Enough sources to write

I finally searched high and low through the databases to come up with 661 sources in the orphan databases. Some sources are related to my dissertation but I would estimate over 600 pertain to orphans. I can start writing the ground breaking article on orphan theory. I am estimating about 120 hours to write 25 pages single spaced with about 40-50 sources. Let the writing begin!

Numb fingers

Well all this work on the computer has numbed my fingers in my left hand. My right elbow has a tendency to get "tennis elbow". I wonder how I will type for this project if the numbing continues. Even now my fingers are numb. I am feeling like tennis players and musicians who do repetitive movements so much that they cannot perform well or perhaps have to retire. Not sure how I would advocate for orphans if I can not use a computer. I do my exercises regularly to mitigate the left hand. I had this symptom before a few times. I can only hope for God's mercy and His healing hand to continue this work for the long term. I had planned to be still working on this, Lord willing, when I am 90 years old and beyond.

Orphan theory model

I have 578 sources now. Doing what a researcher does-digging for sources. It is an interesting excavation. The bulk of the material is sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, and Romania. Runners up are India, Malaysia, Turkey, and China.  Since most of the research is case studies, I have my work cut out. Fortunately I am trying to set a baseline and then we will have a benchmark to work from.

Gambling for orphans

As I read through the book of Job, I ran across an interesting verse:
"You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend".
Gambling for the orphan is quite a serious charge. Job makes it to his friends who challenge his righteousness. It is more like having an auction for an orphan and the category is the same as betraying a friend in an auction and not standing up for that friend. I do recall other verses in Job about the fatherless. Best estimates are that Job lived between Noah and Abraham and possibly in western Mesopotamia. That was before the law and before Israel became a nation. Wise people understood orphans required care and should not be treated as property.

Humorous story about Kentucky Fried and orphan research almost leading to a riot

I found a humorous outcome of research on orphans. This study was done by pediatricians.

The interviews were being done at school, after hours, so it
was, ‘Well it’s going to take up your time. We’ll arrange to
provide food.’ There was a discussion with the children,
‘We’re happy to provide food, what would you like?’ And the
kids said they all wanted Kentucky Fried … Now, it’s a nice
idea […] a form of compensation that’s not really excessive.
Except … it’s a poor township, so most of them have never
had this. Kentucky Fried’s a real treat. […] There was a point
at which other kids came around and saw that these kids
were getting Kentucky Fried. There was almost going to be a
riot. It was fairly tense. Other kids were wanting it, other teachers
were wanting it, demanding it. They handled it by basically
barricading themselves in a room and handing Kentucky
Fried out the window to avoid being mobbed. […] Look, we
made a basic error, I mean, I’m just glad the kids weren’t
hurt, that the caterer wasn’t hurt. (Participant 3)

Kelley, M. C., Brazg, T., Wilfond, B. S., Lengua, L. J., Rivin, B. E., Martin-Herz, S. P., & Diekema, D. S. (2016). Ethical challenges in research with orphans and vulnerable children: a qualitative study of researcher experiences. International health, 8(3), 187-196.

Milestone

I finally finished my chapter on project procurement and contracting theory. I sent it over for editing. Now I have 4 weeks to work on the orphan theory article. I have 370 sources, most of them went into my dissertation. Now to go on the scavenger hunt to find sources for this article. When I finish, this will be the first research assessment of orphan theory. The first mention of orphan in my database is 1990. That makes it a really new concept in the research world. Stay tuned for updates as I progress through this monumental effort.

Cultral differences

The Culture Map, by Erin Meyer
"Meyer’s expertise and clever articulation of potentially tricky concepts  sheds much light on cultural and human interactions. The author digs in deep to understand underlying principles, expectations, and manifestations of culture that are sometimes so deeply ingrained in a culture that they are often not even aware of it themselves".

I was talking with someone how we use the index finger to indicate one for quantity and in Europe they use the thumb for one plus the index finger for two. He mentioned a movie where some Americans tried to play Germans to infiltrate the 3rd Reich and got caught because they used the wrong finger to order beer. Interesting all the different cultural signals that can be used.

 http://www.hopechest.org/humble-and-active-learners/ 

A good intro into her material is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf1ZI-O_9tU 

Low % of orphans in former Yugoslavia

As I pray through the countries of the former Yugoslavia (16th-21st of each month), I noticed again how low the percentages of orphans is. The former Yugoslavia had a civil war in the mid 90s. One would think the number of orphans would be high, but the societies seem to have stabilized over the past 20 years. I wonder what caused the low percentages? My best guess would be that families took in the orphans. Other conflicts are causing large percentages of orphans. Looks like a topic for research.

Stereotypes

Just in from Children's Hope chest blog

Stereotypes are typically seen by the average American as negative. That view can be seen in the media. However, people always stereotype. We have no way to process all the variables in public, whether in one's own country or in another. I recently stereotyped a person as educated and moral, and in conversation found out that person had deficiencies in thinking that were out of bounds for my ethics. No matter how hard we try, we will stereotype people. 

