(un)finished work
In this life we cannot do great things,
only small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
only small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
Time flies so fast. It was in May 2005 when i got a call to write a project proposal for a non-government organization. I can still remember that day: I was in Pranjetto Hills in Tanay, Rizal documenting a weeklong youth training when my mobile phone rang and from the other line, FMT was convincing me to write about a big project they thought of submitting to the European Union for funding. Fresh out of government service that time, i was so eager to try new things (and i need the money too) so i accepted the challenge and gave my positive reply.
The deadline was in 2 weeks. I only had that much time to digest all the reference materials, learn and understand the project concern, listen to the project proponents as they brainstorm and put them all together in a well-written proposal following the prescribed form and format. whew! I spent the night before the deadline with Binsent at the office, both of us cramming for the unfinished parts of the paper. I managed to sleep on the sofa by 3am and, in between winks, i mentally concocted the Logical Framework. Hours before the deadline, the whole office was under an organized chaos - we were on our toes as i finalized the proposal and passed it on to the others who had it signed, photocopied, labeled and packaged. It was like running a relay and the last one who got hold of the baton (the proposal) was Francis who dashed from Quezon City to Makati City to beat the deadline. He made it!
So anyway, while waiting for the fate of the proposal, i landed a temporary job at the Supreme Court as organizer of the International Conference on Judicial Reforms. It was in September (3 months later) when i got an SMS from FMT saying our proposal was approved for a grant of more than a hundred thousand euros equivalent to about P10 million! who-a! i made it! i'm such a genius...i'm so proud of myself! hahaha :-)
The project was officially launched in March 2006 at the provincial capitol of La Union. Project implementers were the Institute for Social Studies and Action (ISSA) in partnership with the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in cooperation with the Provincial Government of La Union and with fund support from the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.
Its primary goal was to help the provincial government develop and put in place a functional local monitoring system on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) specifically on MDG 5: Target 7 that will be sustainable and replicable in other local government agencies.
I joined the ISSA project team in May 2006 when we had a series of consultations with the various stakeholders in La Union as part of the situational analysis.
When the project was presented to a bigger audience via a National Workshop last June, i was among those who expressed commitment to the project as we gamefully participated in the "bond of hands."
I am thankful i made the commitment. I learned a lot from our participants and resource persons, gained friends and shared both good and difficult times with the project team. It was a rollercoaster ride: one time we were celebrating and eager to go on with the project activities, the next breath we were working under a cloud of confusion. There were a lot of setbacks, criticisms and holes to fill in. Some of the project team members gave up and left. I was lucky to be spared of the pressure and usual office drama as i was not really involved in the tedious everyday work - i did my reports and researches at home, communicated through e-mail and only made myself visible during the project's major activities. It was the project staff who spent more than 8 hours of work each day and stood by the project from start to finish who really bled for it.
Finally we had our project dissemination forum yesterday, the culmination of our year-long effort.
We were all smiling from ear to ear, relieved to have completed the project and complied with our commitment to the funding agency. We all know though, at the back of our minds, that the project may have ended but the work has just begun. It's a long road ahead...a lot of things still need to be done, issues to be resolved, partnerships to be forged and people to be trained to make sure that all our efforts will not go to waste. Development work is a long tedious process and we can never expect things to be accomplished overnight.
Personally, i learned a lot from the project. I am now ten times a better person than I was when i received the call to write the proposal. I have improved my research, writing and analytical skills and developed my interpersonal skills as well. Most important of all, I have discovered a new way to market myself - proposal/grant writing, that is - so maybe next time I get an offer I can command a higher price. hehehe :-)
Congratulations to the project team members! Let's enjoy the fresh air for a while before we move on to the next challenge.
The deadline was in 2 weeks. I only had that much time to digest all the reference materials, learn and understand the project concern, listen to the project proponents as they brainstorm and put them all together in a well-written proposal following the prescribed form and format. whew! I spent the night before the deadline with Binsent at the office, both of us cramming for the unfinished parts of the paper. I managed to sleep on the sofa by 3am and, in between winks, i mentally concocted the Logical Framework. Hours before the deadline, the whole office was under an organized chaos - we were on our toes as i finalized the proposal and passed it on to the others who had it signed, photocopied, labeled and packaged. It was like running a relay and the last one who got hold of the baton (the proposal) was Francis who dashed from Quezon City to Makati City to beat the deadline. He made it!
So anyway, while waiting for the fate of the proposal, i landed a temporary job at the Supreme Court as organizer of the International Conference on Judicial Reforms. It was in September (3 months later) when i got an SMS from FMT saying our proposal was approved for a grant of more than a hundred thousand euros equivalent to about P10 million! who-a! i made it! i'm such a genius...i'm so proud of myself! hahaha :-)
The project was officially launched in March 2006 at the provincial capitol of La Union. Project implementers were the Institute for Social Studies and Action (ISSA) in partnership with the Social Weather Stations (SWS) in cooperation with the Provincial Government of La Union and with fund support from the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.
Its primary goal was to help the provincial government develop and put in place a functional local monitoring system on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) specifically on MDG 5: Target 7 that will be sustainable and replicable in other local government agencies.
I joined the ISSA project team in May 2006 when we had a series of consultations with the various stakeholders in La Union as part of the situational analysis.
When the project was presented to a bigger audience via a National Workshop last June, i was among those who expressed commitment to the project as we gamefully participated in the "bond of hands."I am thankful i made the commitment. I learned a lot from our participants and resource persons, gained friends and shared both good and difficult times with the project team. It was a rollercoaster ride: one time we were celebrating and eager to go on with the project activities, the next breath we were working under a cloud of confusion. There were a lot of setbacks, criticisms and holes to fill in. Some of the project team members gave up and left. I was lucky to be spared of the pressure and usual office drama as i was not really involved in the tedious everyday work - i did my reports and researches at home, communicated through e-mail and only made myself visible during the project's major activities. It was the project staff who spent more than 8 hours of work each day and stood by the project from start to finish who really bled for it.
Finally we had our project dissemination forum yesterday, the culmination of our year-long effort.
We were all smiling from ear to ear, relieved to have completed the project and complied with our commitment to the funding agency. We all know though, at the back of our minds, that the project may have ended but the work has just begun. It's a long road ahead...a lot of things still need to be done, issues to be resolved, partnerships to be forged and people to be trained to make sure that all our efforts will not go to waste. Development work is a long tedious process and we can never expect things to be accomplished overnight.Personally, i learned a lot from the project. I am now ten times a better person than I was when i received the call to write the proposal. I have improved my research, writing and analytical skills and developed my interpersonal skills as well. Most important of all, I have discovered a new way to market myself - proposal/grant writing, that is - so maybe next time I get an offer I can command a higher price. hehehe :-)
Congratulations to the project team members! Let's enjoy the fresh air for a while before we move on to the next challenge.
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