Interview with a Vamp-…Volunteer
Since I arrived in Zambia, many of the emails I have received have been overflowing with questions apparently not addressed by my blog efforts, so I have decided to kill a whole whack of birds with one blog and answer them all here! Well, actually, to give you a break, instead of answering them all at once I will do so in installments - so keep your eyes peeled over the next few days;)
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Q: What exactly do you do there, anyway?
A: That’s a good question! And a hard one to answer. Sometimes I have to ask myself, as the days seem to fly by in a blur of meetings, phone calls, workshops, emails, and hours in front of the computer... According to my ‘job description’ I am here to build the capacity of the organizations I work with to raise and manage funds. In reality, I do a lot of different things, depending on what is needed at the time. Before Christmas I was involved in the Strategic Planning of two of the organizations I work with (ZARAN and TALC), which I really enjoyed. I have also helped both of those organizations draft a number of proposals for the work they aspire to do in 2006, including projects on treatment advocacy, research on HIV/AIDS in prisons, expanding ZARAN’s AIDSLaw Clinic, etc. At NZP+ I am now holding a weekly Proposal Writing Clinic where people can drop in to get help with their proposals or advice on how to write one. I drafted a short guide on proposal writing to give out at the Clinic, and will now be using it to develop a Fundraising Manual for NZP+. I also helped organize a Fundraising Workshop for VSO partners, and will be travelling to the eastern province of Zambia next week for another (yeah! I’m finally getting out of Lusaka!!).
Q: Do you like your job?
A: Yes! (but not always). There is a lot of good work being done by the organizations I work with, and I am very happy to be a part of it. Unfortunately, NGOs have the potential to be bureaucratic beasts, and just keeping the organization running can take up most of everyone’s time. Meetings are another necessary evil, as the need to be consultative and engage in participatory development has me in at least 4 meetings a week, and I’m just a volunteer!! And, working in fundraising, I am also frustrated by the donor system, which can limit or dictate the work of passionate people. I also find I am occasionally frustrated by the lack of guidance I have in my job here. I realize that freedom and flexibility in the workplace is something that most people would kill for, but having been in school for practically my whole life, I feel like I need some time under someone’s wing to ‘learn the ropes’ and get some experience before I am ready to really take advantage of such freedom. Maybe I’m just being hard on myself, but some days I really do feel like I just need to be a small cog in a big wheel for a little while before I am let loose on the world!
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: Definitely the people. Granted, I have to work with some people I don’t like, but in general I work with great people. But most of all I work for great people, and when I have the chance to interact with the people living with HIV/AIDS that my work is meant to be helping, it makes every frustration I face worthwhile. When I started my weekly “Proposal Clinic” two weeks ago, I arrived at 30 seconds past 8:30 to find four women already waiting for me, and I was bombarded with bear hugs and proclamations of how happy they all were that I was helping them. It really makes your day to have people like that around.
~
Coming soon...
Q: What is the food like?
Q: What is the music like?
and much, much more.
~
Q: What exactly do you do there, anyway?
A: That’s a good question! And a hard one to answer. Sometimes I have to ask myself, as the days seem to fly by in a blur of meetings, phone calls, workshops, emails, and hours in front of the computer... According to my ‘job description’ I am here to build the capacity of the organizations I work with to raise and manage funds. In reality, I do a lot of different things, depending on what is needed at the time. Before Christmas I was involved in the Strategic Planning of two of the organizations I work with (ZARAN and TALC), which I really enjoyed. I have also helped both of those organizations draft a number of proposals for the work they aspire to do in 2006, including projects on treatment advocacy, research on HIV/AIDS in prisons, expanding ZARAN’s AIDSLaw Clinic, etc. At NZP+ I am now holding a weekly Proposal Writing Clinic where people can drop in to get help with their proposals or advice on how to write one. I drafted a short guide on proposal writing to give out at the Clinic, and will now be using it to develop a Fundraising Manual for NZP+. I also helped organize a Fundraising Workshop for VSO partners, and will be travelling to the eastern province of Zambia next week for another (yeah! I’m finally getting out of Lusaka!!).
Q: Do you like your job?
A: Yes! (but not always). There is a lot of good work being done by the organizations I work with, and I am very happy to be a part of it. Unfortunately, NGOs have the potential to be bureaucratic beasts, and just keeping the organization running can take up most of everyone’s time. Meetings are another necessary evil, as the need to be consultative and engage in participatory development has me in at least 4 meetings a week, and I’m just a volunteer!! And, working in fundraising, I am also frustrated by the donor system, which can limit or dictate the work of passionate people. I also find I am occasionally frustrated by the lack of guidance I have in my job here. I realize that freedom and flexibility in the workplace is something that most people would kill for, but having been in school for practically my whole life, I feel like I need some time under someone’s wing to ‘learn the ropes’ and get some experience before I am ready to really take advantage of such freedom. Maybe I’m just being hard on myself, but some days I really do feel like I just need to be a small cog in a big wheel for a little while before I am let loose on the world!
Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?
A: Definitely the people. Granted, I have to work with some people I don’t like, but in general I work with great people. But most of all I work for great people, and when I have the chance to interact with the people living with HIV/AIDS that my work is meant to be helping, it makes every frustration I face worthwhile. When I started my weekly “Proposal Clinic” two weeks ago, I arrived at 30 seconds past 8:30 to find four women already waiting for me, and I was bombarded with bear hugs and proclamations of how happy they all were that I was helping them. It really makes your day to have people like that around.
~
Coming soon...
Q: What is the food like?
Q: What is the music like?
and much, much more.
posted by ash at 3:54 PM
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