So I’m just on lunch break for my first day at work! I’m at LUCIA (Life Uplifted by Change in Africa), a small Birmingham based charity that works with women and children in Ethiopia. I’ve been working with them for a while now doing fundraising, and I decided to do Charity Insights so that I could get more involved with the research and problem-solving skills that they do. You can find out more at http://www.luciacharity.org.uk/
So far I’ve had the usual introduction and health and safety talk, and discussed my project with my supervisor. Initially, I’m going to be looking at how to get funding for the grassroots projects that they’re looking at in Rural Ethiopia. Once we get some idea of how much money we have, we’re going to start investigating the products and solutions to problems that can be put in place to help a local school. We’re trying to make sure that they have adequate sanitation, for example.
This is obviously important because there are so many waterborne diseases that are prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. Once I can ensure that we have funding for the project, I’ll be doing some product analysis to find out exactly what’s in the market in Ethiopia and what the preferable solution will be.
But for now; I’m having a great time! Given the nice weather, we’re working outside reading through and analysing previous grant proposals and hoping to get funding for our ideas. I’m looking forward to discussing my research at the LUCIA stall at a county fair this weekend, so fingers crossed that the good weather continues!