your *free* dose of liz :: kosovo

my day at world child

Things are starting to pick up at World Child. I've identified several new sources of potential funding, and have even started on a grant proposal. The strangest thing happened though this morning, when I sat down with the board members to discuss a proposal going to the US Office in the next week.

The first few minutes were focused on talking about the project proposal they would submit, discussing their peace-building sports initiative that they did a year ago with mixed-ethnicity groups and special needs children. Apparently it was a successful, and there is no real reason not to do it again, except that it may not be so attractive to the US Office who would be funding it a second year in a row. After asking me what I thought, they asked me if I had any ideas for projects. Of course I do, I thought, but I really wasn't prepared for such an open solicitation for project ideas. Nevertheless, I managed to come up with something, including a city mural done by children and European artists/graffiti artists, a human banner done in the Kosovo countryside with a message for the international community,and an outdoor permanent art exhibition done by the Kosovar children that could be embedded into the streets/walkways/buildings. The next question was, do you have any experience implementing these ideas?

I have a feeling I'm going to be getting more involved than I thought...which is just fabulous.

Volunteering in Kosovo

Today was my second day checking into the World Child office. The people there are very connected to one another, and extremely nice. I was greeted with a coffee, and sat for an hour and a half in the office of the woman handling multiple hats as human resource manager, marketeer and administration. In addition to this, she finishing up her last year in university (studying management) and is pregnant to boot. She gave me a comprehensive background to the organization and we agreed on my approach, to begin by researching all possible grants/funding, then categorizing and prioritizing these, and finally, helping in the proposal writing and refinements of the program offering to match the grant requirements. At the same time, I will begin a website audit and identify a new web strategy based on their new need for increased and diversified funding. Finally, it would be fun to redesign their website and get a budget for search engine optimization and online video creation. Yes, it's real work, but I trust that if I can help to bring in any new sources of funding it will be extremely fulfilling. Plus, their website really has nowhere to go but UP! 

Of course, the more I hear about World Child, the more I want to work with the children and prisoners on art projects rather than working as a strategist and fundraiser...but it's good to see that my interest in art therapy hasn't weened, in fact, it increases the more I hear. For example, last year they did a project with the girl and women prisoners in Kosovo. They then had an exhibition of the art work, first in the prison itself and then at a high profile restaurant in Pristina, serving food that the prisoners also made for the guests. I would love to have the chance to see that artwork, wouldn't you?

Meeting World Child - and getting to work!

Yesterday I met with the director of World Child, which is a local partner of War Child, the NGO based in the Netherlands. World Child uses creative therapy practices to promote peace keeping and therapy for children who have been traumatized by war. As I have been thinking that Art Therapy would be an option as a career path, I was eager to get involved with this type of organization at the ground level. However, it did dawn on me that actual interaction with the children may be difficult due to the language and culture barriers. No matter.

Within 5 minutes of the meeting, the director said that she would like me to be a kind of advisor for them as a starting point. Because War Child Netherlands is pulling all of its funding next year, already they have had to cut staff in half, and they have no security for the year to come that their programs will continue. Therefore, I will initially be helping them with project proposals, grant requests, researching new funding sources, and changing (think: revamping entirely) their website. They currently do no direct donations or online fundraising.  She indicated that in budget requests they will write in budget for me so that they can pay me something, if and when the money comes through.

The oddest part of the day is that we never discussed the situation. All of a sudden, I was being introduced to the staff there (who are all very relaxed and friendly) as the new volunteer. I was tasked with writing a loose agreement between us, how many hours I will work, etc. Today I'll go in from 1-4 to work with the content coordinator on a new funding request from the 'US Office'.  Next week I'll start and audit of the website with recommendations for change, etc.

It all happened rather quickly, but for the time being I'm happy with the arrangement. I will continue soliciting for paid employment, but at the same time, I see a lot of potential for contribution at this small organization without the bureaucracy of a larger organization, and already I find it very interesting how things work here in Kosovo, who is paying for what, etc. My biggest hope is that I can help them become self-sustaining so that they can continue to offer the children of this torn country a hope for a productive, healthy future.  I find it sad that so many of the NGOs seem to pull out of a war-torn nation just as the real work (the rebuilding) begins. You'd think that an organization like War Child would know that...