This is my second week to actually work in the union office. My colleague has gone back to UK and now I am left to be on my own. It is quite interesting to say the least. I am in the small office with the General Secretary of the union. The Deputy General Secretary has a desk there, but I have not seen her come in. I am working in a hot office, with a noisy fan constantly blowing to my face. People are coming in and out, because the one and only fridge is here. Secretaries come to this room in the afternoon to watch TV, and I just witnessed them making alcoholic beverages (rum) with a small bottle kept in the GS’s drawer. You can see that the atmosphere is pretty relaxed.
I am lucky compared to some other VSO’s; I have at least my own desk and a computer with an occasional Internet connection (I have to use the phone line of GS, so I try not to use it when he is there.) Cold water and soft drinks are available. The toilet somewhat flushes, and I can wash my hands.
What I have been doing is reading some pertinent documents, typing up some stuff and socializing with office staff. I have gone to Region 4 last week for consultation with teachers. It seems like I will be still traveling to other areas to speak to more teachers in order to have a proper representation of all voices in different regions. This means I will be flying in the toy plane, again…
Today, I had an interesting meeting/ interview with the chairperson of Women’s Committee of the union as part of the needs assessment. I have always worked with women’s issues, and this is my personal as well as professional interest. When I was presented with this placement with the union, I was a bit disappointed because it seemed less relevant to my experience. However, they have identified that I have “expertise” in the grant proposal development, and this is why they wanted me. To be frank, I am not comfortable with the term “expertise”. I use it often, but when it is used on me, it is rather overwhelming. I guess it is OK, since I did write grant proposals for my previous work and other volunteer work (and got $$), and whatever I do not know now, I will learn, right? My kind roommate already offered to proofread my writing, as you can probably tell from reading this that I badly need it …
Anyhow, I realized teachers’ issues are women’s issues. I have not confirmed statistics yet, but I was told over 90% of teachers in government schools is women. This phenomenon of “feminization of teaching profession” has a negative effect of the salary and benefits. Many men either choose to leave the profession or not to enter it, because it really does not pay sufficiently. The misconception is that women can have “SPPLEMENTARY” salary in addition to their husband’s, while the reality is that those women are often the head of household trying to feed the whole family. The chairperson I have interviewed said, “If 90% of teachers are men and not the other way around, the working condition would be much better.” and I strongly agree with her view.
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