Part II!

Hello again!

Time for a much-delayed update from Butare, Rwanda! I’m into the last two weeks of my internship here, and I have a feeling that the last push to get things done will result in many good things all smushed into relatively few days. The following is structured (for my benefit, really) as a sort of reflection on the experience thus far.

GOALS
As most experienced ‘development’/aid/volunteer workers—experienced, I am not—know, the goals you set in the first week of working in an organization are often too ambitious to be realized. I have had to scale down my expectations of myself and others over the course of this internship, but I’ll try to account for some of the successes and ongoing projects of the past several weeks.

SUCCESSES
Since I began my internship with Rwanda Village Concept Project on May 7, 2009, I’ve completed a number of my aforementioned goals, and many others are ongoing. For brevity’s sake, I’ll detail the major projects completed thus far.

For EPN:
• I wrote an article for EPN’s newsletter, describing my experience
• I continue to report back to EPN weekly (when internet access allows), and have written for this blog (perhaps not as regularly as is preferable, it seems!)
• I continue to collect receipts, photographs, etc as the project goes on.
• The evaluation is an ongoing process; I’ve interviewed the RVCP framers of the project, and have recently finished conducting formal interviews of several members of the women’s beekeeping cooperative (RWA).

For RVCP:
• I designed and implemented a management-training workshop. It was held on June 27, 2009. In addition to RVCP’s board, two other RVCP International Participants attended the workshop and their feedback was very useful; they deemed the workshop a success.
• I assisted in designing an implementing a nutrition workshop. This was a full-day endeavour, teaching basic nutrition—in an interactive format—to 70 foster mothers of L.L.C.C.M., the orphan centre that RVCP works with. There was a lot of field research preceding the workshop, including designing a baseline survey in order to assess the current nutritional needs and status of the women we would be working with.
• I’ve attended countless ceremonies, workshops, and inaugurations of new projects (Rwanda loves formalities)
• I am currently working on the English teaching manual for the pyramid teaching sessions. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the holiday for secondary schools, the teaching sessions will begin after I’ve left Rwanda. Regardless, I think this is one area to which I can contribute very tangible knowledge, and am looking forward to collaborating with RVCP’s new international participants from Britain on this particular project.
• As mentioned previously, the evaluation is for the benefit of both EPN and RVCP, and it is ongoing.
• As the longest-term RVCP volunteer this summer, I have had the unexpected pleasure of acting as a sort of ‘liaison’ for RVCP, introducing new International Participants to Rwanda and RVCP. Maybe it’s not really work—it’s been a fun ‘duty’—but it sure is time-consuming!

For RWA:
• I continue to visit the beekeeping site weekly and assist with beekeeping activities. I’ve found that a large part of my participation there is not so much the actual physical work, but rather showing interest in the women and their work.
• I continue to administer funding from EPN, especially by buying materials in Kigali and Butare.
• Assisted in the election of the new board.
• In the midst of organizing the cooperative management sessions, scheduled for two days later this week.

UPCOMING
Working with RVCP has been a very mixed experience. I fully recognize that everyone involved, including me, could better manage many of the problems RVCP faces. There are good days and bad days, and I try not to let my natural tendencies toward impatience and micro-managing get the better of me.
I’m truly looking forward to compiling the information I’ve amassed about RVCP and this project into the final evaluation. I feel that I have learned a lot about Rwanda, international aid work, NGOs, and this particular organization/project. One benefit of having lost nearly the whole month of May to the exam schedule was that I was able to do a lot of informal learning before beginning actual work.
I think the vast majority of my (tangible) work for this internship will actually be completed in the coming two weeks, and I’m eagerly anticipating the process and the feeling of accomplishment.