As I was getting ready to leave Morocco, I wondered if I would ever be able to work in an office again – to get up to an alarm clock and work all day long, all week long, with never enough vacation time. I really appreciated the lack of structure, the simple life, the time for cooking from scratch and reading and writing, the time for tea. There was so much time there! My work in the Philippines gave me hope – I could go to an office every day (well, as long as I had the flexibility to work from home one or two days a week) as long as I had enough independence and was working on something I believed in. I’ve taken a step back here – it’s hard to get anything done at the Homeland Handicrafts office, with new input coming at us all the time and no time to process. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get anything done at the Peace Corps office either, with PCVs in and out and lots of noise. Now that I have my computer and an internet stick, I spent a day working at home this week and made a lot of progress! So maybe there’s hope. Or maybe I have to consider what others have been telling me even as I have been (unsuccessfully, upon both returns) looking for a full-time job – perhaps I need to start my own business and be more in charge of my own destiny. We’ll see.
I’ve also been somewhat sobered by the situation here – while I have met some Armenians who are creative and ambitious, I’ve met some development and NGO workers who seem jaded and defeated. Whether it’s the post-Soviet mentality or the Armenian personality or the government and business environment here, they seem to think there is little hope of getting anything accomplished – yet they plug away, though I am not entirely sure why. In fact, sometimes it seems the main business here in Yerevan is NGOs and aid organizations. So a cynic would say that they plug away because it’s a paycheck. I have been thinking that it would be rewarding to continue to serve (for pay) – Foreign Service, USAID, a development NGO. But I also have read about the pitfalls of foreign aid and I know that there can be agendas other than that of helping people, so I fear that I too could become disillusioned. And I know that in a non-profit organization I could end up with the same kind of crazy boss, office politics, long hours and all of the things I had in Corporate America and don’t want to have again. So I’ve been thinking some gloomy thoughts lately as I think about what is next.
And along came an inspirational event this week – something that reminded me that there are people out there dedicated to causes, believing that change can happen and that people matter. I was bumped from the guest list from the reception in honor of the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, but someone mentioned my name to the Ambassador, a college classmate. She recognized it and said I could get in touch. I emailed her, and she invited me to a reception at the Embassy honoring a Woman of Courage; I went to it on Tuesday night. First of all, the Ambassador herself is impressive – her speech was impactful (http://armenia.usembassy.gov/news031511.html). Yes, the picture is of me with her! More, the woman who was honored – sadly, posthumously – sounded amazing. As the head of Transparency International here, she fought corruption and tried to make a difference. There’s still a long way to go – here and in many other places – but with people like her, there’s a chance that the world can be a better place. I know that my time in Peace Corps is a drop in the bucket but I do feel that I made a small contribution to my community in Morocco and to the disaster response and poverty housing effort in the Philippines. Yes I can! Make a small contribution here too….
As I was getting ready to leave Morocco, I wondered if I would ever be able to work in an office again – to get up to an alarm clock and work all day long, all week long, with never enough vacation time. I really appreciated the lack of structure, the simple life, the time for cooking from scratch and reading and writing, the time for tea. There was so much time there! My work in the Philippines gave me hope – I could go to an office every day (well, as long as I had the flexibility to work from home one or two days a week) as long as I had enough independence and was working on something I believed in. I’ve taken a step back here – it’s hard to get anything done at the Homeland Handicrafts office, with new input coming at us all the time and no time to process. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get anything done at the Peace Corps office either, with PCVs in and out and lots of noise. Now that I have my computer and an internet stick, I spent a day working at home this week and made a lot of progress! So maybe there’s hope. Or maybe I have to consider what others have been telling me even as I have been (unsuccessfully, upon both returns) looking for a full-time job – perhaps I need to start my own business and be more in charge of my own destiny. We’ll see.
I’ve also been somewhat sobered by the situation here – while I have met some Armenians who are creative and ambitious, I’ve met some development and NGO workers who seem jaded and defeated. Whether it’s the post-Soviet mentality or the Armenian personality or the government and business environment here, they seem to think there is little hope of getting anything accomplished – yet they plug away, though I am not entirely sure why. In fact, sometimes it seems the main business here in Yerevan is NGOs and aid organizations. So a cynic would say that they plug away because it’s a paycheck. I have been thinking that it would be rewarding to continue to serve (for pay) – Foreign Service, USAID, a development NGO. But I also have read about the pitfalls of foreign aid and I know that there can be agendas other than that of helping people, so I fear that I too could become disillusioned. And I know that in a non-profit organization I could end up with the same kind of crazy boss, office politics, long hours and all of the things I had in Corporate America and don’t want to have again. So I’ve been thinking some gloomy thoughts lately as I think about what is next.
And along came an inspirational event this week – something that reminded me that there are people out there dedicated to causes, believing that change can happen and that people matter. I was bumped from the guest list from the reception in honor of the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps, but someone mentioned my name to the Ambassador, a college classmate. She recognized it and said I could get in touch. I emailed her, and she invited me to a reception at the Embassy honoring a Woman of Courage; I went to it on Tuesday night. First of all, the Ambassador herself is impressive – her speech was impactful (http://armenia.usembassy.gov/news031511.html). Yes, the picture is of me with her! More, the woman who was honored – sadly, posthumously – sounded amazing. As the head of Transparency International here, she fought corruption and tried to make a difference. There’s still a long way to go – here and in many other places – but with people like her, there’s a chance that the world can be a better place. I know that my time in Peace Corps is a drop in the bucket but I do feel that I made a small contribution to my community in Morocco and to the disaster response and poverty housing effort in the Philippines. Yes I can! Make a small contribution here too….
Crazy boss? Office politics? Are you going to name names? ;)
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I have had too many to name! That's why I think I feel done with Corporate America. It distresses me to think that it exists in other spheres as well, but that just has to serve as motivation to find a pleasant environment...
ReplyDelete