Last April 11, I attended the pre-departure briefing for Zambia-bound volunteers. It would've been a fitting final preparation before leaving for my VSO stint—except that nothing is final yet with regard to my deployment.
A couple of weeks ago, I received news from VSO Zambia that my placement with my original employer “fell through”, and that they were targeting to find an alternative placement for me before April 15.
As of yesterday, however, none of the options have firmed up, and so VSO Zambia asked for “a couple more days” to work it out. I suspect that the Holy Week break (since Zambia is also a predominantly Christian country) kept them from speeding things up. Hence, my target date of departure was reset (yet again) to anytime between April 17 and 25.
With the repeated changes in schedule but little development in getting an actual placement, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. I don't want to be inflated, just to get deflated again. Hence, I am really just taking each day as it comes and preparing myself for any eventuality.
Thankfully, my Volunteer and Programme Adviser (VPA) here in the Philippines is quite forward-looking, and has already broadcasted my CV once again on VSO’s worldwide database. Within less than an hour of that posting, we got several offers. There were openings in other countries, but there was also one option that presented a sure shot way for me to go to Zambia by next week. Apparently, another volunteer from India who's supposed to arrive in Zambia on 16th April just dropped out of the programme. VSO India, thus, offered the placement to me, explaining that my qualifications match the need for the position vacated by the said volunteer. However, upon realizing that the work is straight-out resource mobilization, I begged off. I really don’t think I’m cut out to be a lead fund raiser. (Not again, please!:D) As much as I would love to go to Zambia, I couldn’t take a position that I am not comfortable with just ‘coz it’s the most easily available one.
So here I am, still waiting for the other alternatives in Zambia to firm up. If nothing works out by early next week, it would be time to consider options from elsewhere in the world. After all, my VSO journey really isn’t about arriving in a particular country, but going wherever I could contribute the most.
It is tough to let go of Zambia—a country that I’ve grown fond of these past few months, thinking that it would be my home for the next two years or so. Nevertheless, while it may be tempting to give in to frustration or discouragement, I choose not to let that happen. These past weeks, I’ve come to accept that I am not in control of the situation, even as I realize that I can be in control of how I deal with it. I, of course, do not know what is going to happen and how it is going to happen, but I do trust that Someone so much bigger than I am is holding the reigns.
As a famous line from a cheesy song goes, "Whatever will be, will be".:) I just hope that whatever does become of this, I am ready for it.
Labels: Light and Shade
