Adventures with cockroaches
Last night most of the volunteers went to a place called Blue Mango, a western style hostel with a swimming pool, really cool furniture and good food. It was pricier than anywhere in Ndejje but it was nice having a decent meal. Ever since South Africa good food has been pretty much non-existent.
I've felt a little alienated from the other volunteers the last few days. Many of them talk pretty much all the time about the shortcomings of the charity, and all the supposed corruption within it. One of the new volunteers told me a day or two into their stay that they'd heard so many bad things right away their first instinct was to get on the next plane out of here. People aren't getting the chance to think for themselves, and although I'm too new to draw any final conclusions on who is doing what, I have seen several things now that suggest some of the volunteers have a strong vendetta against the organization, that is neither rational nor fair. I have seen things that make me question ACF too, but certainly nothing that warrants the strong opinions that many of the volunteers hold.
It's weird that volunteers would be so against a charity organization. I think some could be just naturally argumentative people, and in a situation like this where everything is so new and there's a lot of challenging situations in your work, sometimes it's easier to just reject everything and that way if you fail it's not your fault. That's not to say some of their complaints aren't valid, but I've seen people twist facts pretty heavily against ACF on more than one occassion now.
I told the 2 new volunteers to take everything they hear from people, me included, with a big pinch of salt, and to try and form their opinions on what they see for themselves and not stories they hear. I don't hold as much clout as the others here though because I'm so new.
This morning was the first group meeting I've been to. Jim and his wife, 6 or 7 members of staff, and all the volunteers met around the dining table. Jim asked the volunteers to raise their hand if there was anything they would like to discuss. There was a pause and no-one moved, so I raised my hand.
I said I was concerned about 2 things: firstly, I was unsure of how donations are used and I asked to see a breakdown of all the costs associated with the different programs. Money disappearing from allegedly inflated cost estimates has been the biggest criticism I've heard. I also said that I would like clarification on ACF's relationship with both the community and it's staff with respect to the volunteers, i.e. what expectations were imposed on the staff and the community in terms of how they behave around the volunteers.
A detailed break down of all expenses related to each of the programs is apparently already documented and will be posted on the notice board for all volunteers to read. I was told that there are no rules or expectations imposed on the community, as communicating and enforcing anything like that would be too difficult. Staff are not allowed to ask for money directly from any volunteer, but there are no rules beyond that.
Others asked questions too. The meeting ended up taking 2 hours. Jim was asked what ACF had donated to the medical clinic in the past, and he gave a short list of things like gloves, bedsheets and medicine. Later in the day, I was told that someone had checked with the doctors at the clinic after the meeting and apparently no donations had ever been received from ACF. People were angry with Jim for lying.
I spoke to Abraham later when no one was around and asked him if there had been any documented donations to the clinic. He said there was, and I asked him for a copy of the receipts which he said he would bring for me. Without mentioning names, I told Abraham some people weren't convinced Jim was telling the truth about the donations, and he told me that some of the donations didn't make it to the patients because of corruption within the clinic. He said that when they'd made the donation of bedsheets, he'd folded them and delivered them himself, but then they'd disappeared.
I told Abraham that I would probably ask him for a lot of documentation and proof of expenditures over the next few months, and he said that wouldn't be a problem, and that ACF had detailed files on all the incoming and outgoing money that he would show me if I wanted to see it.
I'm sitting firmly in the middle ground between ACF and the volunteers. I'm trying hard to base my opinions on things I see for myself and not stories heard from other people, and where I hear stories I'm doing my best to validate them. It is a good sign to me that ACF has been so open, often about things that really aren't my business, like looking at their books. I told Abraham today that there are still things that I'm concerned about regarding ACF, and he has said he will do what he can to resolve any issues I have. With things like the clinic donations it will be hard to decide anything without seeing documentation and ideally talking to the doctors there myself.
I think regardless of who is right and who is wrong, I'm in the right spot to help the situation. I've long thought that the most effective way to promote change is from inside an organization, not outside it. If you keep butting heads with people they stop listening. If you work with them and treat everyone involved with respect then I think you stand a much better chance of being heard.
Onto lighter topics: last night when we got back from Blue Mango the main house was locked up and I really needed the bathroom, so I had to use the pit toilets. It was the first time I'd had to do the squatting thing. It was not at all pleasant. At that time of night there were cockroaches running all around, including out of the hole I was hovering over.
To refresh your memory, African cockroaches are quite different from Canadian ones. They're at least 2 inches long, and they like to fly. Especially out of holes in the ground...
When I got into my room, there was a cockroach climbing up Axel's mosquito net. I knocked it out of the room and lay down to go to sleep, but I heard another cockroach under the bed. It was so loud it sounded like it was rearranging the furniture. After a while it emerged and I trapped it in a pringles can and threw it outside. They're too big to kill, I'm scared of the crunch.
That was the end of the cockroach feng-shui for the night. I hope it won't be a recurring activity.
After the meeting today I signed up for 4 weeks of teaching starting next Monday, with an emphasis on pre-primary school. I took a tour of the school and met the headmistress. The school is of course very run down but the kids seem like a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.
