Praises in Peru

So, I got some wonderful news this morning. (I'm totally drinking my morning coffee when Trina, Mircha, Becca, Anna, Jee, and others are going to bed. Still surprises me.)

Background first: I don't talk much about my project on my blog because so much of it is interinstitutional and, therefore, inappropriate to broadcast to the cyberworld. However, now that phases 1 and 2 are finished, I can disclose some information.

Phase 1: The executive director of my organization and two of our staff members travelled to D.C. in early June for the Women Deliver 2010 Conference. However, the conference wasn't really the point of the trip. Susana wanted me to organize meetings with organizations that could become "collaborators" of Promsex. "Collaboration" can mean anything from technical support to joint projects to funding. I developed a phone script including information about Promsex and their desire to meet with orgs in D.C. and got on the phone for about three days. In the end, three meetings were scheduled (I think out of ten called). Success...so I was told. Really, I hadn't the slightest idea what success would look like. I just tried as hard as I could and hoped it would turn out well in the end.

Phase 2: Same job only this time I targeted orgs in Europe. ED Susana and George travelled to Europe about 2 and 1/2 weeks ago. They arrived home late last night. During this trip, they visited six countries (multiple cities in Spain). I arranged several meetings for them in each country. Again, no idea what success would look like. I just emailed, phoned, re-emailed, re-phoned, badgered those poor people in Madrid, Barcelona, Finland, Denmark, and The Netherlands (your going down on Sunday). I saw Susana this morning for the first time since she left. She gave me a huge hug and said that I had done an excellent job! Said that my work has been invaluable, and they will be always grateful for the connections that I helped them make. I can't tell you how relieved I was. She told me that one organization that they met with wants me to do the same work in their Indian office. I don't know about that, but I am extremely flattered!

Phase 3: Researching fundraising strategies. Only 3 weeks left so I'm going to have to bust my butt to get a complete document finished before I leave. I don't want to have to continue working on my deliverable in the States. Also, I'm going to visit the Amazon jungle then take a 4 day hike up to Machu Picchu after I'm finished. No thinking about my project then!