2 Weeks To GO...

Well, i'm about half way through my pre-departure training and i felt like this would be a good time to make an entry in what i hope will be a useful and informative blog for all my friends and family.

Here's some things I'm going to write about: Training, The EWB House and my fellow OVS in training, Development Sector Revelations, and Looking Forward...

1) Training

Training was sold to us as (hopefully) the MOST intensive learning experience of our lives. It has been intense there is no doubt about that. We have sessions throughout the day and plenty of assignments and project-work to keep us busy in the evenings. The training is "self-driven" which mean we as the students have a lot of sway in terms of what we choose to do or choose not to do. That doesn't mean any of us decided to slack on anything though, if there's anythings\ I've learned about EWBers, it's that they're keen and super hard working.

What are we learning? Mostly we are learning tools and frameworks that we can apply to development, largely in a rural or community context. Basically, we are taught to expect and live with ambiguity (a bit of a challenge for me!). The idea is that there will be many many situations when there is no "set" correct answer, and you have nothing but you're own brain and motivation to find solutions that work. And finding solutions to the problem of poverty is no easy task either... But the idea is to tackle things one piece at a time and learn learn learn, adapt, try again, learn learn learn... you get the idea.

So has it been uber-challenging??? I find that in terms of learning HOW TO DO THINGS, Accenture was far more intensive, and that has a lot to do with the fact that Accenture was real, things HAD to get done and get done well, and on a deadline. In a school environment, I can never take things quite as seriously, for better or worse.
HOWEVER, what has been truly amazing, and beneficial, and eye-opening, has been the significance that training, and EWB as an organization, places on self-reflection. We each have a personal development plan and we are taught to constantly self-reflect and ensure that we are reaching the personal goals that we set for ourselves, in whatever context that may be. We are encouraged to support each other by giving direct and honest feedback, and to do so in a setting that is constructive and friendly. While Accenture may have taught me to do things efficiently and with high quality, EWB has so far taught me how to look into myself, really know who i am, and constantly work to better myself and my peers. That experience has been invaluable.

2) The EWB House and my fellow OVS (Overseas Volunteers) in training.

The EWB house is an old house in portugese town. There's about 8 of us living here at any given time, though depending on the volunteer sending period, i've been told there could be over 30 people here some weeks... i'm glad its not one of those weeks! It's cozy and comfortable and there's a really positive communal energy in the place, no doubt worn off from all of the exuberant, inspired volunteers that come and go from this place. There's photos from overseas of volunteers and african counterparts, and there are inspiring messages posted on the walls. There's also a CRT TV, Monopoly, and other odds and ends.

My fellow OVS (there are 6 of us total, 3 girls and 3 boys) are AWESOME. We've really bonded in the past 2 weeks, a little too well in some circumstances, because sometimes i feel like we spend more time partying than working, but it's been a blast. The other people in my group are Dan (UVic), Romesh (McGill), Meg (Concordia), Cat (Waterloo), and Eileen (Mac). All are engineers except for Eileen who comes from a development background, which is a great contribution for the group. I'm sad that none of these folks are going to be in my team and that i have no idea when i'll see them again, but then, i'm used to making strong friendships and then having to say goodbye, and there's always facebook!

3) Development Sector Revelations

This is probably the most interesting thing going on in my head right now. Not coming from a development background, I am slowly learning how the development sector works, and pretty soon i'll be able to start learning first hand. Basically, from what i can tell, there is a large contingent of the development sector that SUCKS. SUCKS = not taking into consideration the needs of farmers and communities, putting self-interest and donor money ahead of all else, having very poor management practices, and being generally careless. And this has been going on and on and on and on... i feel like it's only recently that some concrete changing are being made to address some of these inadequacies. Luckily EWB is one of the organizations that's doing some of this tackling. Coming from a strong project management background, and looking at how some of these projects are run with not only dollars on the line, but PEOPLE's LIVES, I'm frankly appaled at what I'm learning... I'm sure I'll have lots more to say about this in future blogs, but basically there is some real overhauling to do and I'm ready to get my hands dirty.

4) Looking Forward...

