I guess I should start this post by explaining that I've decided to stay in Livingstone and not take the job in Lusaka. Despite leadership problems with my organisation I think I'm helping them to become a bit more professional, even if it is very slow progress. And Livingstone is a lovely place to live, and very nice for hosting all the visitors who are coming in the next few weeks!
I've spent the last 10 days in Lusaka though, at various VSO meetings. I'm on the Volunteer Committee and it's nice to have the chance to do what feels more like a normal job, helping to organise VSO Zambia's annual conference next month. Last week was also a callback workshop for all the volunteers who arrived in February, and it was really nice to see everyone again and hear how other people's placements are going.
As is the theme of my life, it felt like something of a holiday, being in a capital city and going to restaurants and bars that are more like London than Livingstone's tourist offerings. It was a real treat to see some live music, and eat Chinese food! Also nice to see the new boyfriend who is lovely if inconveniently located.
Spending the week with VSO made me a bit less cynical about the development industry than I've been of late, and it was good to have chance to think about how gender issues in particular could play a bigger part in all our work. So this week at least I'm feeling quite optimistic about work, and as I'm almost exactly 6 months in it suddenly feels like a year is an incredibly short amount of time to make any kind of impression. Most of my colleagues are away on workshops again this week (my favourite is one about longterm strategic planning, that we were given 2 days notice of) so progress is slow again, but I think I my be learning to accept that. This year will hopefully teach me some patience at least...
Tuesday, 17 August 2010
Sunday, 1 August 2010
Testing my tolerance levels
Society in Africa is organised differently to Europe, and the greater reliance on favours and back-scratching, coupled with the more precarious financial existence of most people here, means that corruption is fairly endemic in most organisations in Zambia. To some extent I think I just have to accept that, as if I tried to take a zero-tolerance approach nothing would ever get done. It's a constant challenge trying to work out what is Zambian accounting and what's just plain wrong! So without saying any more, that's what I've been grappling with this week.
Meanwhile the rest of my life is a lot of fun. Most of my colleagues have been absent from the office this week, so I've had a fun week meeting people at Livingstone museum and sitting in coffee shops with wireless internet searching for funding that they might be able to apply for to improve the service they offer to visiting school groups.
It's been really interesting to work with the various academics there, and my efforts were rewarded on Wednesday when they offered to take me with them on their annual bird-counting survey at Livingstone's game park. We were allowed to walk around the park (tourists normally have to stay in vehicles) and it was great to be with people who pointed out kingfishers and other wildlife that I'd never have noticed on my own. We were looking for elephants (I'm starting to feel like I'm in the Truman show - I'm told by everyone I meet that elephants are everywhere in Livingstone but I've still not see one!) and didn't find them, but any Wednesday morning that involves spotting giraffes, hippos, buffaloes and zebra is definitely better than a good day in the office.
I've also had lots of VSO visitors this week which has been nice, and yet another excuse to play tourist. We went to the African tourist restaurant here that I hadn't been to before. I found it fairly cringe-worthy but lots of back-packers seemed to be having a good time learning traditional African dancing.
Monday is a bank holiday here so I'm playing tourist all weekend with high-tea at the Royal Livingstone this afternoon and hanging out by a pool with my friends somewhere tomorrow. Life is nice, and hopefully by next week I'll have something positive to report about work too!
Meanwhile the rest of my life is a lot of fun. Most of my colleagues have been absent from the office this week, so I've had a fun week meeting people at Livingstone museum and sitting in coffee shops with wireless internet searching for funding that they might be able to apply for to improve the service they offer to visiting school groups.
It's been really interesting to work with the various academics there, and my efforts were rewarded on Wednesday when they offered to take me with them on their annual bird-counting survey at Livingstone's game park. We were allowed to walk around the park (tourists normally have to stay in vehicles) and it was great to be with people who pointed out kingfishers and other wildlife that I'd never have noticed on my own. We were looking for elephants (I'm starting to feel like I'm in the Truman show - I'm told by everyone I meet that elephants are everywhere in Livingstone but I've still not see one!) and didn't find them, but any Wednesday morning that involves spotting giraffes, hippos, buffaloes and zebra is definitely better than a good day in the office.
I've also had lots of VSO visitors this week which has been nice, and yet another excuse to play tourist. We went to the African tourist restaurant here that I hadn't been to before. I found it fairly cringe-worthy but lots of back-packers seemed to be having a good time learning traditional African dancing.
Monday is a bank holiday here so I'm playing tourist all weekend with high-tea at the Royal Livingstone this afternoon and hanging out by a pool with my friends somewhere tomorrow. Life is nice, and hopefully by next week I'll have something positive to report about work too!
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