"While striving to understand culture (both foreign cultures and the ones that influence us) we do need to keep in mind that no matter how many layers of a cultural onion we peel back, even the most sophisticated stereotypes are still stereotypes. Some elements of culture will always remain intangible or unclassifiable, and ultimately nobody and no culture will completely fit into any box".
http://www.hopechest.org/humble-and-active-learners/ 

Life happens-again

Well this week did not go according to plan. Life happens. Several things happened and I did not complete my Project Management chapter. I had an extra task at work, but not difficult. Also the Internet modem failed and I had to get a replacement and install Then the printer had to be reconfigured for the new modem. I went up to Denver to visit a doctoral student. I did ask that person if working on orphans would be of interest. We will see in about 6 months. I should be able to finish up the PM chapter in a coulpe of days and then I will have 3 weeks to work on the orphan theory article.

Armenia and low % of orphans

I sure would like to know why Armenia has such a low orphan %. The country is poor and not much for resources. 2 of every 3 Armenians live outside the country and all over the world. They are quite an amazing people. They claim to be the first Christian state back in 320 AD. They will always bring up the Armenian genocide during WW1. Millions perished or were assimilated into Turkish culture. An the most interesting claim to fame is how many people they can recite that were part of the initial efforts for the film industry in Los Angeles. We plan to go visit in 2019 so perhaps I can find out something about the low orphan rate.

The 5 year plan

Cracks me up when I think of a 5 year plan. The Soviets coined the phrase and any discussion seems to bring a person to think of a communist plot. The concept is actually a good idea for setting goals.

2018
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia

2019
Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia (Gruzia)

2020 (Still not sure about this one)
Belarus and Ukraine

2021
Plan to circumvent the world. Denver to Alaska, Vladivostok, Yoshkar-Ola, Moscow, New York, Denver
2 people
0 kids
2 countries
1 trip around the world

2022
Romania and Moldova

2023
The five "stans"

Missed a 2018 goal

Alibi on my goals as I already started reading this book. The Christian History of the American Revolution. Almost 700 pages. Best that I can tell, the authors wrote from around 1774 to 1890. So far the most interesting section is the title "France repelled in 1746 through prayer and fasting of new Englanders" The author describes a large French fleet that planned to wreck the entire English eastern seacoast of America. They attribute the misfortunes of multiple storms upon the fleet and groups of French ships not being able to find each other as if divinely blinded. The French fleet was almost completely destroyed by natural means and panicked burning of ships. The colonists sated in 1798: "A God hearing prayer, stretched forth the arm of his power, and destroyed that mighty armament, in a manner almost as extraordinary as the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea".

Time management

As I set my goals for 2018, I find I must split my time between my professional work in Project Management and my calling to work on orphan research and writing. Actually for the university, research is research so that is no issue. Looks like I will alternate weeks, one week on PM theory and the next on orphan theory. Once I get into the depths of research and writing it is hard to switch back and forth. Also as I work through the web of sources, the material becomes so complex that even I get lost in the research. I now have 3,313 sources in Project Management and over 300 for orphans. Fortunately I have a database. I just upgraded the EndNotes software from version 4 to 8. That actually helped as I use Office 365 and the old version could not integrate into Word. This year seems promising to publish some articles. I must hope that these works will help orphans.

Kyrgystan orphans

As I was praying for Kyrgyzstan this morning, I noticed the percentage of orphans is high. I checked my data and for my 29 countries Kyrgyzstan rates number 2 for % of orphans in the country. For such a small country I wonder what is the cause. As far as population it is number 14 and 8th place for number of orphans.

Bishkek is a sister city of Colorado Springs.
I do not plan to visit the former Central Asian Republics until 2023-yes I plan a ways out.

The stats

Total number of children left without parental care (during the year 2014) = 2,009.

Total number of children in formal care (at the end of the year 2014) = 28,174.

% of population = 0.487%

Kazakhstan orphans

The 4th of each month I pray for Kazakhstan. I have this habit for praying for 29 countries for about 18 years now. I look at the stats for orphans and the  percentage is among the highest for the countries that I watch. The last figure I could find is 86 adopted from Kazakhstan in 2011. The government stopped US  adoption in 2012.

Total number of children left without parental care (during the year 2014) = 6,169.

Total number of children in formal care (at the end of the year 2014) = 78,293.

% of population = 0.422%.

Goals for 2018

My goals for 2018.
1. Reading the Bible through chronologically. Read the New Testament in Serbian.
2. Publish an article on orphan theory.
3. Publish a book on PM theory.
4. Read "The Great Controversy" (A book I found in the gym locker. I figured I would read it and put it back for someone else. Someone left some of the texts randomly in the locker room)

2017 goals part 2

The two goals I did make in 2017 are significant for me.
I cut reading through the bible cover to cover from my usual tradition of 2 years to one. Svetlana and I read the New a testament out loud together.
Although I figure I read 10 times the number of pages in this book, I last read it  2 times in 2008. The book is in German and I suppose it translates to "Jesus our Destiny." A German youth pastor from Essen tells his story and relays important issues from the scriptures. He was a leutenant in WW1 and gave his life to Christ. He was involved in the battle of Verdun in which hundreds of thousands of men died. During WW2 he was thrown in prison for his views. After the war he served in Essen, Germany until he died in 1966.