For those of you who don't know her, Amanda (aka me - this post will probably be the only one that I write in the third person) is a recent graduate of the University of Alberta, holding a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Political Science and Middle Eastern & African Studies. She was recently offered a position volunteering overseas with Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB), a non-governmental organization (NGO) dedicated to poverty reduction through capacity building in the developing world and raising awareness in the developed world (especially Canada).
Without further ado, here's the scoop so far...
November 2004 - Amanda volunteers at a U of A Students' Union High School Leadership Conference where one of the keynote speakers is a returning Junior Fellow of EWB. She's, as they say, hooked.
Winter 2005 - Amanda attends a paltry 2 EWB events put on by the U of A Chapter.
March 2005 - Amanda gets roped into 2 jobs, likes one of them better than the other, and disappears into the inner workings of the U of A Students' Union, with her free time going to the U of A High School Model United Nations Conference (and not, as it happens, EWB).
Summer & Fall 2007 - Escape from full-time work! The return to full-time studenthood means more free time. Kind of. Amanda renews her connections with U of A EWB, attending events casually and helping a bit with certain awareness events held on campus.
January 2008 - Amanda has a chat with a friend (we'll call him "Jamaal") where she is encouraged to apply to volunteer with EWB.
Reading Week 2008 - She does.
March 15th - May 10th 2008 - Two phone interviews and one in-person interview (aka a whirlwind trip to Toronto) later, Amanda is offered a position as a long term OVS and jubilantly accepts. A great many people have already been tremendously helpful and supportive. Thanks to you all (I think I've thanked you all individually already. If not, I'm sorry and thank-you very, very much for your help and encouragement).
May - July 2008 - The paperwork starts, including a matching survey designed to help EWB identify placements on projects/with partner organizations that have the best chance of the most success, based on a variety of factors (and years of experience).
[Aside: As of right now, I know the following:
Contingent on not having anything awfully unexpected happen (like not being eligible for a passport or something), I will be working with EWB and a partner organization operating locally in Africa on a development project. I will be leaving Edmonton in early October for approximately a month of pre-departure training in Toronto before I leave for my placement in early to mid-November. I will be gone for about 12 months and return to Canada after that to debrief and figure out my next steps.
I will know more about all that (like narrowing down from "Africa" to a country and "development project" to at least some field of work if not an actual, specific project) in a month or so.]
August 2008 - December 2009 (and beyond? who knows?) - Stay tuned to this blog to keep updated on Amanda's activities and musings related to her work with EWB. In particular, stay tuned for the following three things (in chronological order):
1) A series of posts on Amanda's take on issues related to development work generally and a sort of introduction to the field.
2) Real-time (ish) updates on interesting things that happen in the lead-up to departure. This will eventually include the much-anticipated announcement detailing where she's actually going and what she's actually doing. Expect some things on the blog (the news and the title, for instance), to change as this information becomes available.
3) Notes from the field, updated as regularly as possible.
Cool, eh?
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