A Volunteer in Action

Armed with growing knowledge of CVD and the workings of NGOs in general, I researched opportunities for funding available through foreign embassies and put together a detailed document aimed at sourcing funds for new projects. Time would tell that the document caught the attention of a couple of key embassies, therefore providing possible new avenues for future funding.

 

There was also time to interview some budding new Cambodian English teachers, unlike the UK or Australia as I found, recruitment decisions are made during the interviews. A couple of successful candidates left CVD with new jobs and smiles from cheek to cheek!

 

 

The end of a week arrived in a flash and was filled with further training & teaching. By now I had been asked to help assess the local teachers/their methods and to help draw up an appraisal form and look into the current teaching program. It was also apparent that writing simple documents in English can help NGO’s stand out from local completion, so I was busily typing up new course proposals and posters to help promote CVD’s teaching program.

 

I was also involved in a meeting with another local NGO about the upcoming Human Rights Day celebrations, in which CVD was participate with a stall and some roll playing activities. Lunch was held at a restaurant where all of the profits are given back to the local community and in training the staff that are either orphans and have never been able to gain employment before – I was now eating for a good cause too!

 

 

The weekend gave me time to explore the local sights of Battambang which included visiting local villages along road akin to Australia’s outback , riding on a homemade bamboo train along Cambodia’s main railway line and cruising along the river where locals live off the land and have little, if any, material possessions, but bigger smiles than most!

 

Over the weekend a contact of Sarath’s had brought up the possibility of CVD tendering for a new project in Battambang regarding “Green Waste & Recycling”. I had some knowledge of the key issues of this area having audited an International waste disposal company for several years in a previous role, therefore to be proactive I conducted some additional research and put together a draft proposal that would enable Sarath and I to meet and present information with the donor the following day.

 

It was also evident that CVD’s current position required a review of core costs and a startegy be implemented to safeguard the immediate future of CVD, working alongside Sarath we worked to come up with an immediate solution in the form of rationalizing applicable expenses, a short term fundraising appeal newsletter and a review of how surpluses could be increased from internally generated projects.

 

 

Following on from the review of core costs a strategy meeting was held to assess: CVD’s current position, where it needs and would like to be and in turn what action is required to achieve it’s goals/make CVD sustainable in the long run. The meeting was invaluable in drawing out all of the key issues and provided tangible action points for CVD’s management going forward.