Having read the underlying dimensions, key responsibilities, skills and competencies for the vacancy of programme officer in your organization, I am convinced that I am the rightful candidate because of the reasons stated below.
To begin with, the importance of an integrated-approach in development progammes by all partners needs no special emphasis to me. I credited the significance in the courses I studied and the numerous researches I did during my four-year study. Through courses such as Local Government and Public Sector Reform, I was equipped with the relevant information to acknowledge the importance. For instance, among other things, I came to know how development projects end up in patches when development partners pursue a disjointed-approach, because it leads to a duplication of individual partner projects. I also discovered the problem of lack of sustainability of projects when recipients are not involved in their identification, implementation and evaluation, because of compromised sense of ownership.
All this, cupped with the lengthy research exercises I carried out in rural communities for my assignments, especially the one I did in my final year in the Zomba-Likangala Constituency for a project paper entitled Decentralization and Community Development in Malawi: a Critical Assessment of MASAF and for my dissertation entitled Democracy and Development in Malawi: the Impacts of Patrimonialism, I know that I am well exposed to the insight on how to tackle issues of rural poverty and improving livelihoods.
Now, a smooth external transaction of programmes certainly needs internal team-work, an area I am also well equipped to effectively deliver. Thoroughly outfitted through courses such as Interpersonal Dynamics and Organizational Communication and Organizational Behavior I know that I am an asset. I ably demonstrated this by satisfactorily meeting my targets when I worked for the Standard Bank in the project: Know Your Customer and Money Laundering Control, a project that literally needed team effort to succeed. Through necessary consultations from my advisors and other staff members, opportunities for improvements were discovered; problem areas were unveiled and brought forward for remedial action. This was possible by, among others, providing regular reports and updates, providing suggestions, and actively participating in the meetings on the development of the project.
However, of paramount importance is that only health people carry out development programmes, hence the relevance of issues of HIV and AIDS. I believe I have the necessary technical-know-how to tackle this issue as well. How so? Through courses such as Organizational Psychology and Organizational Change and Health Psychology I was well supplied with the facts about HIV and AIDS. Not only that. With the information I got from the Life Skills and Why Wait Seminars I attended at Chancellor College, and from the literature I read for my paper entitled The Importance of VCT in the Fight against HIV and AIDS, I know that I have the required potency not to disappoint. Through these exercises, for instance, I now know how HIV and AIDS has undermined and still undermines the development and resources gains formerly made in human and social development fields like life expectancy, health and education. But of particular importance was the discovery that women blatantly suffer more from the effects of the pandemic. For instance, because of the over-dependence of women on men economically, dying husbands live poor and destitute women who are driven towards high risk, unprotected sex activities where there are no viable economic activities. Often girls have also been forced out of school when it came to choosing educating between a boy-child and a girl-child because customarily boys are regarded as future bread-winners.
This brings the issue of gender, empowerment and rights squarely into the veins of development components. On this I also have the needed knowledge. I learned in great detail about gender and feminism, women empowerment, human rights, and property and user rights in courses like Political Science, hence I can ably handle these gender, empowerment and rights issues.
Furthermore, I have a result-minded approach to every work I do. This has made me to willingly work beyond working hours. I also have sound analytical and theoretical skills, initiative for sound judgment, an open-minded perception of things, non-directive styles of working, ability to work largely unsupervised, ability to work plans independently, and ability to bring needful changes. I demonstrated this when I worked as a teacher at Mount Olive Private Schools (2001), at the Blantyre City Assembly, as an Assistant Human Resources Manager (January-March: 2004 and 2005), as supervisor for the researches for Dr Kazembe of Chancellor College (November, 2004) and Mr. Tchereni of the Polytechnic (March, 2008), and for the Standard Bank (June-December, 2007). Having also been drilled in skills of communication, listening, presentation, budgeting, and change initiatives through courses like Language for Communication and Organizational Psychology Organizational Change, I have been able and still do show willingness to cooperate with and mobilize a wide variety of people, excellence in listening, presentation and negotiation skills, and also emotional stability, sensitivity and patience. I showed all these in various responsibilities I was entrusted with. For example, I competently demonstrated these when I was a Kanjedza Hall of Residence representative (2005-2006). In 2006 I was also chosen to represent and negotiate for 162 students who did not receive their book and stationery allowance for failing to fulfill certain conditions.
All these qualities and skills are in addition to my personal attributes of being a hard-worker, self-disciplined, self-motivated, fast-learner, self-starter, a passion for traveling, and commitment to the task at hand.
My articles have also appeared on the My Turn and Bwalo columns in the Nation and Weekend Nation newspapers respectively. These and the many assignment papers I wrote and presented during my study just show how ably I am in the writing skills. Lastly, I am a person of natural sense of humor, a thing that has enabled me to see humor not by appointment.
With these sentiments I believe I am that rightful candidate you are looking for. The referees mentioned on the curriculum vitae can testify of me.
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