Things to consider in scheduling a meeting

From Rpcvdraft

Things to consider in scheduling a meeting --Chris C. 09:31, 15 November 2007 (EST)

I was reading a journal I wrote while in Somalia about my Peace Corp experience in Ikot Ekpene. I forgot about all those little things that went into something as simple as fixing a day for the next community meeting. The Rural Development Officer, in charge of Ikot Ekpene Division (me) probably scheduled 10 to 20 community meetings a month.

• Basic 101, when were the major and minor markets for the area being held (cross those days off)
  • The Effics/Ibbibios and Annangs used an 8 day week, refered to as the market week. Usually a clan would have or attend a major market on one of those days. There might be a smaller market on another day.
  • Best practice was to note next to the meeting in my calendar, the day of the market week.
  • In the division, there were probably 12 major markets. 1 or 2 of those markets would impact a specific village or clan (group of villages).
• Were there religious events going on?
  • For example, in my area "Ekpo" might be out and about collecting gifts. In some places and times this was very serious business
  • An important person might be putting on a "second burial" to honor a specific ancestor
  • Don't forget church holidays, or official government holidays
• Where were the Tax collectors going to be in the division?
  • Revenue agents would sweep an area making sure everyone had paid their head tax. This could be very distruptive.
  • My Divisional Officer gave me a general idea where collectors would be if they were out.
  • Sometimes I canceled meetings or changed the dates. I never told the village why.
• Were their security issues?
  • There was always talk of bandits. Some villages would put up roadblocks at night with different societies being guards. Usually this was not an issue in the daytime.
  • Sometimes there might be a dispute being brought before the local district court
• When were the community work days?
  • For example, at certain times of the year Oil Palm fruits would be harvested by the village from all trees regardless of individual ownership. Sort of a property tax that supported the school and other community projects.