Pre-Departure

My lunch break from clearing out Reunion Weekend mess at the Alumni Affairs office today was spent in the library, going through the last couple of emails and thinking over things I should do, before leaving... in about a week.

I hadn't thought it would come so soon. It has been two terms since I started planning for the trips to Africa. I thought I would have been more mentally prepared over the past 6 months, but my mind still feels blank. I guess no amount of preparation could prepare me for what I would experience there. And perhaps that is the beauty of it: going to a new place, without setting the standards of expectations so high that they prevent you from immersing yourself in the new environment that awaits you.

I know what I am going to be doing there. I have repeated several times.
What are you going to be doing there?: "I am going to be working with a local NGO to facilitate HIV/AIDS awareness programs in rural villages near Cape Town.
It's not a very big NGO, only 7 full time staff and some volunteers."

I think my friends envy me (some told me so), because of where I am going to be and what I would be doing. And subconsciously, I enjoy the glory of doing social work, in an exotic setting such as South Africa.

But my past attempts to work with an NGO tells me otherwise. Last December, I have desperately tried to call up NGOs in Singapore and Burma to offer them the time I would otherwise have wasted away, but their resources are limited and sometimes, it becomes a burden to entertain such (overly) keen volunteers. Two months in an organization is an extremely short amount of time, and I could imagine myself not being able to contribute as much as I would like to and justify for the credits and awe that one might get, upon returning from social service work trips.

I would hate to be glorified as an intern and not be able to learn/do much. And so I have had the benefit of speaking to a couple of experienced interns, both my age and older and this is what they suggested (this would be helpful for me to look back on while I am doing work, both in South Africa and Kenya).

Tasks:
-Set clear goals at the begining of each week and access them at the end
-Do what you are told to do but don't be afraid to suggest new ideas/projects
-Get involved in other community organizations over the weekends to get a richer experience. (Religous organizations like Churches might be a good place to start).

Communication:
-Know the roles of the people within and beyond the organization
-and be aware of who to talk to, for various issues
-Keep an open communication channel and don't be afraid to share experiences
-Get to know people for who they are; what makes them tick? what makes them happy?

Personal:
-Be open to new ideas and ways of workings
-Live 100% and soak in all the experiences
-Be inspired by the people I meet throughout!

I am not sure if I would be able to accomplish all that I set out to do here but as the pages in this blog fills up, it would be interesting to know what comes of it.