Work, work, work!!

 My beloved Mum has advised me that I should start sharing some professional stories on this blog, of some of the work experience I am gathering whilst I’m here in Tuvalu, in case any potential future employers might be reading it!! I think the chances are thin but as I almost always like to heed my wonderful, loving mother’s advice I would like to share with my interested readers some of the work I’ve been doing over the last couple of months.  I will intersperse this work related information with nice photos that might not be relevant but will be pretty!

As most of you know upon arriving in Tuvalu I was tasked with writing a multi-million dollar project proposal which was submitted to AusAID.  The project will last 4 years and consists of a variety of activities and works costing $7.3 MILLION!!! The focus of the project is what is termed WASH – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – and therefore there are numerous initiatives within the proposal.  These include improved water catchment infrastructure, compost toilets on outer islands that suffered especially badly during the drought, and a substantial portion of the bid will be to transform the borrow pits (which have featured on this blog previously) into large communal water storage facilities with community-use areas incorporated such as sports courts or areas for traditional community events, such as fatele – the traditional feast/dances! We were supposed to hear whether the bid has been successful by now but they have had so many projects to review we won’t now hear until December so please everyone keep everything crossed for a successful response!

 

These are water tanks that AusAID previously distributed to the outer islands, in this case at the school on Vaitupu - you will all note the different labelling, when AusAID went through some re-branding... 

Since then I have been working on a number of smaller tasks the first of which was a Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment of the member organisations that make up TANGO (Tuvalu Association of Non-Governmental Organisations – who I work for!)  This has involved contacting and meeting with as many member organisations as possible and interviewing them about the services that TANGO currently provides and what their future needs are and how TANGO can serve them better!  Although this might sound pretty straight forward there have been challenges – the first of which was a lack of a contact list of members… a problem that is still not entirely resolved! Aside from that there have been some other fundamental hurdles; for a long time organisations in Tuvalu have been used to responding to funding streams as they become available rather than proactively assessing need and seeking funding, and therefore they are not well practiced in outlining their future requirements when asked! This has led to further work with a number of organisations including the Tuvalu National Council of Women (TNCW).  The TNCW has been trying to write a Strategic Plan for more than a year with limited success, I am now in the process of assisting them with this and developing an Action Plan to accompany this document. 

Some of the activities that the local women are involved in include making local handicrafts, like this gorgeous mat that Sandra was given before she left us last week :(

 

 

 

The communication issues that are experienced across Tuvalu – due to inconsistent shipping schedules, unreliable internet, lack of mobile phone coverage, and a postal service which is reliant on the shipping schedule – are all barriers for NGO development and project delivery, especially on the outer islands.  This is something else I have been getting involved with by liaising with international partners to develop a Terms of Reference to increase the Communication resources at TANGO to work as best as possible around these difficulties.  As a result of the new-age methods of communication being ‘tricksy,’ the best form of communication in Tuvalu is the radio!

Last week I was invited to consult on Island Profiles that have been formulated by the Government Department of Rural Development.  This was an opportunity for me to get my number/data geek on!!! And it was awesome! These documents are the result of 18 months of work in partnership with the UN.  They carried out a very thorough survey of households across all the islands of Tuvalu and asked questions covering a wide range of issues from enrolment of children in pre-school to the level of water storage individual households have!  The point of these 80 page documents is to inform the local government branches (Kaupule – Town Council, delivery body; and Falekaupule – island chiefs and elders, decision-making body) on each island, and assist them in strategic planning and prioritising areas for actions into the future… And yes I’m a giant nerd for getting excited about it but I truly believe knowledge is power and baseline data like this is crucial in order to both measure improvements and successes, but also to assist in showing the areas where quick wins can be made and where longer-term planning is required.

 

Just a pretty picture on Nukufetau (one of the outer islands) - so its kind of relevant ;) !

 

I’ve also begun discussions with my supervisor about Institutional Resilience and as she referred to her job as her “retirement work,” the sustainability of the work of TANGO needs to be ensured, protected and able to progress! I will be presenting a report to the Executive Committee in the mid-end of November with my suggestions for best routes forward.

I hope that you are all satisfied that I’m not just on holiday out here in Pacific paradise, I’ve got work to do too ;)!!!