Alex loved her experience and kindly took the time to present at our workshop - see her presentation here. 

Alexandra (qualified ACA) is a past AfID volunteer. She is currently working within the audit function at KPMG. Alex took unpaid leave from her job to undertake a 10-week volunteer placement through AfID. She supported three organisations – Kusamala Institute for Agriculture & Ecology (KIAE) & Good Health Youth Organisation (GHYO) in Malawi, and Vision of Hope in Zambia.

GHYO works to educate and include youth in meaningful development activities at their district level. Vision of Hope supports at-risk girls on the streets, providing a safe place to stay and working to protect them from exploitation, ultimately enabling them to realise their rights as children and young women. 

 

All of Alex’s roles focussed on mentoring local staff – at KIAE, she worked alongside the new Executive Director, ensuring all the financial records had been entered accurately on Quickbooks, and training her in its use; at GHYO, she followed on the work from a past AfID volunteer, assessing whether the staff had maintained accounting processes and controls adequately since that last placement; and at Vision of Hope, she helped set up a basic accounting system and trained a beneficiary of the programme to take on day-to-day accounting responsibilities for the organisation.