Introducing myself and my journal

About Me:
I am a cross-cultural person having spent my formative years in both south and Southeast Asia. My professional experiences in the developing world have included working in India for a micro finance organization and Fiji with the Peace Corps, as well as having conducted research for my Master's dissertation in Kosovo. Having lived, studied and worked in India, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Fiji and the USA, I have had the opportunity to work with people from a wide range of cultures and professional backgrounds and have greatly valued these experiences.

I started my career in the field of community development and in the recent past have been involved in ICT4Development and in particular Participatory Communications initiatives. As a Community Development Officer with the Peace Corps in Fiji, I acquired skills in participatory video techniques and assisted and facilitated the implementation of two different PV workshops.

The first enabled a rural Women’s Group to develop a promotional DVD about their organization. This project brought together women from different age groups, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds.

I also developed a Participatory Video project designed for youths. I trained secondary school students in camera handling, basic film production and interviewing techniques. The trained individuals used these skills to produce a 30 minute informational DVD about Career options in Fiji.

Through these experiences I came to appreciate the empowering influence that relatively simple technology can have on a diverse group of people, giving them an opportunity to express their views, concerns, hopes and desires. I observed how rural and marginalised communities were prevented from active participation in socio- economic and political development through the inability to access information and the lack of opportunity to convey their concerns and stories. I firmly believe that story telling can play an important role in both community and organisational development and can make a significant contribution to a community and organisations’ identity and growth.

In my professional life, I work in the field of executive recruitment for the non-profit sector. In this role, I have further developed project management skills, as well as in depth understanding of organisational development in the non-profit sector. In addition to this, I have gained valuable skills in interviewing techniques having conducted in-depth interviews.

I am eager to contribute to projects that would benefit from my skills and background and that at the same time continues to inform me about the field of communications and development.

My Passions:
Digital storytelling/participatory communications initiatives; social enterprises