International organizations are probably what I
would be most keen to pursue for a career after my current role as director of
a nursery school. I find that the impact these organizations make on childhood
is on such a large scale, that it must surely be intensely rewarding. At the
same time, the risk of seeing massive suffering is much higher and that can be
quite devastating.
The three organizations that I would pursue would be
the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the World
Health Organization (WHO) and Save The Children. All three fund and organize
efforts to impact the lives and well-being of children all over the world. Most
of their efforts are for basic needs such as clean water, immunizations,
shelter, food, protection and education. It has always been a passion of mine
to work for children’s rights, at a large scale, so that I can help in reducing
some of the suffering around the world.
At UNICEF, they have listings under their job
seekers section, and they are very diverse as well as scattered around the
world. I can see that my Arabic language skills could be quite useful for the
projects in Syria, but I am not one to take risks by going to a country at war.
Similarly, the vacancy in Jordan considers Arab speakers an asset. It seems
that I could meet most of the qualifications required for any of those
positions. I think someday, I will contact UNICEF and see where I can help out,
as a volunteer or an employee.
At the WHO, it would be my previous career that
would be more suited to most of the job vacancies, but I would love to someday
combine the two careers and work for a large organization as such. I studied
and worked as a pharmacist for almost ten years, and so I would qualify for the
antimicrobial resistance consultant (pharmaceutical). However, I would have
been more interested in a campaign to immunize children in under-privileged
countries, but there was no such vacancy.
At Save the Children, there were numerous vacancies
listed, and many in Arabic speaking nations, but none were really of interest
to me, and many that I looked at required qualifications different from mine.
Regardless, I could see myself someday contacting them to simply volunteer in
any capacity they could see useful.
I would like to share the webpage of two
organizations that I have helped fund raise for, in order to improve the lives
of children. One of them helps build schools and nurseries in Nepal, and the
other houses and cares for under privileged children in Lebanon. This is
probably the type of hands on global work that I hope to someday pursue.
Zeina,
ReplyDeleteI admire your passion for wanting to help out young children and their families on an international level. We both chose Save the Children as an organization we are interested in. I had never heard of them before.
One thing that stood out to me was your former career as a pharmacist. If you don't mind me asking, what made you switch to ECE?
I applaud your interest in these organizations. Once upon a time, before marriage and children, I would have hopped on a plane to join the fight for the greater good all over the world. UNICEF would likely have been my first choice. I would love to work with breastfeeding mothers all over the world especially in countries where formula was introduced and thus began the spread of water born disease to newborns. THanks for the insight and for your work in early childhood!
ReplyDeleteZeina,
ReplyDeleteI would have never guessed that you had been a pharmacist with the passion that you display about the early childhood field. I found this week’s blog assignment to be very educational It amazes me how many international organizations are working to ensure a better place for children. I think it is wonderful that you would like to contact Save the Children and work as a volunteer, even though they do not have any jobs that are of interest to you. You are definitely an asset to the early childhood field and I hope that you get the opportunity to work for a large organization one day
Randee
Hi Zeina,
ReplyDeleteGreat post for this week’s blog assignment. I have had an interest in UNICEF and Save the Children for many years. I liked your interest in bringing your previous experience with medicine together with early childhood advocacy. My oldest daughter has recently looked into volunteering in Nepal with an early childhood program for one of her semesters in collage. I will have to share the opportunity you posted with her.
I have also reviewed vacancies with UNICEF, WHO, and Save the Children and found that I am not an adequate match for any of their position. Even after completing this program I find myself in a dilemma of not being able to find a position of interest that matches my credential. On the other hand, what I qualify for in experience and education is not of interest to me. From this week's examination of international organizations, I have come to the conclusion that I have little to no interest in international organization as a place of employment.
ReplyDelete