Taking your career outside the square: from cosmopolitan

Melbourne to the tropical islands of Samoa

Susanne Newton

Australian Youth Ambassador

A taste of Samoa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYM72hUUkzU

What is AYAD?

• A government funded program sending 400 skilled volunteers a year to developing nations in Asia, the Pacific and Africa for short term programs of 3-12 months.

• The aim is to make a positive contribution to development and strengthen mutual understanding by building the capacity of local people through skills transferring.

Samoa

• A group of islands in the South Pacific, halfway between Australia and Hawaii

• Population of 200,000, mainly Polynesians

• 100,000 more Samoans in New Zealand, 40,000 in Australia

• Tropical climate

• First Pacific Island to gain independence

• Homeplace of Robert Louis Stevenson

My role

• Library Management Officer at the National University of Samoa

• 12 month position

• Sent to Samoa with five other AYADs – a permaculture officer (organic farming), a cricket development officer, a small business development officer, a graphic designer, and a lab technician

Libraries in Samoa

• One dated public library with two branches serves the population of 200,000 Samoans.

• Most libraries still rely on a card catalogue and a print-based collection

• Problem of collections derived largely from donations – old and irrelevant material

• Major lack of funding and trained staff

Libraries in Samoa

• Approximately five ‘bookshops’ in Samoa, mainly selling stationary and religious texts

• Books very expensive – 80 tala ($40AU) when the minimum wage is 2 tala per hour ($1AU)

• Humidity!• Books seen as precious commodities and

are not easily accessed

Nightmare!

My assignment aims:

• Market the new law collection

• Liaise with the Australian Attorney General’s Department Library, who donated the law collection through the Pacific Law Library Twinning Program

• Review Library policies and procedures

• Develop Library management policies

The assignment aims:

• Educate library users in IT and using the collection

• Undertake reference and research enquiries for academics and researchers

• Train staff

Plus all the other stuff:

• Lecturing 40+ young Samoans

• Being on the Library Association of Samoa

• Running National Library Week

• Dealing with masses of irrelevant material

• Insect-ridden material – termites, giant African snails

• The Samoan tsunami aftermath

Achievements : Library Week

• National Library Week through the Library Association of Samoa– Short story competition– Literary high tea– Parade through town– Costume competition for best dressed book

character – Movie nights

Achievements: Lecturing

• Lectured on a course teaching 40 young Samoans to work in school libraries

• Basic skills such as being professional, customer service, filing, cataloguing, recommending books

• Hindered by lack of organisation and money

Achievements: Law Library Twinning Program

• Well run program matching an Australian Law Library with a Pacific Law Library

• Australian Library provides books, support, training

• First meet up of all Pacific Participants in Vanuatu in May 2009

Achievements: Post-tsunami recovery

• Samoan tsunami hit on September 29, killing over 150, affecting everyone in Samoa in some way

• Hit the beautiful south side of the island

• Apia, the main town, is on the north side of the island and was not affected by the tsunami

Challenges

• The tsunami. Information management skills were useful to the Red Cross

• Being a young skilled female in a hierarchical environment with different cultural mores

• Dealing with workplace bullying and resistance to change

• Humidity; resistance to weeding when relying on donations

Challenges

• Technological limitations and frustrations

• ‘Island time’, the slow pace of work, the fact that it is often easier to do things yourself then capacity build

• Lack of formal training opportunities

• Lack of money and resources

• Lack of motivation

• Outdated attitudes about libraries

The best parts

• Getting to know enthusiastic library workers doing their best with few resources and little to no training

• Working with my all-Samoan staff at NUS

• Being able to use my library skills to aid development

• Seeing a different culture and changing my world view of what is/isn’t important

Creating lasting change? Is the experience rewarding?

This is difficult to answer!

Yes and No

To be an overseas library volunteer

• Expect the unexpected

• Don’t expect anything to be like it is at home

• Build a support network around you – this is the number one way I got through the hard times last year

• Know that there’s only so much you can do in a year

To be an overseas volunteer

• You have the ability to affect change

• Adaptability

• Flexibility

• Negotiating with others

• Library and technological skills

• Being able to adapt to a new place and new culture

Considering applying?

• Great for newgrads – Both Romany and I were straight out of library school

• Good for young people, as there are other people your age volunteering as AYADs and Peace Corps; could be harder as an older volunteer when other foreigners are often ex-pats with a good deal of money

Why do it? What will you get out of it?

• Challenge yourself and push yourself

• Professional development

• Facing all different challenges makes you discover you can do anything!

• Life experience

• Help others who need it

Why not do it? Why it can be hard

• There can be major frustrations • The gap between the AYAD rhetoric of ‘you can

change the world’ and the realities of the difficulties of development

• One year is short; you are temporary • You won’t always have access to technology• It’s a huge life change, and as I’m finding,

coming back is as hard as going • Supply and demand / different cultural needs

Links

• AYAD: Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development www.ayad.com.au

• VIDA: Volunteering for International Development from Australia www.vidavolunteers.com.au

• AVI: Australian Volunteers International www.australianvolunteers.com

• ABV: Australian Business Volunteers www.abv.org.au

Conclusion

• Volunteering as a librarian overseas in development is amazing, challenging, difficult, life-changing, and good for your professional development.

• If you get the chance, take it.

Thankyou

susannenewton@hotmail.com