A week ago it was time for us to choose the organization we wanted to work with. I thought it was hard to choose just one organization since I was impressed by so many of them. After some consideration I decided to work with “Waste Less” a non-profit organization whose goal is to get people to recycle their waste. The day when the whole group went to visit waste less they strongly impressed me and the rest of the group. All of the actors involved where very engaged in the topic and the visit to the dump was also an emotional wake-up for many of us. So to have the opportunity to work with this organization was something I greatly appreciated.
Me and my colleague Natalie (AUP) have now organized several meetings to help the organisation to meet some of their challenges. This have made me more aware of the tremendous task Waste Less is facing in a country like India where recycle today is unknown to so many people. India is also a country where the poor are more interested in getting food for the day than to recycling their waste. To work alongside people who are so passionate about their work and goals has been inspiring and instructive. It is also frightened to realize that for the first time in my two and a half years of theoretical university studies to interact with a real organisation where they really need my help. In general I think that many of us were afraid and slept poorly the night before our first meeting with our organizations. Personally I think what frighten me the most is that it was for real this time, and that it was no longer possible to hide behind books and your classmates. The time constraint was also something which made the communication project more difficult. The difficulty as I see it, is that it takes more than two weeks to actually get to know an organisation and understand problems they may be facing. Even if we are at the organization every day, it still takes time to develop relations and help people feel comfortable opening up to outsiders.
Anyhow I think that this will be a task I will learn much from. Not only how an NGO works but also to learn how it is to work in the “real” world and I feel like Bambi stand on shaky legs, learning to walk for the first time.