What I think I’ve learned
Having spent these last two years living here in the Philippines it hasn’t been until the month before leaving that I’ve really started to learn something.
Looking for jobs has made me ask hard questions of myself and my accomplishments. I had to write a Description of Service as a formal reference for future employment with the US Government. As well as a CV. I wrote 5 pages, which I was pretty surprised by. Job hunting has also made me have to learn about what kind of work is out there. I’ve at last come up with a job title to describe the work I want to do: Water/Sanitation and Health. I feel this is a profession that will guarantee an continuing demand for international work. It has also shown me what a high demand there is for cultural understanding as a manager.
I’ve also started to wonder where our water comes from. (It comes from two separate spring boxes; one for drinking and the other for everything else.) Where our trash goes. (Most is recycled, the rest burned) Or even how is our food grown? (Not sure yet) It has been seeking the answers to these questions that has really taught me my most valuable technical lessons so far. But these are by far not the most important lessons learned.
Cultural lessons have been an ongoing experience. It has become very clear that learning to work with the locals is 3/4 of getting anything done. Once they trust you, they are your friends and will respect what you have to say. My time here has taught me a lot about how to work with and what to expect from local people. Rasa brought up a good strategy for our next PC service. She wants to spend the first year on doing nothing but socialising and the last on working.
After my service, i feel like I finally have a solid grasp of my future direction in working abroad. Well, at least a good idea of what do look into for my next move.
