Day 7 - No rest for the CCA volunteer

A day off and it’s been such a hectic 2 weeks since arriving in Ottawa that I was thinking I’d take it easy.  I didn’t set the alarm and had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. Luckily I got ready fairly quickly as the power went off about 10 (that includes how the water gets heated). I’m lucky to be in a hotel that has hot water at all.  It’s very nice and at the price of 55,000 Ugandan shillings a night (about $22.00 and it includes breakfast) with a small courtyard where I’m sitting at a table under an umbrella writing this. 

 
Well, the plan was to relax but I’ve been working on the report for CCA on this SACCO from about 10 this morning to about 4:30.  CCA gets some funding for these projects from the federal government (CIDA) and has to be sure to show the value that the project brings to international development.  The rest of the money comes from donations to CDF from coops and credit unions in Canada as well as minor fundraising activities.  Coops are such a positive force in these countries it makes me proud to be associated with the cooperative system.  

Now that I’ve done the report work and written this I have some prep work for tomorrow.  On Saturday we talked about strategic planning, governance and member relations, I was impressed by the knowledge and practices.  BUT, tomorrow is all the financials so I’ll count on Isaac to lead those. I think we’ll have observers from CCA and UCA so we have to be at our best.  So far this has been such  positive experience I’m hoping I might get the chance to do it again. 

If you’ve ever wondered about getting involved in these types of volunteer projects in underdeveloped countries I’d say ‘GO FOR IT’.

Let me know what you think of my blog so far.  I’d love to hear from you and promise to answer any questions you may have as soon as I get an internet connection again.