What do you do Nigel?

A question I hear from home and from many here as well.

And I suppose the trouble with all organizational roles is that no-one really realizes what you do until you stop doing it and things start to go wrong.

Inherently I have two roles here, one as normal volunteer and one as Volunteer/School Coordinator.

As normal volunteer I have started work again in a school and work 8-12 (more or less), Tuesday to Friday at Elba Zamora tutoring 2nd grade and generally trying to keep the peace.

The rest of my week is then taken up as Volunteer/Schools coordinator either in the office or out and about. The role came about last year when LEG went through a period of very rapid growth both in terms of volunteers (15 when I was here last year, approx. 40 now) and in donations received. As with any company, with growth comes much more responsibility and the need for more organization.

Once volunteers arrive after having corresponded beforehand with our Operations Director it is my responsibility to ensure their time is put to the best use. I assign the teams in which they are to work and every Monday I hold an orientation for new volunteers explaining what we do, what they will do, taking them out in the jeep to visit the projects (trying to avoid arrest!), giving basic training etc. Tuesdays evening I chair the team leaders meeting and am responsible for scheduling and reporting the goings on (in Spanish of course). I attend parent teacher meetings when I can to be the spokesperson of LEG (now better prepared with the knowledge I might have to address the room) and visit each school as often as I can to talk with the directors/teachers to see what’s going on and ensure our work with them is going to plan. A current project I have at the moment is to organize school trips for 100 second graders, 75 forth graders and 50 sixth graders and this being Nicaragua is taking a ridiculous amount of time. This morning (Sunday) at 9.00 I was meeting our child psychologist and a grade teacher of a troubled child to sort out with his parents what we can do with him.

I could go on but think you get the picture that each day is a little different and overall I am here to make sure things just run a bit smoother.

I hope it is the case.

And you know what, its shattering, but thankfully in a good way.