There were two major critical issues I raised with the Board of Directors during a meeting held on October 17th. One of these issues is an inability to continue to provide services which the community now relies upon the organization to provide, such as flood rescue and relief. This is due to the issue of lack of 'organizational knowledge' from prior projects resulting from a reluctance of prior staff to turn over project-related documents to those remaining in the organization. We have made slim, if any, progress on this matter, and I do not fully understand why it has been so difficult. But it is clear to me, this issue must fall on the board to resolve. I have been unable to get anywhere. Being an outsider likely does not help.
But really the most critical of issues was the lack of staff. At the time, our office was only staffed by a volunteer office assistant named Wilfrida, who had only started work a month before I arrived, and had no knowledge or experience in the organization's operations (She is highly motivated and I am confident that she is capable of much more, but she has yet to be given an opportunity for real work, and I hope to make sure she gets that opportunity in the future). Without staff, there can be no work, even if we address the 'organizational knowledge' problem.
Therefore, following the meeting we soon posted a job advertisement for a Programme Officer on voluntary terms. Without funding available to pay staff, applicants were tough to come by. We actually only received one applicant, a young man in his early thirties, before the two-week deadline passed.
The applicant certainly left some question marks, but he seemed reasonably qualified and worth giving a chance. But being a local, the chairman of the board new of him and had some concerns. I convinced him that we just needed staff, and unfortunately we couldn’t afford to be too picky at the time being. We don’t have to entrust him with a lot of responsibility up front. Since we aren’t paying, lets give him a chance, and if he proves himself, we keep him on. If not, we can let him go. No harm, no foul.
Well, after introducing him to the board, it turns out he has a very infamous public drinking problem. Not wanting to have their organization’s image brought down, they understandably decided against him.
But fortunately, during this time, we actually received funding from a proposal Tom, my original supervisor who had left to pursue politics, had written prior to departing the organization. It is a year-long contract as part of a collaborative effort between the Kenyan and Finnish governments, in order to implement activities on land rights awareness and advocacy within the district.
In addition to funding project activities, this project includes funds to pay three members of staff. This funding allowed us the opportunity to recruit, interview, and hire more qualified individuals. Wandera, my former counterpart who was based out of the organization's secondary office in Funyula, promised that, with funding, he can commute to our main office in Budalang’i on a daily basis to head up the program.
Although Tom had quit the organization in order to pursue politics, we agreed that it is beneficial for him to serve as the Programme Coordinator, the lead position for the project, over the first quarter. This was a project which he alone planned, and he has substantial experience in land rights. It would likely prove too difficult to expect someone else to jump in and take the reigns immediately, especially with all of the problems we've been having regarding effective transition within the organization. This time, we are going to ensure the transition does take place, with Wandera working alongside Tom every step of the way such that he is fully adept to step in at the second quarter of the year, when Tom will step aside.
We also took on an accounts officer, Esther, and a volunteer programme officer, Edwin, who will be in line to fill Wandera’s role as a paid Programme Officer when he is promoted to Programme Coordinator. So our office now feels more like a functioning office. We at least have staff. No longer is staff just Wilfrida and I.
Outside of organizational development, I also find myself in a period of transition with respect to my specific activities. My initial work to interface with the diverse communities across Bunyala District, learn about the major problems these communities face, and brainstorm potential projects had ended with Osieko, resulting in a written report, about 32 pages long, concluding in a list of approximately 20 potential project ideas. As my previous posts have illustrated, this is a very complicated district with a variety of problems, primarily due to environmental considerations.
Now that we have staff, and I specifically have a day-to-day counterpart again in Edwin, we can now sit down together as an organization to decide which specific projects we would like to tackle in the coming months.
I have just arrived in Nairobi for our training class' In-Service Training. It will cover a range of topics which can prove useful during the remainder of our service. Edwin will actually join me for two days to participate in training on HIV/Aids education and income-generating activities for those affected.
But I do find myself in a different situation than the other volunteers I trained with. This is not my first Peace Corps service. I am only slated to complete a year's worth of service, not a full two years. On account of my sister's upcoming wedding in early July, I have had to cut this timeframe down even further, by a little over a month, requesting an early close-of-service date of July 1st.
This means that after In-Service Training and the holiday season, which being a christian country, Kenya will celebrate in much the same way as America, I will only have six full months to work.
Six months may seem like a long time, but given how difficult development work and particularly behavior change is, six months is way to short a period to expect myself to be able to both fully plan and execute any projects. I will certainly try, but given my unique circumstances, I am having to shift my mentality to one of preparations.
My goal in the coming months is not to be able to look back and say that I have successfully completed work with my host organization that has improved the lives of people in the community. Instead, my focus will be on laying a groundwork. Basically, I hope to leave my host organization a more effective and self-sufficient organization than it was when I first arrived.
