The PERFECT gift...

Today was a BRILLIANT day!
As tomorrow is my last day at work, my lovely colleagues decided to give me a really sweet card, some Maltesers (aaaaaaaaaaalways welcomed), a travelling towel and....a solar shower. Indeed...a SOLAR SHOWER! The perfect gift for someone who was almost adjusting to the idea of 5 month just with a bucket...I literally jumped. I love it. It's the most precious gift I could think of!!!

Now I feel a real humanitarian worker, with proper tools, ready for the field challenge :)
And after all, it's not said for nothing that Oxfam is world leader in water and sanitation, right??  :)

Thank you so much to all my colleagues in Supporter Relations. I'll think of you even more now!!

Fede

Talking about priorities...:P

Just a small update to let you know that I've paid off all the fees for the 5 months.

Now I just need to sort the vaccinations out, and the baggage.

I also received all the details about where I will stay.

As expected, I'll be hosted by a family. And apparently the house is at walking distance from the workplace (good I like walking...because I don't know why, but I feel it won't be "our" walking distance eh eh).

What I'm not sure about...is that it looks like I won't have a toilet (which I knew), but I'll have a telly....NOW....SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT PRIORITIES???Well...from a certain point I should be happy....I have been without telly for the past few years...now finally I'll have one!! :P

Fede

Finally I had the confirmation for my placement!

So, after 5 weeks of wondering what I'll end up doing in Uganda...here we are:

I'll be working at the Integrated Disabled Women’s Association (IDIWA), an association for persons, especially women, with disabilities.  The organization has a cross section of activities supporting the rural poor. 

Apparently I'll get involved in most of the project areas like microfinance, project planning and management, and HIV/AIDS work. I'll be involved in building capacity for the staff to handle diverse issues in management of loans and microfinance in general including loan tracking, portfolios, budgeting, developing business plans, etc.  (should I warn them that my financial skills need...well...a bit of improvement?!Naaa, I'll be just fine, I'm sure :P )

I already had a look on their website http://www.idiwa.org/ and I virtually met the rest of the team!

So...now...how does that sound if not exciting and challenging??? :)

Oh I know it already...I won't sleep tonight...too much adrenalin!!

Fede

Waiting time....

This is the time I hate the most: the "waiting time". 

I've sent all the documents, and now I just have to wait to have all the detailed info from Eliabroad about what project I'll work on. Apparently they taylor your volunteering experience according to your skills and expected outcome...well, that would be great!

As soon as I have all the info, I'll post them!

In the meantime, I keep my mind busy with some reading. If you are interested in African modern history, I'd suggest "A passage to Africa", by George Alagiah. A really powerful insight on the most recent and crucial events in the African continent, country by country. 

If you want a lighter novel, try "The lion children", by Angus, Maisie and Travers McNeice. It's an amazing story about these kids moving to Botswana with her mum and toddler brother. They soon fell in love with Africa, the life in the bush and the lions. 

I have to admit it: day after day, I'm getting more and more excited (and nervous)...and I love the feeling!!

Fede

Why a Blog?

Maybe I’m the only one naive here, but if you have thought, like I sincerely did, that having a degree and a Master would have made your job hunting slightly easier...if after finishing your studies, you do feel the right to think "I made it! Now it can just get easier! After all, I’ve worked so hard for it!”…well, you couldn't be more wrong!                           

So here I am...leaving in January for a 5 months of volunteering in a micro-finance program in Uganda. Why? Well, because I want to be a relief worker...of course!

While looking for information about reliability of the organisations, costs, volunteering requirements and so on, I found particularly useful couple of blogs I found on the matter. So, I thought, maybe reading about my experience can be useful to someone else too! I spent so many hours in front of my laptop that I would define myself an expert in volunteering hunting.  

Also, it will be a great way for my friends to see what I’m up to and, least but not last, I decided to try my luck and see if someone wants to support me with a donation, even a really tiny one, which would help me covering the costs of these 5 months (indeed, unfortunately all the expenses are on the volunteer).

I've been asked why I chose the humanitarian field...Well, let me say something...

I finally have the space to say it aloud. And I want to clarify few important points.
In the past years some people have been looking at me thinking I'm entertaining myself on an endless holiday...they think that one day I'll grow up and decide to begin a normal life...

Well, THIS is my normal life. It might not be normal as the majority perceive the concept of normality, but it is indeed my daily life.

It will arrive a day when I will settle, maybe working in an office...I will wear nice clothes and have dinner with friends...but right now I WANT to be out there, in loose trousers, flip flop and bandanna, with the feet completely covered of dust...

Apparently...I can't save the world...
Oh really? Thanks for reminding me. I was thinking to be a superhero!
How many times I heard this. They look at you with a face saying "You are so naive".

Of course I cannot save the world...but I want to believe. I desperately want to believe that, despite where you were born in the world, you still have hope...

I want to believe that poverty is not a condition that has to be passed from parents to children with no escape...

I want to believe that I can make a difference...

I always think that if I can improve 5-10 people's lives during my career (if I'll ever make it!), it will be all worth it. You think is a small number? What if one of those people was you? Or a loved one?

I hope not to sound grumpy, or angry. I'm not. I'd just love that, sometimes, some people could think twice before speaking and, most important, could open their mind a tiny bit more. Maybe look beyond the comfort zone they've locked themselves in.

There is a whole world out there, and the biggest mistake is thinking that we have nothing to do with it.

How to start the day with a smile!

A small selection of pictures from South Africa...



Teaching in the township was one of the most rewarding and amazing experience I ever had.

I always joke saying that the kids I was teaching to have now learnt the English alphabet with an Italian accent...It is a joke, but it is also one of those thoughts that always gives me goosebumps. I had the opportunity to make an impact, even if small. And you do see it!

I can definitely say that volunteering in a developing countries changes you as a person. You go there to "give something back", but you receive back so much more!



One of my favourite moment: feeding the children at the nursery.

                                          "Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world"

Nelson Mandela