cameroon log

Money from the fickle Gods

The reality of raising funds in the jungle crests the horizon

Monday September 22, 2003

Today was a good work-day and a frustrating one; I’m sure a harbinger of things to come. The day started out well. I wrote some email to prospective donors, and friends. I had my first real work meeting with Charlie, and we went over the 3 month plan. It is pretty ambitious, and I am feeling (mostly self imposed) pressure to show some results. I also went over the overall list of things that I want to get done. I got a few emails back… all of which were pretty much along the lines of: that’s nice that you want money and equipment… we have some, but you are going to have to jump through some bureaucratic hoops to get it. Nothing really serious, but I know what is coming.
Chris, the former volunteer here filed out a request for a small grant through the VSO/British Council program to get computers for GECEC. It got accepted, but they won’t release the computers unless someone is here to transport the computers, and since he was leaving, the whole thing has now had to start back at the beginning… and then I found out that the fund is out of money for the year… so I have to wait until January to start the whole process again. Which means no computers until…oh maybe next September. For me to do my work (the list that Charlie and I worked on today) I need a printer, some paper, and ink. The whole thing would cost about 300$. I could get that money through one of the various funds out there, but it would take at least 6 months (my guess at this point). So that is going to be a big frustration for me. I am going to have to go to Yaoundé and spend some of my own money to be able to get my job done, which I don’t really mind. Mostly I’m annoyed at the needless wait, and the lack of coordination between the volunteer organizations, and the donor organizations. I mean how hard should it be to get a rapid deployment fund ready for each volunteer of around 500$ for quick cheap projects that could help with productivity in the short term. I really wonder what percentage of the money actually makes it all the way through the bureaucracy? All in the name of accountability probably.