Did I achieve anything?

But, did I achieve anything? Looking back, I think that’s a fruitless question. To answer it I might be led to try to measure everything and some things aren’t that measurable. I was told once or twice, and I think it was sincere, how important my presence was there. Just being there, working alongside the accounts staff, encouraging them and perhaps correcting their work.

 

Explaining, pointing things out, suggesting how things could perhaps be improved, answering questions, and so on. It’s hard to measure your contribution at the end of a day like this. Some evenings I felt down and was left wondering if I’d done anything at all of value ; but, the next day someone might say something which lifted me back up again. It’s an unusual context, and, on your own, you can get discouraged from time to time. I did. But, looking back, I needn’t have.
 

Both the head and the chairman of the PTA were effusive in their thanks for my visit. They said it meant so much that I’d travelled so far to look at their school, and that it was a real boost to them. Later that day I received a similar reminder from the leader of the school beekeeping project (see photo below). He said the visit was so important to him. “When people don’t come, he said, he worries that it’s either because they’re not interested in the project, or that people think he might be doing it all wrong,” His words.
 

Nevertheless, there were times when I wondered if some of the things I had been talking about were sinking in. The accounts staff were qualified ( B.Comms in Accounting or in Business and so on, ) and seemed quite competent in what was required of them. I began to consider this in a different light one day when I was talking with one of the Italian sisters, who was asking me how I was getting on. 
 

She reminded me that I should not expect too much from some of the staff. She talked about the long war which, until 2006/2007 ravaged all of this part of the country, the killings and the atrocities and the legacy of the war in different people’s lives.
 

Apart from this, many people have long journeys to work, struggle to make ends meet and are not strong. I asked what she meant by not strong. She referred to poverty and the poor diet many people have and their vulnerability to illness. I should have thought about this. Had I been expecting too much? I don’t know. Perhaps I had. After that talk with the sister I went about my work with them in a slightly different way.


 

Well, the main thing would be to spend more time before setting off in correspondence with the finance manager, going over their objectives for my assignment in more detail. I felt a bit under pressure because of the shortness of the visit and this would have helped a little. I think AfID have it right to offer volunteers assignments from as little as two weeks. This is unique and for me, as someone with limited availability a key feature.

Nevertheless, a two week assignment needs a different, more focussed, approach to a six week or a three month one. Apart from that, well, no, not really. I am happy with the way things went and with the outcomes. I should perhaps have reminded myself a little more of the local context, past and present, when approaching my work, and not have expected too much of people.