To achieve this goal, I will continue to work with the Board of Directors to help advise them in strategies to improve their daily operations and staff development. I will try to guide them on a path where they will not be reliant on outside donor organizations in the future to simply support their own staff. I will work with our new staff within the organization to plan and implement new projects that can have a positive impact on the community. I will work to educate the community on behavior change practices which can improve their health.
Therefore, following the meeting we soon posted a job advertisement for a Programme Officer on voluntary terms. Without funding available to pay staff, applicants were tough to come by. We actually only received one applicant, a young man in his early thirties, before the two-week deadline passed.
The applicant certainly left some question marks, but he seemed reasonably qualified and worth giving a chance. But being a local, the chairman of the board new of him and had some concerns. I convinced him that we just needed staff, and unfortunately we couldn’t afford to be too picky at the time being. We don’t have to entrust him with a lot of responsibility up front. Since we aren’t paying, lets give him a chance, and if he proves himself, we keep him on. If not, we can let him go. No harm, no foul.
But fortunately, during this time, we actually received funding from a proposal Tom, my original supervisor who had left to pursue politics, had written prior to departing the organization. It is a year-long contract as part of a collaborative effort between the Kenyan and Finnish governments, in order to implement activities on land rights awareness and advocacy within the district.
In addition to funding project activities, this project includes funds to pay three members of staff. This funding allowed us the opportunity to recruit, interview, and hire more qualified individuals. Wandera, my former counterpart who was based out of the organization's secondary office in Funyula, promised that, with funding, he can commute to our main office in Budalang’i on a daily basis to head up the program.
Although Tom had quit the organization in order to pursue politics, we agreed that it is beneficial for him to serve as the Programme Coordinator, the lead position for the project, over the first quarter. This was a project which he alone planned, and he has substantial experience in land rights. It would likely prove too difficult to expect someone else to jump in and take the reigns immediately, especially with all of the problems we've been having regarding effective transition within the organization. This time, we are going to ensure the transition does take place, with Wandera working alongside Tom every step of the way such that he is fully adept to step in at the second quarter of the year, when Tom will step aside.
We also took on an accounts officer, Esther, and a volunteer programme officer, Edwin, who will be in line to fill Wandera’s role as a paid Programme Officer when he is promoted to Programme Coordinator. So our office now feels more like a functioning office. We at least have staff. No longer is staff just Wilfrida and I.
Outside of organizational development, I also find myself in a period of transition with respect to my specific activities. My initial work to interface with the diverse communities across Bunyala District, learn about the major problems these communities face, and brainstorm potential projects had ended with Osieko, resulting in a written report, about 32 pages long, concluding in a list of approximately 20 potential project ideas. As my previous posts have illustrated, this is a very complicated district with a variety of problems, primarily due to environmental considerations.
Now that we have staff, and I specifically have a day-to-day counterpart again in Edwin, we can now sit down together as an organization to decide which specific projects we would like to tackle in the coming months.
I have just arrived in Nairobi for our training class' In-Service Training. It will cover a range of topics which can prove useful during the remainder of our service. Edwin will actually join me for two days to participate in training on HIV/Aids education and income-generating activities for those affected.
But I do find myself in a different situation than the other volunteers I trained with. This is not my first Peace Corps service. I am only slated to complete a year's worth of service, not a full two years. On account of my sister's upcoming wedding in early July, I have had to cut this timeframe down even further, by a little over a month, requesting an early close-of-service date of July 1st.
This means that after In-Service Training and the holiday season, which being a christian country, Kenya will celebrate in much the same way as America, I will only have six full months to work.
Six months may seem like a long time, but given how difficult development work and particularly behavior change is, six months is way to short a period to expect myself to be able to both fully plan and execute any projects. I will certainly try, but given my unique circumstances, I am having to shift my mentality to one of preparations.
My goal in the coming months is not to be able to look back and say that I have successfully completed work with my host organization that has improved the lives of people in the community. Instead, my focus will be on laying a groundwork. Basically, I hope to leave my host organization a more effective and self-sufficient organization than it was when I first arrived.
To achieve this goal, I will continue to work with the Board of Directors to help advise them in strategies to improve their daily operations and staff development. I will try to guide them on a path where they will not be reliant on outside donor organizations in the future to simply support their own staff. I will work with our new staff within the organization to plan and implement new projects that can have a positive impact on the community. I will work to educate the community on behavior change practices which can improve their health.
If I can see any of these new projects through to completion, all the better. But at least if we can build a solid foundation together, I can feel confident that I had an impact in improving the outlook of my host organization, which can in-turn enhance the quality of life within Bunyala District in the future.
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