Holly, Honours Bachelor in Conflict Studies and Human Rights, Communications Officer at CECI, Federation of Woman Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal.
Having just finished my fourth week as an E-Volunteer for Centre d’Étude et Coopération Internationale (CECI), I feel as though I have finally found my groove. At the beginning of my mandate, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, I found it difficult to navigate the remote workspace, as I’m sure many can relate to, and I had a hard time finding the right balance between work and play as I am completing my mandate from my home. However, with the help of the staff at CECI as well as the FSS International Internship Coordinators here at the University of Ottawa, I finally feel as though I am immersed in the E-Volunteer experience, and that I am doing work I can feel truly proud of. The advice and guidance they have provided throughout this experience has been invaluable.
I am working with the Federation of Woman Entrepreneurs’ Association of Nepal (FWEAN), a close local-partner of CECI, whose main focus is empowering Nepalese women to begin their entrepreneurial journey by providing financial literacy education, by working toward poverty alleviation, and by helping women participate at all levels of the socio-economic sector. My official volunteer title is Communication Officer, which means I largely work with the FWEAN Communications Team in the various projects they have undertaken. I have been given a variety of tasks to complete throughout my mandate, and I would be happy to share just a few of them here to provide you with an idea of what my mandate entails! One of my tasks involves reviewing and editing the digital content the team develops to be posted on their social media accounts, ensuring it is clearly written, appealing, and fits with the FWEAN Branding Strategy which I am currently helping develop as well. Another one of my tasks which I am about to begin is the creation of a new FWEAN website with the help of the team’s IT Officer which I really look forward to! And, finally, another project I will be working on later in my mandate is helping the FWEAN team promote and facilitate the International Women’s Trade Expo which will occur online for the very first time this year.
One challenge that I’ve encountered thus far is working around the time difference between Nepal and where I am located, which means we occasionally have to schedule video conferences at irregular hours. However, this means my schedule at the day-to-day level is fairly flexible as I am principally working on my own time, which has helped me acquire organization and time-management skills that I would not have otherwise.
In spite of the challenge time zones pose, through the communications I have with FWEAN, I feel as though I am learning quite a lot about the culture and customs of Nepal, and I also feel strongly that this experience is enriching my education as a student specializing in Human Rights due to the particular focus of the organization on empowering women. I am able to put much of what I have learned through my program into practice, by integrating conflict and human rights concepts and methods into the work that I do and messaging I help produce. Thus far, I greatly appreciate this opportunity, and I cannot wait to visit Nepal one day!