The Big Announcement

After consulting on sustainability planning and organizational development over the past year, in November I applied for a FT position of Business Development Manager with an international organization doing economic development and post-conflict reconstruction work in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was an ordinary November morning in the little office I rented above Hastings Street in Vancouver for my small consulting practice. As my computer booted up I hunted around for the lights in the darkness. It was 5:30 a.m., and I had just arrived by skytrain from the farthest outpost in Surrey. As I settled into my inbox, an email caught my eye – a position with the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA - www.meda.org) managing a business development program focused on rural women and their families. MEDA is an association of compassionate North American business women and men who invest in the lives of families living in poverty around the world. The work was deeply appealing: to build the capacity of women farmers by linking them, in culturally appropriate ways, to more profitable market opportunities to help them gain higher household incomes.

About a week ago I was offered the position, and accepted. I am leaving for Kabul via Delhi, India on January 28th. The job is focused on helping to create and enhance business networks for women entrepreneurs in the horticultural sector. I'm excited and not a little nervous given the security situation in Afghanistan. More than anything, I am delighted at this opportunity to work on a worthy initiative in a country that is in serious need of resources and reconstruction.