw you in a wheelchair! And then you just stood up and started to walk! We thought we saw a MIRACLE!!! We couldn’t believe what we saw! We actually thought you were disabled!”
I laughed and said it was just a joke, and there hadn’t been any miracles, I just tried to fool a few important people from Norway. But next time I will succeed!