So what will i be doing? I still don't know 100%, but i have a better idea. When i first get into lusaka I'm supposed to spend a month doing in-country training, which will involve a one week village stay, motorcycle training, and some other logistics. After that I may be going to a remote location in NW Zambia to work at a honey manufacturer called Forest Fruits with a veteran volunteer named Mark. This would be for 3-4 months to give me a solid foundation in rural livelihoods... basically so that i can experience life first hand living with some of the people that we aim to help. After that I'd likely get placed at an office of perhaps an NGO and work with them to change their management practices so that they are more effective in helping the people that they're supposed to be helping. I won't get into too much detail about this yet, but I'll say that i'm VERY excited about it because it interests me greatly and because i know that with my Mgmt Consulting background there's a lot of value I can add here. Still not sure about anything though, especailly because the team is finalizing its strategy for the next 3 years currently, and the direction may change, but i'll keep yaz all posted.


Well i think that's plenty o writing for now. I feel like this post has been a bit on the boring side and i'll try to do better, but i wanted to get all of this out so you all have a picture of where i am and where i'm going.

Lotsa Love from Sarfy!

Who is this guy? (2 weeks prior to pre-dep...)

So! I'm new to EWB, and plenty of folk don't know me or anything about me, and pretty soon I'll be working with a bunch of you! En fin, this blog is largely for you! If those who know me are reading it, read on, who knows maybe you'll discover or something knew.

So it's 1:30AM in Vancouver, I just had two wisdom teeth pulled out today, I'm listening to Ravi Shankar and I have a tea bag stuffed into a corner of my mouth (apparently this helps...). And all I can really think about is starting pre-departure in Toronto with EWB.

Okay so, for the kids that don't know me so well yet, here's a super abridged version of my life story, so you have some idea of who i am, where i come from, and why i'm an overseas volunteer! ...

Mom: Indian (from New Delhi)
Dad: South African (ethnically Indian, though family's been there for several generations)
Love Connection: Dad was sent to India on a boat when he was just 10, met my mom in school, fell in love, they got hitched, my sister and i arrived, rest is history.
Interesting story: Parents had to move to Canada originally right after getting married, since due to apartheid laws you couldn't bring a non-white wife into the country from another country. parents lived in TO for 7 years in the 70s and wore bell bottoms (i wasn't born yet). Went back to SA once law was changed.

My early years: Lived in Durban, SA till I was 5 then parents decided to give Canada another try mostly since SA very dangerous. Moved back to Canada, though this time Vancouver, since weather and many other qualities, infinitely better than Ontario (sorry Ontarians, but you know its true!)

I lived in Vancity til 17, then went off to Carleton to study Aerospace Engineering (and either be an astronaut or design spaceships).
Interesting story: drove between Vancouver and Ottawa 6 times during summers. Only got stopped by cops twice. Only got suspected of being a terrorist during one of these instances, in Manitoba, by a cop who asked if i'd ever "worn" a moustache before and if i went by my first or last name. Luckily he spelt my last name WRONG and i got off from paying the ticket.
Confession: Was a star trek fan/addict, even went to several conventions, though when VERY young... whatevs i know you've all watched some star trek in your day and LIKED it...
The Turning Point: Things changed in 4th year on a year-long exchange in Madrid. Horizons opened. An al-queda bomb exploded. I started paying attention seriously to world events for the first time in my life.
Epiphany: Who cares about space travel? People are suffering around the world. What's more important than helping them? Does the US really spend half a billion on each space shuttle launch?!?!?

I still finished my program, since i was just about done, and it never hurts to be able to say you're a rocket scientist (even if not technically true...). ;-)
Graduated: April 2006
Then: Lived in Montreal for a while, worked in a deaf relay call centre (i have some funny stories, ask me sometime)
Then: Got a job offer as a change management consultant with Accenture in Toronto... took the job not knowing exactly what consulting or accenture was all about
But was HAPPY because: needed to pay massive student loans!!!

In the background, I knew that my passion was development and that eventually i wanted to change career paths. So in the meantime, I got pretty involved with Oxfam in Toronto and helped start an Oxfam Toronto Professional Chapter; great experience and learned some things about development to boot.

The next turning point: A friend sends me a link to apply for an EWB overseas position
The problem: Who am i to get an EWB position? I'm not practising rocket science and i've never been involved with EWB before!
BUT: Tis better to apply and be rejected, than never to apply at all....
THEN: The stars aligned, the rockets fired, I got accepted as an OVS (who knew!!!). There was a definite beginning to the first path on my dream of being a development worker (kazaam! )

I transferred back home to Vancouver last spring and here I am, awaiting my imminent departure to my new beginning.
How do i feel?: Honored, privelaged, extremly happy, and excited!
What now??? Keep counting the days until pre-dep... and possibly get another tea bag!

Also, really looking forward to meeting all of you that I'll be working with soon. Ciao for now :-).