The adventure begins

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www.justgiving.com/zahratalakshi

I thought I'd restart this blog because things are starting to happen with VSO and I think it will be helpful if I can sort out my thoughts on here, as well as let people know what is happening.

Last week I met with my VPA (Volunteer Placement Adviser) and we spent some time discussing my skills and preferences, as well as the process for getting a placement. I left the VSO office in Putney really excited and just desperate to get on!

Today I received my first offer of a placement. It's as an Organisation Development Advisor to a local council in a small town in Cameroon. I've only started my research but Cameroon seems like a beautiful country and I would love to live there, however I am not sure if the 'town' I would be living is just a bit too rural for me. There's no electricity and the nearest internet access is 60 miles away! It seems frivolous but I need to be realistic about how I would keep in touch with my family and my personal safety so I'm digging around a bit more and will try to talk to some volunteers who already in the country.

Cameroon is not deemed politically or socially 'free' and does suffer from corruption so in terms of my own learning, it would be an amazing place to be. I would need to find totally new ways of working and would definitely have to practice my persuading and negotiating skills.

Normally I'd have two weeks to decide whether or not to accept a placement but because this starts fairly soon (1st May) I need to let them know sooner than that. If I decide this isn't the placement for me, my CV will got back in the pot and I'll hopefully get matched up with something else.

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