This time last year, I was in Katete, Eastern Zambia. I was living in a rural guesthouse, with no shower, in an area rife with malaria, cholera, TB, HIV and a few cases of bubonic plague. I kid you not, I spoke to the Health Minister of Zambia who assured me that they’d killed all the rats and fleas so it was all fine now. Having no real way to check if I was insured against bubonic plague, I believed him.
Health risks, food shortages and hygiene deprivation aside, my month in Katete was the best thing that ever happened me.
I have worked for or with charities for a long time. Initially I was excited by the thought of working on something meaningful. That my 8 to 10 hours a day would in however small a way make the world a better place. But sometimes when we work in fundraising, we can get really caught up in the details – results, timings, meetings, approvals by committee. It’s hard work. It is also really easy to lose sight of why you work in the charity sector. When you are not caught up in work, life's about 'what’s for dinner?', paying the rent, and in my case, saving a deposit to buy a house with my husband.
Then one wine fuelled night, I thought 'there must be more than this. Where’s the excitement gone?' We decided then and there, my husband rather reluctantly, that we would take the house deposit we’d spent years saving and just take off.
After amost 12 months on the road, we made our way overland to Katete. I’d wanted to do some volunteering, to put my hard learned fundraising experience to use and found a Community Centre in Zambia called Tikondane. When we arrived, we were greeted by Elke - the director and founder of the Centre. Originally from Germany, she’s lived in Katete for 15 years. She came to help train nurses in the local hospital and stayed.
Tikondane is the most amazing place. It provides employment through a basic guesthouse and restaurant, supplied by a kitchen garden. They have income generating activiities such as soap making, knitting, sewing, tin smithing, a barbershop, candlemaking (for those frequent blackouts) and carpentry. These activities supply the community centre and guesthouse as well as generating small amounts of income. The Centre also provides a community school attended by 312 children, 228 of whom are orphans. They provide village outreach, health education, build wells, pit latrines and run health seminars. In short they do amazing work with very little.
What did I do? Well I worked on fundraising proposals, I developed presentation materials to help Elke present better when she did her fundraising trips abroad. I helped her plan for the future and work out how to divide costs in a way supporters can understand. I also helped out in the school and attended workshops – like the Living Positively group, where all 25 people have HIV.
In all, I helped raise over £20,000, but the truth is, the people at Tikondane helped me far, far more.
They made me remember why I love working with charities. That’s something I never want to lose sight of again. So if you are getting ground down with the daily stuff, remind yourself why you do what you do. Put up a picture on your computer. Go on a field trip, talk to a supporter about why they support your charity. In short do whatever it takes to get excited. I promise you’ll love working again.
Niamh Neville
