Introducing my adventure

So, this is my very first experience of blogging… I guess a good place to start is to introduce the author…

My name is Emma (or Robbo), I’m 26 years old, and am just starting a 12 month career break from my job as a Chartered Accountant in London.

I am off to Africa on Thursday to work with Partners in Health (PIH), a charity based in Rwinkwavu, Rwanda. PIH provides primary health care services to rural Rwandans, as well as works to alleviate the root causes of disease in local communities.

Many people have been surprised to hear that I am not off building hospitals or digging wells (although this is perhaps not such a surprise given my poorly defined guns…) Instead, I am hoping to use my professional skills to help improve the financial management and internal control systems of an NGO that has recently undergone significant expansion.

Having spent 4 and a half years as an auditor, reviewing financial systems and controls developed by others, I am eager to experience the other side, and to take on the challenge of actually implementing some practical processes that will help to support PIH’s operations.

I am really excited at the prospect of all the people I will encounter over the next year, and what I can learn from them (I hope this includes at least a little Kinyarwanda).

My biggest concern is not having the right knowledge or expertise to assist PIH. Given my track-record, holding on to all my belongings while I’m away is at least a minor worry too…

Following my 4 month placement with PIH, which I arranged through a British organisation called Accounting for International Development (AfID), I have an auditing assignment in Nairobi, and I am planning to return to the UK in June, lean and mean (and parasite-free), for a cycling trip around the UK with my dad. And then, who knows...