The Daily Grind in Sudan looks a bit like this…

It has been brought to my attention that in the midst of all of my rambling about world events, local people, and my own emotions, I have failed to speak enough about what it is I actually do. It is a fair critique, and one that I will accept. Therefore, what follows is a description of my actual day to day work…I hope you enjoy…

My job is a bit hard to describe, only because I kind of do a little bit of everything, while trying to do as little as possible. Now, back up your jump to a conclusion and hear me out! I oversee our local Finance (cash in/out, books, disbursal, reconciling, monthly reports, grant coding, etc.), Logistics (procurement, purchases, compound upkeep, office management, vehicles, movements, communication, warehouse, etc.), Human Resources (recruitment, benefit tracking, etc.), and I dabble in program help (I don’t oversee programs, I just help them to achieve their goals. So, all of you are still stuck on the part where I said that I do all of these parts of my job “while trying to do as little as possible.” All that phrase is is a shocking way for me to say that a big part of my job is “Capacity Building”.

Capacity Building is one of the most overused phrases these days in international development/relief work. It is NGO Speak for “training, skill building, handing over duties, etc.”, and it implies the idea that we all hand our jobs over to a local staff member some day. The problem with the phrase is that it is a buzz word that rarely has any bite to it. People say they do it, but they don’t really have systems to ensure they are following through on it. In my opinion, Capacity Building is my second most important goal, next to keeping our finance/logs systems flowing well. This means I don’t just show my finance dept. how to do Excel formulas, I have to make sure they understand why and that they can continue to do such work without me around. So, I spend time with staff developing skills as much as possible. I am currently planning Microsoft Excel Training, Word Training, and Outlook Training.

So, that is it in a nutshell…the product, however, is far more chaotic than the above explanation. Yesterday morning, for instance, was like a hurricane taking place over an earthquake with magma squirting out of the earth. Yesterday we needed 4 vehicles to do our activities, and with 2 vehicles broken down, we had to hire 2 other drivers to accomplish our tasks…so we had to do that…then we coordinated long distance movements into other parts of the country where other vehicles would pick them up…then everyone needed the program cash quickly…then people needed travel advances…then our new volunteer had to meet everyone…then people needed me to fill out receipts for them…then meetings…then review…then emergency emails…then…then…then… And that was all by 10am.

So, that is what I do…any questions? Post them, let me know.

Also, who else thinks it is Bethany’s turn to blog?

B

PS — Sorry this is kind of boring…it has been a loooong week and I am pooped.