Rohini Jog- Reach Out, Kampala Uganda

My first impression is that Kampala is very green, very hilly … everything that has happened so far has left me with a happy warm fuzzy feeling ...’

A little over a year ago, a young woman from Mumbai started out on a journey that would change her life for ever. Rohini Jog had been working as head of business development with Kidstuff in India when she decided that it was time for change. She applied to volunteer with the iVolunteer Overseas (iVO) programme, a joint initiative of iVolunteer and VSO that offers a unique opportunity for qualified and experienced Indian professionals to share their skills with disadvantaged people in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Caribbean/Pacific regions.

Having successfully negotiated her way through a preliminary phone interview, a volunteer assessment day and a series of pre-departure training courses, Rohini accepted the challenge of a placement with a Ugandan NGO based in Kampala. She is now applying her years of managerial experience in India to her role as the manager of training and microfinance programmes with the ‘Reach Out’ Mbuya HIV/AIDS initiative – an NGO providing healthcare for some of the poorest and most vulnerable of Kampala’s population.

Reach Out is a relatively new organisation, launched in May 2001 by a medical doctor working in collaboration with a local religious leader, offering services to people living with HIV and AIDS irrespective of religion, tribe or gender. Since its inception, the programme has grown exponentially from a team of 3 volunteers serving 14 clients and now reaches out to 1200 clients through the support of around 120 volunteers. There has been a huge increase in demand, and consequently the scope of services has expanded too and this is where Rohini’s skills are most needed. Her experience of business development and revenue generation can contribute to the scaling up and sustainable management of Reach Out’s ‘Bread of Life’ microfinance programme. In return she will be gaining invaluable insights into another culture with different approaches and this self-learning will last a lifetime and influence her work when she returns to India .

It’s a challenge to step out of a lucrative career to become a global citizen, but then some one has to raise their hands to make a difference in the poorest and most vulnerable communities- says Rohini.