My legacy

My time at CoDeC is up!! So, what have I achieved? After a very slow first year, I think I did pretty well, and my final meeting with VSO and CoDeC confirmed this. I'm leaving behind an organisation which is more professional, confident and with better team spirit than when I started. Everyone participates in staff meetings and decisions in a professional way, and some good work practices which I modelled for the staff (punctuality, wearing a crash helmet, greeting/saying goodbye to colleagues when they arrive/leave the office) have been noted and are now the way things are done.

The old Executive Director, a good man, retired a month ago, leaving an opportunity for a new appointee to move CoDeC further forward and for the existing staff to take on more responsibility and to develop their skills. It would have been great if I could have stayed on a bit longer to help them through this management transition, but never mind.

Thanks to my efforts, CoDeC was successful in securing a range of project work during the last two years, to the benefit of the poor rural communities it serves. The office is a more comfortable and efficient place, with fans, chairs, desks, notice boards and now a clock and a picture which my parents and I gave as leaving gifts.
I'm sure I will be remembered most, though, for the five new networked computers and a seminar building which we plan to build on the CoDeC site, funded from money which I arranged through the German Embassy. The photo shows Savann signing the contract with the builder, with a picture of the building on the whiteboard behind. We don't bother with architect drawings here!

My VSO replacement will not be arriving until March next year, but I think that he or she will have a very rewarding time working at CoDeC. I am very sad to leave my CoDeC family, but hope to stay in touch in the future.