I read an article about how development fails once that told of a girl who had become ill after receiving the same vaccination from 3 different aid agencies. The current trendy thing in development seems to be for funders to also provide some organisational support to grassroots NGOs with a view to helping them be sustainable when the particular fund comes to an end. In theory this is a good idea, but this week I attended my 4th institutional development workshop with CTYA. I've only been here 3 months (and my job is to represent yet another NGO helping CTYA to do institutional development...) and I can't help but think the amount of time spent considering the state of the organisation is disproportionate to the amount of time spent on work!
It's been quite a good week though, work has been busier in terms of time spent in the office, and I'm starting to see small changes in how we work that I think will make the organisation more successful in the long-term. One highlight of the week was being the guest speaker on CTYA's weekly radio programme, discussing the upcoming Miss VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV) beauty pageant.
I've also been busy preparing for my holiday. We leave early tomorrow morning and I'm very excited, especially as I should finally get to see some elephants! Hopefully not in too close proximity to my tent though.
Friday, 21 May 2010
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Pomp and ceremony
It's been so strange being away this week and missing out on the election furor. The ash cloud seems to have interrupted my supply of Guardian Weekly and I'm currently reading the 23rd April edition... Lots of Zambian friends and acquaintances have been keen to update me though (they have TVs and radios, and seem to be very interested in British politics) and are mostly big fans of David Cameron's. I've pointed out to a few people that he seems to me to be more style than substance, and this has caused some confusion. Style is incredibly important in Zambia, although it appears to me that this is sometimes at the expense of content.
This week Kenneth Kuanda, the first President of Zambia and generally-considered father of the nation, came to Livingstone to a discussion on how multiple concurrent partnerships are driving the HIV epidemic. As the event was being hosted by one of CTYA's funders, myself and a colleague were given VIP tickets to the event. There were lots of local and national dignitaries, and much focus on pomp and ceremony. Over the course of a 3-hour discussion led by 9 panelists with much audience participation, every single speaker sent 5 minutes stating how honoured they were to be in the presence of Dr. Kuanda. As the event was running late due to a power cut, this used up what was quite valuable time! The discussion was very interesting though, especially as there were 3 chiefs involved, talking about how traditional leaders have a role to play in the fight against HIV. What I found slightly strange is that the event closed with Dr. Kuanda giving the audience a slightly tuneless rendition of a lovesong that he had used to court his wife... very stylish I suppose but not what you expect from a dignified statesman!
Lots of my work seems to be a fight for substance over style. This week I've been working on updating the constitution for CTYA, which I now realise was copied straight from a different organisation, who have a totally different structure to us. The board are apparently elected by our members, but we don't actually have members, and our branches aren't included in the constitution at all despite operating under our name. The whole task is making me miss the NAS a bit, but I'm grateful that I've got some ideas and experience to fall back on as we work on finding a practical solution to our governance issues.
Other than that, this week's been pretty quiet with some frustrating days where not much work was done. I've been working to organise some Nyanga language lessons though which should be interesting, and am busy planning for my holiday. I leave for 2 weeks in Botswana and Namibia next week with some British friends, and can't wait to finally see an elephant at Chobe safari park. Maybe I'll even take some photos...
This week Kenneth Kuanda, the first President of Zambia and generally-considered father of the nation, came to Livingstone to a discussion on how multiple concurrent partnerships are driving the HIV epidemic. As the event was being hosted by one of CTYA's funders, myself and a colleague were given VIP tickets to the event. There were lots of local and national dignitaries, and much focus on pomp and ceremony. Over the course of a 3-hour discussion led by 9 panelists with much audience participation, every single speaker sent 5 minutes stating how honoured they were to be in the presence of Dr. Kuanda. As the event was running late due to a power cut, this used up what was quite valuable time! The discussion was very interesting though, especially as there were 3 chiefs involved, talking about how traditional leaders have a role to play in the fight against HIV. What I found slightly strange is that the event closed with Dr. Kuanda giving the audience a slightly tuneless rendition of a lovesong that he had used to court his wife... very stylish I suppose but not what you expect from a dignified statesman!
