Whose Volunteer Experience is this Anyway?

       Reading Crystal Hayling's article in Center for Effective Philanthropy titled "Whose Volunteer Experience is this Anyway?" made me reflect on how to effectively engage in a volunteer experience, in my case the Nest Summer Fellowship, and striking the right balance between my personal goals and the overall ambitions of Nest loan recipients and the Nest process.

    Personally, while I do have selfish reasons for deciding to be a Nest Summer Fellow,  I will not allow those desires to eclipse my awareness of my role and purpose.  While I am participating because I want to have experience doing development fieldwork and because it is a part of my personal journey; I also understand the seriousness and scope of Nest's work.  This past semester in my global poverty practice and methods class we attempted to understand the delicacies and sensitivities of aid work in foreign countries.  I was taught the importance of critically examining my role in my practice experience so as to act in a way that always attempts to benefit aid recipients, and not just the donors. While incentives matter, effects matter more, and it is important to never harm recipients' prospects for progress in favor of our own goals. 

    But it must also be taken into consideration that without incentives, the free market does not cater to the world’s poorest people; instead they are the first to be left behind.  There needs to be some form of incentive in order for productive and positive development to take place. Whether it be for political and economic stability, capital accumulation, self-actualization, social work, etc, incentives are very important in the world of development.  Yet it must be understood that there are other goals and purposes in development endeavors that are equally laudable, but do not directly benefit the donor/volunteer. In my opinion, the ultimate goal of development, should be to give those in poverty and underdeveloped countries all necessary resources, structures, and skills,  so that they are no longer dependent on aid unless in times of emergency or disaster; ultimately making western aid and presence a little more obsolete.  It is important for Nest loan recipients to lead dignified and self-sufficient lives without the burden and stigma of dependence. 

         

Pre-Fellowship Expectations

I think that the fact that I'm studying abroad in Paris and completely removed from my normal academic and real life has meant that the fact that I'm spending this summer in Togo with Nest hasn't exactly hit me yet.  When I booked my flights it became so much more real, but at this point it's still a experience that I'm putting off thinking about just because I'm trying to make the most of my time in Europe.  I think being away from my family and friends, living in a home stay program, dealing with the French language barrier has really prepared me for this summer.  I understand that I will be going from a first to a third world country and thus the two experiences will be fundamentally different; and at this moment I can't even begin to comprehend the realities of my future situation, hopefully I will be prepared to deal with some of the adjustment issues such as being away from home in an unfamiliar environment where they don't speak my first language.  But my French gets better every day and hopefully by this summer I will be perfectly fluent, I'm almost there right now!
     What I'm most freaked out about right now is the fact that I get home on May 28th from Paris and I have to leave on June 15th, so I have two weeks to deal with all of my immunizations, get my Visa, pack, visit family and friends, and it's just going to be such a whirlwind.  But I think once I get there and am over the initial shock of my new surroundings, because I know the culture shock is inevitable, especially when the change is so drastic, I will be so happy to be there.  I don't really know what to expect about the fieldsite at all, all I know is what I've learned through working with the Nest through the past year and that can be broken down into the women's stories, basic information about the Akala Collective, pictures of Chantal and Etoname, and other surface knowledge.  That's probably one of the scariest aspects for me, is going in not really knowing what to expect.  I haven't yet grasped the details of what I will be doing for two months, I know what I would like to be doing: working on product development with the women to make them more likely to succeed in increasingly competitive US markets, to teach our business curriculum, to work on monitoring and evaluations, and to feel like I/Nest am making a difference in these women's lives. 
    Also I'm sure like everyone else I'm worried about fundraising, luckily I applied and won a $3000 grant from the UC Berkeley Richard Blum Center for Developing Economies through my Global Poverty and Practice minor but that is still not enough and because I am in Paris, my fundraising options are significantly limited.  But I know that when I get back I'm going to host many Nest events at school to increase awareness and recruit volunteers with Dr. Khalid Kadir so maybe I can figure out some way to pay back my parents through one of them.
          That's it for now! I'm off to Prague, Czech Republic for the weekend! Czech me out :)

Why I would make a great Nest Summer Fellow

I am an ideal candidate to be a Nest Summer Fellow because I have interned for Nest for about 6 months now and I have come to be very familiar with the Nest organization, mission, workings, and goals.  I have contributed to a wide variety of tasks and efforts that have given me comprehensive knowledge of Nest and have prepared me for additional fieldwork.  One of my various tasks has been to update the Nest website by adding and editing loan recipients, product pictures, inventory quantities, etc. This experience would help me to connect the women I am working with to the Nest digital community. I have helped work events and fundraisers, written press releases and interviews, and done many additional tasks to assist Rebecca and Nest.  In addition to my work experience with Nest, I have also been studying international development, political economy, globalization, global poverty, and African history at the University of California, Berkeley.  I have come to be familiar with the issues encircling international development, especially the debates about microfinance.  I understand the delicate nature of development, the implications of cross-cultural interactions, the NGO climate, as well as the political, economic, and social realms of development, including the ways in which they are all inextricably linked. I think this prepares me for the complexity of participating in an international poverty intervention. In addition, I volunteer at an elementary school in Berkeley working with disadvantaged youth.  I help them with homework, play games on the playground, let them read to me, and try and restore their confidence and encourage them to continue with their education. In summary I have a great deal of experience working with Nest, learning about the academic issues in the industry and sectors that Nest works in, and volunteering/working in disadvantaged communities.  I am young and ambitious, I am committed to the ideals and mission of Nest, I have the optimism and the energy to travel half way around the world and devote myself to Nest’s cause and I am confident I would be an excellent Summer Fellow for Nest.