There's 3 Americans getting off the plane on Wednesday and Abraham asked me to meet them at the airport with him and show them around the village. I think I'm an official volunteer liason officer here now.
I've felt a little alienated from the other volunteers the last few days. Many of them talk pretty much all the time about the shortcomings of the charity, and all the supposed corruption within it. One of the new volunteers told me a day or two into their stay that they'd heard so many bad things right away their first instinct was to get on the next plane out of here. People aren't getting the chance to think for themselves, and although I'm too new to draw any final conclusions on who is doing what, I have seen several things now that suggest some of the volunteers have a strong vendetta against the organization, that is neither rational nor fair. I have seen things that make me question ACF too, but certainly nothing that warrants the strong opinions that many of the volunteers hold.
It's weird that volunteers would be so against a charity organization. I think some could be just naturally argumentative people, and in a situation like this where everything is so new and there's a lot of challenging situations in your work, sometimes it's easier to just reject everything and that way if you fail it's not your fault. That's not to say some of their complaints aren't valid, but I've seen people twist facts pretty heavily against ACF on more than one occassion now.
I told the 2 new volunteers to take everything they hear from people, me included, with a big pinch of salt, and to try and form their opinions on what they see for themselves and not stories they hear. I don't hold as much clout as the others here though because I'm so new.
This morning was the first group meeting I've been to. Jim and his wife, 6 or 7 members of staff, and all the volunteers met around the dining table. Jim asked the volunteers to raise their hand if there was anything they would like to discuss. There was a pause and no-one moved, so I raised my hand.
I said I was concerned about 2 things: firstly, I was unsure of how donations are used and I asked to see a breakdown of all the costs associated with the different programs. Money disappearing from allegedly inflated cost estimates has been the biggest criticism I've heard. I also said that I would like clarification on ACF's relationship with both the community and it's staff with respect to the volunteers, i.e. what expectations were imposed on the staff and the community in terms of how they behave around the volunteers.
A detailed break down of all expenses related to each of the programs is apparently already documented and will be posted on the notice board for all volunteers to read. I was told that there are no rules or expectations imposed on the community, as communicating and enforcing anything like that would be too difficult. Staff are not allowed to ask for money directly from any volunteer, but there are no rules beyond that.
Others asked questions too. The meeting ended up taking 2 hours. Jim was asked what ACF had donated to the medical clinic in the past, and he gave a short list of things like gloves, bedsheets and medicine. Later in the day, I was told that someone had checked with the doctors at the clinic after the meeting and apparently no donations had ever been received from ACF. People were angry with Jim for lying.
I spoke to Abraham later when no one was around and asked him if there had been any documented donations to the clinic. He said there was, and I asked him for a copy of the receipts which he said he would bring for me. Without mentioning names, I told Abraham some people weren't convinced Jim was telling the truth about the donations, and he told me that some of the donations didn't make it to the patients because of corruption within the clinic. He said that when they'd made the donation of bedsheets, he'd folded them and delivered them himself, but then they'd disappeared.
I told Abraham that I would probably ask him for a lot of documentation and proof of expenditures over the next few months, and he said that wouldn't be a problem, and that ACF had detailed files on all the incoming and outgoing money that he would show me if I wanted to see it.
I'm sitting firmly in the middle ground between ACF and the volunteers. I'm trying hard to base my opinions on things I see for myself and not stories heard from other people, and where I hear stories I'm doing my best to validate them. It is a good sign to me that ACF has been so open, often about things that really aren't my business, like looking at their books. I told Abraham today that there are still things that I'm concerned about regarding ACF, and he has said he will do what he can to resolve any issues I have. With things like the clinic donations it will be hard to decide anything without seeing documentation and ideally talking to the doctors there myself.
I think regardless of who is right and who is wrong, I'm in the right spot to help the situation. I've long thought that the most effective way to promote change is from inside an organization, not outside it. If you keep butting heads with people they stop listening. If you work with them and treat everyone involved with respect then I think you stand a much better chance of being heard.
Onto lighter topics: last night when we got back from Blue Mango the main house was locked up and I really needed the bathroom, so I had to use the pit toilets. It was the first time I'd had to do the squatting thing. It was not at all pleasant. At that time of night there were cockroaches running all around, including out of the hole I was hovering over.
To refresh your memory, African cockroaches are quite different from Canadian ones. They're at least 2 inches long, and they like to fly. Especially out of holes in the ground...
When I got into my room, there was a cockroach climbing up Axel's mosquito net. I knocked it out of the room and lay down to go to sleep, but I heard another cockroach under the bed. It was so loud it sounded like it was rearranging the furniture. After a while it emerged and I trapped it in a pringles can and threw it outside. They're too big to kill, I'm scared of the crunch.
That was the end of the cockroach feng-shui for the night. I hope it won't be a recurring activity.
After the meeting today I signed up for 4 weeks of teaching starting next Monday, with an emphasis on pre-primary school. I took a tour of the school and met the headmistress. The school is of course very run down but the kids seem like a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.
There's 3 Americans getting off the plane on Wednesday and Abraham asked me to meet them at the airport with him and show them around the village. I think I'm an official volunteer liason officer here now.
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