Lots of my work seems to be a fight for substance over style. This week I've been working on updating the constitution for CTYA, which I now realise was copied straight from a different organisation, who have a totally different structure to us. The board are apparently elected by our members, but we don't actually have members, and our branches aren't included in the constitution at all despite operating under our name. The whole task is making me miss the NAS a bit, but I'm grateful that I've got some ideas and experience to fall back on as we work on finding a practical solution to our governance issues.
Other than that, this week's been pretty quiet with some frustrating days where not much work was done. I've been working to organise some Nyanga language lessons though which should be interesting, and am busy planning for my holiday. I leave for 2 weeks in Botswana and Namibia next week with some British friends, and can't wait to finally see an elephant at Chobe safari park. Maybe I'll even take some photos...
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Home Sweet Home
It's really nice to be back in Livingstone now after a mammoth trip round Zambia over the last couple of weeks. I guess somewhere doesn't feel like home until you go away!
The trip was really interesting though, and after so much moving around for the NAS it's been an adjustment to be in the same office every single day. After last week's workshop I went to visit a volunteer friend in her rural hospital placement. I was really looking forward to catching up with Lena and seeing a different type of VSO life, but was expecting to come back very grateful that I live in such a nice town. Actually, the rural setting was so lovely I could imagine being happy there, and Lena is really enjoying herself. It was a lot of fun catching up, and making yukka (vodka lemonade) with lemons from the tree in the garden! Being shown round the hospital felt like being in a Comic Relief film, and I couldn't help but be a bit envious of the staff who are making an obvious and instant difference to people's lives. Very different to my attempts to save the world through meetings and HR policies!
From Minga I waited 4 hours for a bus (!) an headed East to Chipata, a large-ish town where lots of VSO volunteers are based. I've joined the Volunteer Committee, a group of volunteers responsible for working with the Programme Office in Lusaka to co-ordinate volunteer lives here, and my first meeting was being held in the Eastern Province. After the delayed journey I didn't get chance to see much of the town but it was lovely to see some other volunteer friends, and the meeting was interesting and refreshingly British in style as it's chaired by my British friends Dan and Helen!
To travel from Chipata to Livingstone is a complete mission, we set off at 7.30 in the morning, got to Lusaka around 2 so I had time to visit the VSO office before dinner and then I got the night bus to Livingstone. Arriving at 3 in the morning and going to work the next day wasn't loads of fun, but I was really looking forward to seeing everyone and had a nice day catching up with colleagues.
Today I'm awake again, and very distressed to be missing what looks like it might be the most exciting election of my lifetime! I'll look forward to reading about it in Guardian weekly in a week's time I guess...
The trip was really interesting though, and after so much moving around for the NAS it's been an adjustment to be in the same office every single day. After last week's workshop I went to visit a volunteer friend in her rural hospital placement. I was really looking forward to catching up with Lena and seeing a different type of VSO life, but was expecting to come back very grateful that I live in such a nice town. Actually, the rural setting was so lovely I could imagine being happy there, and Lena is really enjoying herself. It was a lot of fun catching up, and making yukka (vodka lemonade) with lemons from the tree in the garden! Being shown round the hospital felt like being in a Comic Relief film, and I couldn't help but be a bit envious of the staff who are making an obvious and instant difference to people's lives. Very different to my attempts to save the world through meetings and HR policies!
From Minga I waited 4 hours for a bus (!) an headed East to Chipata, a large-ish town where lots of VSO volunteers are based. I've joined the Volunteer Committee, a group of volunteers responsible for working with the Programme Office in Lusaka to co-ordinate volunteer lives here, and my first meeting was being held in the Eastern Province. After the delayed journey I didn't get chance to see much of the town but it was lovely to see some other volunteer friends, and the meeting was interesting and refreshingly British in style as it's chaired by my British friends Dan and Helen!
To travel from Chipata to Livingstone is a complete mission, we set off at 7.30 in the morning, got to Lusaka around 2 so I had time to visit the VSO office before dinner and then I got the night bus to Livingstone. Arriving at 3 in the morning and going to work the next day wasn't loads of fun, but I was really looking forward to seeing everyone and had a nice day catching up with colleagues.
Today I'm awake again, and very distressed to be missing what looks like it might be the most exciting election of my lifetime! I'll look forward to reading about it in Guardian weekly in a week's time I guess...
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