Tickle · the · Pear

Or, "Are you sure that’s in my job description?"
People always ask me what exactly I do. I do pretty much everything – mainly in English but in French too. Since 1999, I’ve:
· Reviewed a million documents in French and English, including proposals, concept papers, scopes of work, mid-term and final evaluations, training designs, and trip reports
· Wrote or co-wrote a bunch of proposals in a variety of sectors – education, agriculture, emergencies, etc.
· Wrote or co-wrote assorted important documents in English, including evacuation plans, field security plans, briefing books, welcome packets, annual reports, and website text, progress reports, and final reports
· Organized, facilitated and co-facilitated an endless number of trainings, in English and in French, including financial management, gender and development, partnership, and strategic planning
· Pinch-hit for a number of colleagues, most recently for food distributions in the 2005 food crisis
· Represented the agency at many many long meetings
· Spent a lot of time on the internet looking up stuff
· Spent a lot of time emailing asking for stuff
· Spent a lot of time reminding colleagues to send stuff to me on deadline
· Spent a lot of time answering emails
· Smiled as much as possible
· Kissed up to various official people

Oh! I tire just thinking of it.

Right now I'm working on a document to transition the current microfinance program into a microfinance institution run by the local church. Interesting stuff but always a bear to work in French.

Here's a photo of a microfinance client who used her loan to sell doughnuts (beignets) at the local market. Photo by one of the 2005 Solidarity Volunteers.