Now that I have introduced myself, it is time that I introduce Restless Development. This is the organization that I will be working for while in Uganda. A lot of you are probably wondering why I chose this organization over the many others that offer international opportunities, why I chose to volunteer my time as opposed to looking for a job, and what I am actually going to be doing on the ground. This post will answer these questions, and hopefully persuade you to support me on my journey to Uganda!
One of the challenges of doing a one-year masters degree was having to worry about what I was going to do afterwards. I felt like I had already been through a similar process in the last year of undergrad. This time, however, I knew that I wanted to get some experience working in a developing country. Despite my love of studying development and contemplating these issues in papers, conferences and Model-UN simulations, I was feeling a bit restless. It was time to (finally) leave academia and tackle things in the real world.
Looking for a job in development, however, can make anybody a bit crazy. You need experience to get experience! You need experience plus a sub-sub-sub-specialization in creating rural, small-scale, gender-mainstreamed, income-generating, organic agriculture projects! Want to work for the UN? Well, they aren’t hiring nationals of your country this year! You want paid field experience too? Good luck with that. Before giving up completely and switching my MSc degree to something 'practical' like finance (the ‘other’ side of the LSE), I decided to attend the international volunteering fair up at SOAS.
I have long been skeptical of volunteer abroad programs, so I went into the fair with low expectations. After all, I was going to have a Masters degree in Development. I couldn’t justify paying money to spend three weeks in a developing country to do a job that could easily be done by somebody who lived in that country and needed paid work (like construction, which is a focus of a lot of these projects). I wanted something that would give me a longer period of relevant experience and hopefully some training so that I could one day get one of those elusive development jobs. I also wanted to do something that would let me use some of the skills I already had.
Then, I found Restless Development. I talked a bit to the young woman behind their table, but in the chaos of the volunteering fair I didn’t really make a decision to apply with them until I started researching the organization in my own time. The more I found out, the more I liked what they had to offer.
First, youth empowerment is one of the most important issues in the world today. The Arab Spring can arguably be attributed to the restlessness of youth fed up with not having their voices heard. Young people also make up a huge percentage of the world’s population, and are concentrated in developing countries where unemployment is high. Restless Development tackles this issue by giving young people the knowledge and skills to participate in policy-making processes and make informed decisions about their reproductive health and livelihoods.
First, youth empowerment is one of the most important issues in the world today. The Arab Spring can arguably be attributed to the restlessness of youth fed up with not having their voices heard. Young people also make up a huge percentage of the world’s population, and are concentrated in developing countries where unemployment is high. Restless Development tackles this issue by giving young people the knowledge and skills to participate in policy-making processes and make informed decisions about their reproductive health and livelihoods.
Second, Restless Development offered me a chance to use my skills. As an International Volunteer Peer Educator, I will play a direct role in delivering information about reproductive health and livelihoods to young Ugandans by running workshops, setting up and supporting youth clubs and resource centres, working on community outreach and organizing public events. I spent a lot of my time in university organizing conferences, chairing meetings, and helping other young people get informed and get involved. These were all things that I could do again but in a different context. As well, all Restless Development volunteers get a month of training at the start of their placement, and all of us do the monitoring and evaluation of our projects. On top of learning to fundraise, this experience is invaluable in the development world.
Finally, I chose Restless Development because their methods speak to the quality of their work. I really love the fact that Restless Development uses not only international volunteers, but nationals and locals as well. This means that in Uganda, I will be working with young Ugandans who can ensure the sustainability of our projects and continue to be leaders in development in their own country. I know that while I won’t radically change the world in six months, I will learn from and share my experiences and ideas with young people who affect policy today and will continue to do so in the future. This isn't just empty optimistic rhetoric - last year, Restless Development led a group of youth-focused organizations to develop the country's first ever Youth Consultation on the National Development Plan. Six of their twelve recommendations have actually been included in the new national plan, and trained youth leaders are monitoring the plan's implementation.
I am embarking on this experience hoping to contribute, but expecting to learn a lot as well. Keep reading to find out what my perspective on development is like going into Uganda, and how it changes.
L
