Goodbye grant writing

Posted by Ali

At work this afternoon I went over the latest proposal I'm working on with Rachel, one of our project coordinators who will be working on this project. It's been dubbed the Albino Student Tuition and Advocacy (ASTA) Project and will provide tuition support, textbooks, and school/personal/sun-protection items to the albino students at a nearby boarding school. It will also help to fund advocacy programs that the students will present to other local schools. Once Rachel looked over the proposal narrative, the budget, the M&E (monitoring and evaluation) Framework, the Gantt Chart, and the DIP (Detailed Implementation Plan) she came back to me and made a few final suggestions. I implemented her suggestions then looked all the documents over once more before attaching all five to an e-mail and sending it off to the appropriate contact at ADRA International. Once the e-mail sent, I breathed a sigh of relief that I had gotten it all done in time. And then I silently cheered because now I am finally FINISHED with grant writing!! I can't even tell you how excited I am to be moving into the public relations and storyteller role! (Although I think a small part of me might miss writing proposals. But, if I ever feel the need to work on one again in the next six months, I'm sure Simon won't mind some help:)

So, what's up next, you wonder? Tomorrow I'll ask Brendon (Max's son and the acting IT person at ADRA Tanzania) to show me how to edit our website. I'm looking forward to making some changes there and to getting the word our about what ADRA Tanzania is doing around the country!

PS - If you or anyone you know is interested in supporting ADRA Tanzania's projects, take a look at ADRA's Annual Gift Catalog. The proposal I just finished, for albino student support, as well as the one Simon just wrote, to give chickens to Women Orphan Caregivers, are included in the 2011 gift catalog. Please help us support those less fortunate this Christmas season!