Three and a half months sounds like a long time...

Three and a half months sounds like a long time, and for the most part it kinda is, but on the cusp on the day that marks exactly half way I can’t help but feel like I’ve only just gotten here and still have plenty to do before I go. In a way I think one could always feel like that here. The learning never stops so you’re constantly figuring out new things as you go giving you the feeling that you’re only just getting to know the place and the people. At the same time, you’re constantly seeing potential and possibility in the people you meet and the ways in which development could create change giving you the feeling that there’s so many opportunities for your organization to contribute that the work would never stop.

Then there’s the plane ticket in your bag telling you that you finish on August 26th no ifs ands or butts about it. It’s a strange dynamic to work with.

I’m writing this after my first day back at work after the mid-placement Junior Fellow Retreat in Siavonga (one of the most beautiful places I’ve been). The energy generated by ten Junior Fellows half-way through their placements is more than I can capture and those are days I won’t forget.

Now the real challenge is figuring out where to focus your energy to do the right things in the right way over the teeny tiny bit of time left.

And here’s the kicker, you’ve got to wade through the things you’ve been asked to do, the things you’ve identified you’d like to do and the things that need to be done in order to have any kind of organizational impact. Maybe some context would help…

There are several tasks, easily measured and relatively easily accomplished that I’ve been asked to do, and they’re going according to Zambian schedule. Included in that category is computer training for the VCFs, helping to facilitate meetings to develop community action plans and creating a template for project proposals for donors.

Easy enough, but I’ve added to the list myself as well. Some of my own goals include creating some kind of communication system from the field (thus far ‘weekly reports’) back to the head office in Lusaka, opening up horizontal communication channels with the other area in which this pilot project is taking place, and documenting our best practices and lessons learned so that future projects can benefit from past experiences. It would also be great if some of the VCFs had the capacity to do computer training on their own before I leave so that lessons will not have to stop, but this of course will require extra lessons and perhaps the development of a VCF-friendly computer training manual. And lastly (not that these sorts of ideas stop popping into my head) it would be very exciting to run some skill building sessions on facilitation since it’s one of the words in the title the VCFs have been given.

So there are some challenging tasks in there, but the challenge works as inspiration right now to keep trucking along knowing that should these things be accomplished I wouldn’t feel guilty about giving myself a pat on the back. But then, there’s the slightly more daunting task of ‘organizational impact.’ Working where I am, at the community level I sometimes feel a little removed from this, not that it’s not a goal, but that it’s slightly more difficult to achieve. Some of my other tasks aim to achieve this: fostering communication from the community back up the chain so it’s not always coming one way, documenting best practices for future projects, and building the local capacity as well. I’m relatively comfortable with these and excited to see them come through.

There’s another side to it though…what if your organization, your project just aren’t geared for success? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying this is how I feel about my own project, but there are definitely some difficulties to overcome not least of which being that the slow pace is wearing down the communities such that they’re starting to doubt the whole project themselves. They are scary questions to ask yourself –what if this model of community development was flawed from the beginning, what if it won’t work in this area, with this community? What then? And what kind of role do I play in all of this?

No answers on these yet. For now I’ve still got seven or so weeks to figure it all out.

~Kate~


And now the silly things you only read through my blog to find:

Other lessons I’ve learned:

Your arm doesn’t have to be right in the flame to singe the hair off.

The rocks that are used for the slingshot that the watchman of the Kiosk uses are great for holding down the corners of pages you’re reading or writing on.

And lastly, when looking through flipchart to find a blank piece, you have to be mindful of small scorpions because they like to hang out in between the pages.