Not a briefcase anymore!
Well it looked like I was going to be a handbag there for a while, just a tag-along to Ron. He had almost schooled me in how to defer to his authority...coaching me in the appropriate home based activities I should indulge in as a 'kept woman'...I had nearly purchased sewing patterns for Mother Hubbard outfits to befit my new status in life...and then...
I had a call today from Max at AVI to tell me I had been successful in my selection to a position as Youth Program Transition Officer - sounds grand doesn't it? I will be working with Youth Challenge International Vanuatu. My role is to assist the organisation to transition to locally based management. Up until now this NGO has been managed from Australia by Youth Challenge Australia and that governance is now being moved offshore to Vanuatu. I understand there are about 6 staff in the organisation and I will be assisting the Program Director through mentoring and training and support, to ensure the staff have learned the skills required to keep YCI Vanuatu up and running in their own home base. I will also be liaising with the Board of Management to support them through the transition. I reckon this is a job written in Heaven for me - the Universe could not have been kinder. I am so excited I could burst (in fact anyone in the Industry Reference Group Branch at WorkCover today would have been forgiven if they thought I had!)
Speaking of the Universe and the strange ways it delivers goodies at just the right time...I was on a flight back from Brisbane last night after spending the weekend with my sister Helen, her husband John and my Mum. (Helen had a knee operation about 10 days ago). I had gone to help and also to say goodbye for what might be a long time (or may not if Helen can come and visit me in Vanuatu). I sat in my little window seat a little sad that I was not going to be seeing Helen for a while and reflecting on what she had achieved in her recovery over the weekend; when this woman told me I looked safe enough to sit next to. Clearly she had identified the only person on the plane that was so exhausted from her weekend that she couldn't have posed any real threat at all!
Anyway after only a few brief words I discovered Jennifer had been living in Vanuatu for 20 years, had taught at Malapoa High School and the Port Vila International School and was just a fountain of information. You can only imagine my glee as I invited her to move over next to me realising I could almost hold her captive for just over an hour and milk her brain for any piece of information she was willing to part with. I was delightfully surprised to slip into easy conversation and sat spellbound as she recounted memories, identified landmarks and places of interest, spoke of the people and the culture and teaching and working, and then gave me the names of her close friends and great contacts. She has identified a few prospective places that we might find accommodation and I feel like I nearly know some of our prospective landlords. I parted with her at Newcastle Airport, having met her husband and her son, feeling I had made a new friend and promising to badger her more with questions over a glass of wine before we leave. Thanks Jennifer - you made my day - and I will be in touch very soon!
It is only 18 more sleeps...and that is both exciting and scary! The house is beginning to sound rather hollow, our footsteps and voices are echoing and the furniture is dribbling it's way out to new owners. The garage is taking on a semblance of order with boxes stacked and packed - even the car can fit back in now. Makes me wonder where we have put it all!
I had a call today from Max at AVI to tell me I had been successful in my selection to a position as Youth Program Transition Officer - sounds grand doesn't it? I will be working with Youth Challenge International Vanuatu. My role is to assist the organisation to transition to locally based management. Up until now this NGO has been managed from Australia by Youth Challenge Australia and that governance is now being moved offshore to Vanuatu. I understand there are about 6 staff in the organisation and I will be assisting the Program Director through mentoring and training and support, to ensure the staff have learned the skills required to keep YCI Vanuatu up and running in their own home base. I will also be liaising with the Board of Management to support them through the transition. I reckon this is a job written in Heaven for me - the Universe could not have been kinder. I am so excited I could burst (in fact anyone in the Industry Reference Group Branch at WorkCover today would have been forgiven if they thought I had!)
Speaking of the Universe and the strange ways it delivers goodies at just the right time...I was on a flight back from Brisbane last night after spending the weekend with my sister Helen, her husband John and my Mum. (Helen had a knee operation about 10 days ago). I had gone to help and also to say goodbye for what might be a long time (or may not if Helen can come and visit me in Vanuatu). I sat in my little window seat a little sad that I was not going to be seeing Helen for a while and reflecting on what she had achieved in her recovery over the weekend; when this woman told me I looked safe enough to sit next to. Clearly she had identified the only person on the plane that was so exhausted from her weekend that she couldn't have posed any real threat at all!
Anyway after only a few brief words I discovered Jennifer had been living in Vanuatu for 20 years, had taught at Malapoa High School and the Port Vila International School and was just a fountain of information. You can only imagine my glee as I invited her to move over next to me realising I could almost hold her captive for just over an hour and milk her brain for any piece of information she was willing to part with. I was delightfully surprised to slip into easy conversation and sat spellbound as she recounted memories, identified landmarks and places of interest, spoke of the people and the culture and teaching and working, and then gave me the names of her close friends and great contacts. She has identified a few prospective places that we might find accommodation and I feel like I nearly know some of our prospective landlords. I parted with her at Newcastle Airport, having met her husband and her son, feeling I had made a new friend and promising to badger her more with questions over a glass of wine before we leave. Thanks Jennifer - you made my day - and I will be in touch very soon!
It is only 18 more sleeps...and that is both exciting and scary! The house is beginning to sound rather hollow, our footsteps and voices are echoing and the furniture is dribbling it's way out to new owners. The garage is taking on a semblance of order with boxes stacked and packed - even the car can fit back in now. Makes me wonder where we have put it all!
posted by Cheryl and Ron at 10:03 pm
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