Job

I am way to busy with work. I know most PCV's you read about are just off doing their own thing in the village, many here work at a place with like 20 employees and have 0 programs activate running. Some are in a village and work on maybe getting a community garden set up, or make a library for a school. That is more of less what I expected, but I was so very, very wrong.

When i got to my office (one of the more active org's in the region) we had 6 people working here and the head office said this region is always behind and basically was not happy with how things were going. To help out they decided to add me (or any other PCV) to help out on programs and build up community involvement, bla bla bla bla I will save that rant for a different day. Needless to say, the region since i have come has managed to get to about average or at least on the same scale as other regions finally. Sadly we have also gone from 6 people and me, to 4 people and me. Who did this other jobs? Well good that you should ask because most of them were just spread out between the people at the office, and I took a large part, since its better to have programs running then not actually have programs.

Some of the programs I was supposed to help get going an get one of the guys here to take over. I have found that to be very challenging, as people in the region are very against doing work in general it seems, and if not its a problem to add work to someone how already has a job. I will get into details someday if you ask me in person. When the new year hit thats when i ended up in problems though, as John the guy in charge of the region finally got his wish and was able to leave the region. What happened with his job you ask? Well that was just one more set up tasks I have picked up. (if you are wondering that puts the office down 3 people who were struggling to hit targets and deadlines if they were meet, and added me along with no one else). This has added even more work, is a good thing i gave up on the community at large, but have help to at least keep our org running in the region. Oh and then while I was at the world Cup our sectary got sick. She also is pregnant now (well for a couple months maybe still 4-5 away from giving birth) and will probably not be coming back for at least 5-6 months. I hope I am wrong, but that will put us (or how it has been for the last couples weeks) at down 4 people and just have the PCV take over all 4 jobs.

I will say these are actual jobs too, so i get the worst of both worlds right now. I make pretty much nothing, doing the jobs of 4 people (the lowest paid of those makes more then twice what PC says I should be living on) PC say's I cannot use any of the perks that come with the job, ( as in if they find out I was driving the company car the SFH say's i should use to do work i could be sent home) So I have been not using some of the tools I would have available if not for PC.

Then there is the things people think I can get done. First off I can magically fix everything (doesn't help that 3/4 of the stuff i can fix by changing the battery, making sure is plugged in or just resetting it.) Second I somehow know everything. Case in point.

On Friday before i left for the world cup I was cc'd late Friday in an email from the US embassy to our HQ in WHK. It said they were thinking of having a training in Katima. Monday comes around and eventually I am asked to get quotes for a training for the embassy. (I had a training Tuesday-Fri i was running with Braster). Tuesday morning i see the email before my training, and then go to the training, I get a call at 11 from our managing director asking why I have not got the quotation yet. I tell him ill get on it, leave the training to Braster (I have been helping him he should be fine for a the day and we had a guest speaking from the clinic coming). I get the quotes, but the fax does not work. I send an email saying there are the prices and write out the quotations in an email, and send it to the embassy guy. Next day i get a call from my MD asking if I saw the email from the embassy. I say no when was it sent? (it was sent 3-4 min ago when i logged on) He is angry at me cause i have not sent the quotes yet, (time frame this is Monday morning to wed morning that they are not there). I tell him i did and then resend everything and CC everyone possible. Next day i get another email asking why i have not sent the quotations, and have to send a 3rd time with Gmail cause the embassy guy (Namibian) has his email set to filtering out my emails from the work address and does not know how this could happen. From there my MD notices oh its an email problem cause he got the email and can see that I sent it to the embassy guy. Long story short, it fell apart eventually (they have not got to Caprivi in the last 15 years for bringing health speakers).

Yeah development here............... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh its like a last min scramble to do the next big thing, and you "should" drop all your current projects, to get stuff done, and then the long term stuff doesn't work cause people have been getting other stuff done. I think I need to stop here cause yeah............... motto, I hate offices and jobs and when i have to go back to the states, I think I may just apply to and outdoor programs or retreat to Alaska and live as a hermit.