FIRST LESSONS LEARNED....

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Hi Readers, 

I am sad to announce I didn't get the scholarship, but I am still motivated by the research idea.  I will wait until I return to Australia to pick it up again as construction of the Anganwadi at Bondalawada is taking precedence as we move to the final weeks before completion! 

Today's post is a result of the firm I work for in Australia, MODE Design, asking me to provide some update for the internal staff newsletter.  It wasn't until I read the email aloud to my TAP colleague here I realised it should also be a blog post....

As you know, I started volunteering in late November 2018 and construction should finish on the 30th of April, 2019.  In that time we've conducted extensive community engagement, design consultation with the village teacher, and the children who are aged 0-6 in the community (mother's are alongside for those under 3).  We've produced a full set of documentation for tendering and are currently overseeing the construction of the building.  

So far, I have learned more than I can put into words but I will leave you with three dot points:

 1 - Do not get offended.  Do not make assumptions.  Do not overreact.  Doing so doesn't help - EVER.

(I have had a lot of time to reflect and look back with clear aspect on how we work in Australia and New Zealand.  And while we can whine, curse and yell, and express frustrations openly to each other because we are more free and it's more accepting to do so; however, it never helps the situation.  Here in India, I cannot react this way for many reasons, but in particular because I am a woman in a position of power, because it's culturally unacceptable, and because it could be misinterpreted and negatively affect my colleagues and the project.  This is the same in Australia but the repercussions are much more subtle and affect our team and our consultants and the project in different ways - however none are truly positive. )

2 - The only constant is change. 

(Here in India this is more true than I can put words to, but it applies to our work in Australia and New Zealand.  From one drawing or day to the next, I can arrive on site and have something built completely differently to how I envisioned it and guess what?  It's ok 9 times out of 10 and there are ways to work with the builder to still maintain an intended outcome it just takes a little problem solving. And learning to roll with the punches a bit more and be a bit less precious with the design has been enlightening, because what's most important on this project (and any project) is that it's safe, usable, and well received by the end users.)  

3 - Don't wait for the storm; stop it or redirect it before it hits.  

(There have been about 4 moments in the project where experience and foresight have mitigated a delay to the project and the project possibly turning for the worse.  While some of this comes with experience, what I would say is that if your gut or mind is telling you that you need to react and make some noise or query something - then you SHOULD!  While remembering number one....so be tactical, empathetic to the person you are speaking with, and be able to explain why from your perspective this is an issue for the project.  Don't let things lie because they can snowball or create a domino - and we've all seen it happen when we react too late or express something too late....it's too late.)

Below are a few images over the course of the project (not in order):




















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