Last February, I traveled for the first time to Bangladesh. There were so many obstacles to overcome, personally and logistically. Where to get the money, what to do with my kids (I left them at home), trying to explain to everyone what was the point of spending all that money and abandoning my kids for two weeks. But for some reason I had to go. I traveled with an NGO that I had discovered and felt completely in tune with from the first meeting. It's thoughts and beliefs, and the genuineness of it's members, completely opened up my senses and made me see a purpose I hadn't seen before. I knew I had to get involved somehow, but I didn't know how.
The chairwoman was very nice, and as with a lot of Germans I'd met, liked my enthusiasm, but thought I needed to slow down a bit. She kept saying, it would be better if you first took a trip out there and saw the projects that were in progress. I didn't want to wait, I wanted to start doing something now. But I waited, and kept checking their website to look for volunteer opportunities, I talked to the project manager to see if there was something I could get involved in. Finally six months later I saw a posting for a position that I thought I could do - the evaluation of the programs. How do you measure the effectiveness of community development programs? How do you know if you are doing any good? I applied. There was a biannual meeting coming up, I said I'd discuss it with them then.
I was excited, I had an "in." I had something to do! So it was planned I would travel with the chairwoman and the project manager and visit the projects and talk to the director of the NGO in Bangladesh and see if I could be part of the process. I had other plans to. I am an architect, not a public health administrator. What do I know about development programs? Whatever, I was going to do whatever was needed, because I wanted to get involved.
So I got there. Nervous about leaving my family. Not sure what I was going to do. Not even really knowing the people I would be traveling around a foreign country with. And what happened? I was transformed. Or I found someone who hadn't seen daylight in almost 10 years. I found myself questioning and listening and observing and making connections with things I had read, and seeing how things work or don't work when put in real life situations. I was so inspired by all the work that was being done. My brain was functioning again. I lost my shyness. I was bolder than I had ever been. I left there glowing.
On my last day, I was to talk to the director of the Bangladeshi NGO and make a pitch as to what project I would like to create. I had already decided that my project idea was worth presenting, and if there was no reciprocity on their part, if they didn't think it would work with their members, then I would get involved in a different capacity. But I had to at least try.
So I'm going back in October to lay the ground work. To talk to rural women about my ideas about finding ways of how to use architecture to improve their way of life. Either by teaching them how to improve their housing situation, or by teaching them skills to generate income, or by working with them to build a community center where they can meet and exchange ideas. I arrive on what would have been my mother's 70th birthday. I hope she's watching.
The chairwoman was very nice, and as with a lot of Germans I'd met, liked my enthusiasm, but thought I needed to slow down a bit. She kept saying, it would be better if you first took a trip out there and saw the projects that were in progress. I didn't want to wait, I wanted to start doing something now. But I waited, and kept checking their website to look for volunteer opportunities, I talked to the project manager to see if there was something I could get involved in. Finally six months later I saw a posting for a position that I thought I could do - the evaluation of the programs. How do you measure the effectiveness of community development programs? How do you know if you are doing any good? I applied. There was a biannual meeting coming up, I said I'd discuss it with them then.
I was excited, I had an "in." I had something to do! So it was planned I would travel with the chairwoman and the project manager and visit the projects and talk to the director of the NGO in Bangladesh and see if I could be part of the process. I had other plans to. I am an architect, not a public health administrator. What do I know about development programs? Whatever, I was going to do whatever was needed, because I wanted to get involved.
So I got there. Nervous about leaving my family. Not sure what I was going to do. Not even really knowing the people I would be traveling around a foreign country with. And what happened? I was transformed. Or I found someone who hadn't seen daylight in almost 10 years. I found myself questioning and listening and observing and making connections with things I had read, and seeing how things work or don't work when put in real life situations. I was so inspired by all the work that was being done. My brain was functioning again. I lost my shyness. I was bolder than I had ever been. I left there glowing.
On my last day, I was to talk to the director of the Bangladeshi NGO and make a pitch as to what project I would like to create. I had already decided that my project idea was worth presenting, and if there was no reciprocity on their part, if they didn't think it would work with their members, then I would get involved in a different capacity. But I had to at least try.
So I'm going back in October to lay the ground work. To talk to rural women about my ideas about finding ways of how to use architecture to improve their way of life. Either by teaching them how to improve their housing situation, or by teaching them skills to generate income, or by working with them to build a community center where they can meet and exchange ideas. I arrive on what would have been my mother's 70th birthday. I hope she's watching.
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