8.01.2006
Advice from Chuk
So I've been a bit lazy with the blog, but when I put together my next real post, you'll see why. I wanted to share wise words from my friend Chuk, who is one of the most interesting people I know.
My question:
The people here at CDC like what I've been doing and now they're asking me if I want to think about coming back and doing a more formal job of it. Which made me feel good about myself. But then I realized that that would mean that I would be high-priced ex-pat consultant, and I don't believe in those. It would be pretty embarrassing to become one as soon as I finish school. I'm beginning to realize that I'm in kind of a Catch-22 because the big players in antiretroviral therapy for HIV are all the big donors and NGOs, which I don't think are good models for development/effective vehicles for personal action. But I also know that you can't make as much of a difference scraping along with some little NGO. Or, that I personally couldn't make much difference. What I need is a job with a big organization that is ethically in the clear. I can think of two. I hope they're hiring next May.
Chuk's Answer:
so when u work for a bigtime job cuz u figure u gotta get paid, u just gotta figure out how who does that right, and i bet the answer is to get with a small time NGO and make it get big, and then u will believe that it is working out well, like the parenting thing where time invested creates love (u know this bit from the little prince, when the prince is said he has spent so long with a flower he thot unique, but turned out to be just a common rose, he happens upon a fox who says to him,
"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..."
so the boy spends some time with the fox, and when eventually they find they must part ways, the fox tells the boy his secret,
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important")
so the NGOs u see and dont like are not yours and if u were with one and you believed in it i think that could be something that worked, not just this guerrilla strategy of always coming on board for small, underfunded groups, but instead making the little good ideas into big good ideas.
My question:
The people here at CDC like what I've been doing and now they're asking me if I want to think about coming back and doing a more formal job of it. Which made me feel good about myself. But then I realized that that would mean that I would be high-priced ex-pat consultant, and I don't believe in those. It would be pretty embarrassing to become one as soon as I finish school. I'm beginning to realize that I'm in kind of a Catch-22 because the big players in antiretroviral therapy for HIV are all the big donors and NGOs, which I don't think are good models for development/effective vehicles for personal action. But I also know that you can't make as much of a difference scraping along with some little NGO. Or, that I personally couldn't make much difference. What I need is a job with a big organization that is ethically in the clear. I can think of two. I hope they're hiring next May.
Chuk's Answer:
so when u work for a bigtime job cuz u figure u gotta get paid, u just gotta figure out how who does that right, and i bet the answer is to get with a small time NGO and make it get big, and then u will believe that it is working out well, like the parenting thing where time invested creates love (u know this bit from the little prince, when the prince is said he has spent so long with a flower he thot unique, but turned out to be just a common rose, he happens upon a fox who says to him,
"To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..."
so the boy spends some time with the fox, and when eventually they find they must part ways, the fox tells the boy his secret,
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important")
so the NGOs u see and dont like are not yours and if u were with one and you believed in it i think that could be something that worked, not just this guerrilla strategy of always coming on board for small, underfunded groups, but instead making the little good ideas into big good ideas.
Comments:
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Don't knock the power of money - your organization's or your own. One of the things I like best about my current job is that it enables me to contribute somewhat generously to the causes I care about. It will also provide retirement income to enable me to pursue other interests later.
On a personal level, if you can do work that is important and get paid well for doing it, you will have more choices in other aspects of your life. If you build a career and professional reputation straight out of school you will have more flexibility later if you want to try to combine career and raising children, or take time off temporarily while your children are young (or you need to care for aging/failing parents), or if you do want to found your own NGO.
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On a personal level, if you can do work that is important and get paid well for doing it, you will have more choices in other aspects of your life. If you build a career and professional reputation straight out of school you will have more flexibility later if you want to try to combine career and raising children, or take time off temporarily while your children are young (or you need to care for aging/failing parents), or if you do want to found your own NGO.
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