What a difference a day makes

It's pretty amazing how different I feel about work each day. It's also frustrating, because I would prefer more consistency. After feeling so down about work and the organization with which I'm volunteering on Tuesday and Wednesday, I am now back in the saddle feeling confident and content.

Today (Friday), the boss and three interns went back to De Doorns to deliver some more maize meal to the men and women in the camp. This left only two other interns and me in the office. We were so productive having the office to ourselves. We brainstormed and discussed fundraising ideas. We made a plan. We got to work. We each have a target audience of people to whom we're going to reach out. I'm focusing on coffee shops and restaurants to see if they would be willing to have a day when a portion of their profits go to the organization or when a set amount is added to every patron's bill (with the option of opting out). Other target audiences are grocery stores, former interns and volunteers, and wealthy Zimbabweans living in the diaspora. I'm not sure if these people will get us the money we need, but it seems to be a good plan for reaching out to those who really care about the organization and the people it helps. We're also going to work on reaching out to local churches, synagogues, and mosques. The two men with whom I'm working both mentioned talking to their pastors/priests about possibly asking for donations from their congregations. I plan on calling some local synagogues and asking if they every collect tzedakah for specific organizations.

I also spoke with one of the guys with whom I worked today, I'll call him L, about our mutual interest in policy research. We discussed the fact that writing policy memos and having them available both to people working within the organization and politicians outside of it would be useful. Right now little is written down and our “policy recommendations” are made up as the boss talks. This would be a more accesible and, I think, respectable way to present our case. I sent an email to the boss, with L cc'ed, saying that we've decided to research and write three policy memos after we're done with the fundraising campaign. The boss complains that he has to initiate everything and wishes other people would be proactive. So I am being proactive. I'm also trying to guarantee I get the experience I want while I'm here. I'll see what he says in response to the email on Monday. Fingers crossed it's positive!