New Placement
on David and Ginette Johnstone (Cameroon), 07/Aug/2010 13:53, 34 days ago
After all this time, I finally have a new placement. All was finalized yesterday (Friday).My new organizations is the North West Association for Development Organizations (NWADO). It is a networking agency with about 35 development organizations as members. I think I will be very busy there.There were a few things I wanted out of the placement– which I did get. One is the flexibility to complete some projects that I started when between placements. Since all the projects and VSO related and since all the affected organizations are NWADO members, there was no issue there. Also, I retain some flexibility to continue to support HOPE, informally, if they request it. (More on this in a later paragraph.)On the other hand, there are many things which I am expected to work on. First is a membership survey to assess what services members want from NWADO. Since it is the end of their 5 year plan, it makes sense to do this. Second, I will be supporting volunteers from the Welsh Assembly which will now come through NWADO. These are Welsh Civil Servants who come for a 6 week placements. They will be placed in different local councils (villages) so I will hopefully get to visit them there. Third, I will be working with a women’s rights organization to prepare a grant for a gender workshop (they are also NWADO members). Finally, I will help re-establish the shared area for VSO volunteers in Bamenda. That is a place where they can come to chat and share resources etc. At least that is a starting point.I am looking forward to getting busy again– sitting at home has never been good for me.As for HOPE, they are hoping to find a way to be less dependent on a single funder– and as best as I can, I will support them in that process. I also hope to continue helping them make for effective use of their computers etc.So there it is…. Watch this space – there are bound to be interesting stories!