Things in Malawi did not start out as I had hoped. I had been looking for another volunteer project where I could use my business skills and add value but without it being a rerun of my time in Uganda. I found a project working with entrepreneurs in Mzuzu, a small city in the north of the country. Maybe naively I thought I would be welcomed and valued as I was in Uganda. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way.
The first week or so it felt like I didn’t even exist. No accommodation had been arranged for me. Rather than delay for too long I told them I would turn up and stay in a guesthouse for a few days whilst they sorted it out. It turns out ‘they’ meant me. No-one picked me up on my first morning so I could work out where the office was. After several hints someone finally showed me where I could get a taxi home and somewhere to eat lunch. Alone.
In the office, no induction had been arranged. In fact I didn’t see the director of the project who I had arranged my volunteering through, for five whole days. Thank goodness I delayed my arrival or it would have been ten days. Her partner told me which projects they wanted me to work on and left me to it. Except it’s very hard to plan a project in an environment you don’t know without being able to ask questions. But they were never around. The rest of the team got on with their own projects. No-one thought to explain to me what was going on. Plans were vague if formulated at all.
It’s a youth-run project which I hadn’t realised before I signed up. To be fair, you can’t doubt their enthusiasm and dedication. They are all volunteers themselves. But for an organisation that has been going less than a year (another thing I hadn’t realised) they are trying to do an awful lot of things. “Start small but think big” is what they teach their entrepreneurs. But they’ve started big and don’t have the time or expertise to pull it back into one cohesive project. Everyone runs around on individual tasks. That leaves the volunteer alone and unclear on what is happening. When I did manage to pin the directors down, answers were usually contradictory. Project plans changed day by day. Some projects had so little planned that I could fit my ten weeks’ volunteering into ten hours.
But most importantly for me, they did not seem to have the time or experience for an international volunteer. I’m a big girl and have travelled the world. I can look after myself. But that doesn’t mean I should have to. If I volunteer my time and experience, I expect something back in return. Their time, interest and professionalism. The VSO volunteers arriving any day now will have their hands held every step of the way. Probably too much so for me. But at least they have the confidence that someone is looking out for their safety, security and wellbeing. I felt very much on my own.
After 2 weeks of feeling isolated, I told them I was leaving. Not immediately. I didn’t want to just quit. But as soon as was feasible to leave my projects in a good state for the future. The decision to quit was not an easy one. But I am not willing to stay for ten weeks in a place where I am unhappy. Or on a project where I can’t add value. That doesn’t do justice to this journey I am on.
To be fair, they have listened to my frustrations. My feedback has been partially heeded. The lack of support for a volunteer compared to other organisations seemed to go over their heads. And by that stage, it was too late for me anyway. But they have tried to include me in more things. I’ve seen the school they are building which will have an entrepreneurship-focused syllabus, the school career talks they do, visited local businesses to build a database of local entrepreneurs. My relationships with the team are closer. The projects I am working on have finally moved forwards. This week I have started training two women’s groups on business skills. My capacity building for NGOs is progressing, albeit slowly. Finally I have something to do! Of course if these were genuinely my projects they would have moved forwards weeks ago. But I have to work in African time and depend upon others to arrange the activities. But things are finally moving in the right direction!
I am feeling much happier. Frustrated still? Sometimes. Feel I am making a difference and adding value? Partially. More integrated into the team? Definitely. Would I contemplate staying longer now? Yes…but only if I feel I can continue to be busy and add value…and as long as they want me of course!