On Wednesday, with a click of a mouse, I officially finished my work with the Local Community Foundation! The mouse click sent an email that contained our final report for the grant that took my organization to Ukraine to attend a personalized seminar about new fundraising methods. I think it was a very effective trip, as my director came back spouting information about 50/50 raffles, cold calling techniques, and sponsorships. I could have told her about these things, but it wouldn’t have the same effect as actually seeing these things in action. And besides, she got to spend a lot of time picking the brain of Yakov Rohalin, a man who in 2002 won the “best fundraiser in the world” award. He’s a pretty big deal. He’s got an interesting story, and you can read about him and the organization which my director visited (in English) here:
What will come of this trip…I do not know. It’s the beginning, but the implications could be huge for my organization in the coming years. I wish I could stick around to find out, but my time helping this organization is done. Perhaps the next volunteer can pick up where I left off.
I know I should feel really happy to have finished my primary work in Kazakhstan, as that was the main reason I spent 2 years of my life here. Having an opportunity to assist NGOs was the main reason I came to Kazakhstan in the first place, and now I’m officially done. I know I should be ecstatic, and proud. In reality, I just feel kind of numb. And mentally exhausted. Perhaps my mind hasn’t totally grasped everything; it hasn’t hit me yet.
So…I’m going to spend a couple of days hiking in the hills and small mountains above Almaty so I can get a closer look at this monstrosity, search for chili peppers to perfect my vegetarian chili recipe, and just sleep for a couple of days.
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