The World Vision office where I am placed is an extremely busy office, where the very committed staff work all hours of the day and night to deliver their programmes and reach the communities that are very much in need. Their targets are as high as a mountain, and I can honestly say that the staff motivation is as it has to be - as high as the sky! Because no matter what, no matter how much pressure they are under, they always work hard and with integrity to deliver quality programmes to those who need it most. In the few months I have been with the, the whole team has delivered so much, and I can guarantee that what they have achieved as a result is actually much bigger, something that we can't see being so busy in the middle of it all! That is why I am so impressed with the organisation, and can say that the kind South Koreans sponsoring children in this district are really putting their money in the right place!

One of the challenges facing the office is the sheer number of activities that they are committed to running, in such short spaces of time and with numerous conflicting deadlines; meaning that each staff member is often juggling about 10 different things at once. And in the midst of all that, there is always something that comes up to cause confusion, an extra deadline or a report to write, throwing one or two programmes into potential chaos. But the team deal with each challenge with real humility; working like crazy behind the scenes but on the surface still as graceful and swift as a swan. Sometimes I see my colleagues as tennis players, whacking the different balls they are juggling across the court with real skill, and dealing with whatever comes their way with a grit and determination that would rival some of the top tennis players.

This week has been a bit of 'crunch time' in that it's the last week of their year, and everything is coming to a head. All last minute projects are being delivered and wrapped up, and the Operations Audit is now in full swing. I could feel the build up of apprehension in the office over the last few weeks and months, and now it feels like we are right at that moment before the cork pops from the fizzy bottle. I am really hoping for their sake that all will go well, and from the way I have seen them all work, I am pretty sure it will. I think they are all hoping for a release of pressure after this, and a bit of quiet time at the start of their new year, but whether there will ever really be any quiet time at this office I am really not sure!

So in my placement I've found it my duty to really support the team and help out as much as I can. I find myself doing all kinds of things, from organising flies of photographs of sponsored children and providing a laugh and a joke with the volunteers who come in and work way into the night to get children's letters ready to be sent to their sponsors, to being a sounding board for my colleagues frustrations and confusions and someone who can be here and keep things going when everyone else is pulled in too many other directions. As a result, I've really become part of the team and am just really hoping that this year will end well and their efforts will be both worthwhile and appreciated.

So in-between helping to write up the last minute reports, pulling together the last of the paperwork for spending of budgets, distributing all the GIK (Gifts in Kind) that have been cluttering up the offices the last few month, I just wanted to take a moment to write my blog and try to paint a picture of life inside this office of an International NGO, one of the most frantic but committed places I've ever found myself.

With love from Ghana,

Em

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