La Vida Idealist » Golden Stream

Yeah, Yeah, Right Now…Project Management Abroad

bridgeterin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 12:59:11 +0000

After three month’s time at Ya’axché Consevation Trust, I have found versatility and patience to be the two most valuable qualities of an international volunteer. Being brought down to Belize under the title of Sustainable Land Use Management volunteer, my role has danced around between Community Outreach and Livelihoods, Protected Areas Management, Accounting, Here’s a Document for You to Edit, Can You Make a Compost?, and most recently, project manager of an Operation of American States medium-sized project. I am grateful to have received such a large responsibility, and have made some key observations about how projects get managed down here.

-“Right now” does not mean this very second in Belize. In fact, very few actions are completed in a timely fashion. I’ve noticed that one of the hardest cultural differences to which we Americans have to adjust is that this part of the world moves a little bit more slowly.

Clutter is king with limited workspace at Ya'axché

- A lot of my time has been spent rewriting sentences and attacking spelling and grammar. Coming from a country where it is expected to receive at least a high school diploma, it was a bit of a shock to find that many of my colleagues have very limited education. I have found it very rewarding, albeit time-consuming, to revise and discuss documents with my coworkers. A little effort now will help them infinitely in the future.

- Handcuff your laptop to your body and start introducing it to people as an extension of yourself. As most international organizations are strapped for cash, it is unlikely to find a good, reliable computer. Having a laptop is a luxury, but I might say a necessary luxury in order to maintain control over your work and have a haven of personal organization.

-The funder is God and therefore must be treated as such. This means that if they want you to put their logo and a paragraph of recognition on every single document, you go that extra mile and start putting it on your résumé and your Facebook. If they want you to produce monthly progress reports in addition to comprehensive follow-up reports each disbursement period, you thank them for giving you the opportunity to get carpal tunnel from typing so much. We all know the principle: Help grandma reorganize her photo album every couple of weeks and count on a fat birthday check each year. The same goes with tedious requirements from grant providers: Jump through their hoops and you, and your organization, will be rewarded.

“Are You Peace Corps?”

bridgeterin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:35:22 +0000

As a foreigner meeting a resident of Southern Belize, the first question asked is always, “Are you Peace Corps?” Initially this came as a shock to me: I had never visited anywhere so impoverished that the mere presence of an American was automatically associated with volunteer work. After a couple of weeks in the area, it became clear why this assumption is made. The Toledo district, being the land of superlatives, has the highest population of indigenous Maya, is the most impoverished region of Belize, has protected areas of the highest levels of biodiversity, and each watershed drains into the second-largest Barrier Reef. This unique amalgamation of issues of concern causes many a NGO’s mouth to salivate, setting up shop in Toledo with focuses ranging from sustainable agriculture to land rights to coastal development. NGOs are practically synonymous with expats in Southern Belize and therefore the few foreigners you find around the area are usually dedicating their time to something for the greater good.

I came to Belize after the job market forced me to realize that either I could get paid to do nothing in the USA and endure the winters of the Midwest, or I could get paid to make a difference while living in the tropics. Having majored in Spanish, I set my sights on Central America, but somehow I ended up in the only English-speaking country on the isthmus.

My placement is with Ya’axché Conservation Trust, a community-oriented organization that advances integrated landscape management for equitable development in Southern Belize through sustainable land use management, strategic advocacy and awareness, and by supporting socially innovative and economically viable enterprises. In short, Ya’axché is a unique organization that understands the need to work and cooperate with those occupying the land in order to successfully protect it.

Home sweet home for the next six months!

I receive free housing in the rural field center located in Golden Stream, Belize. It is solar-powered, quite austere, and home to tarantulas, rats, bats and fellow volunteers. I have been dabbling in project management, community resource planning, creating income-generating projects for women, freshwater monitoring, and sustainable agriculture efforts. I also hope to gain experience in sustainable development and working with women in the developing world.

Okan (Welcome!) to my blog. I hope it proves to be a helpful resource to those out there considering joining the ranks of the unpaid in Latin America!