THE NEXT STATION IS OVAL - Concluding Part

And of course, my stint with Wateraid was made all the more special with the fantastic colleagues I got to work with. In my role, I had the opportunity to work with colleagues across all our country programmes and Wateraid members. My travels meant that I could regularly meet them from time to time. And each time I met them or spent time with them, I was always struck by their passion, their energy and their optimism that change can and will happen.

 I cannot forget the animated discussion I witnessed among my Nigerian colleagues over dinner arguing passionately about sanitation policies or the East African colleagues discussing their annual plans and priorities during their morning and evening walks on the beach in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, or the fantastic 'programmatic approach' cake that the Malawian team baked with all enthusiasm during the Wateraid week, or the Bangladeshi colleagues pursuing every single opportunity to push boundaries for innovation and new funding. And whether it was the Sacosan in Kathmandu or Delhi, or the Africasan in Dakar or the Presidential water forum in Nigeria or the India WASH Summit, the manner in which our colleagues demonstrated political savvy to pursue our agenda of a higher priority for WASH was simply amazing ! 

Equally or even more amazing was how our teams put up a brave face in times of crisis - the Tsunami that affected parts of India and Bangladesh, the devastating floods in Pakistan during two subsequent years, the crippling Ebola crisis in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the Abuja bomb blast, the rebels capturing last parts of Mali, the constant insecurities faced by Pakistan,  the massive earthquake in Nepal ......all these and others tested the resolve and resilience of our teams all the time and yet, they remained so focussed and firm !

It was also great to see the huge leaps we had made on some critical challenges on the WASH sector - on sustainability, on equity and inclusion, on rights based approaches, on sector financing, on working with the health sector, on water and food security, on being more confident and collaborative in our advocacy work. 

None of this would have been possible had it not been for the unstinted support from the thousands of supporters - the general public, who stood by us through thick and thin, raising funds - by running, swimming, climbing mountains, crossing the sea, singing, dancing, jumping out of planes, wearing poo and camel costumes, signing petitions...the list can go on and on, with supporters as young as 5 and as old as 80 ! There have been volunteers some of whom having been us for over 3 decades ! And the trustees who, despite their very busy work and personal lives, always had the time for Wateraid ! 

There have been great fun times too - during summer and Xmas parties, the staff summer games, during regional management team meetings, the various birthday celebration (with cake), the singing and dancing with communities and amongst ourselves, the various drinks in the pubs, the dinners and the constant snacking (yes, I gained 10 kgs in 10 years !).

All this is just a snapshot of my amazing decade with Wateraid. I could go on and on, but this was not meant to be a narrative about my time in Wateraid - it was more about trying to articulate why Wateraid has been so special for me and why the past decade will rank as my most professionally satisfying, nay, enriching decade of my life !

The icing on the cake was the last 50 days of my life with Wateraid. I tendered my resignation on June 1, 2015 (coincidentally, it was on this day in 2005 that I took on my role as Director of International Progammes), and my last day was July 20. And while 50 days did seem a long time on June 1, there was a sense of finiteness to my time with Wateraid, which was enough to get me into a denial mode. And that proved to be very difficult. I was not prepared to be overwhelmed by a huge number of absolutely amazing and touching messages I received from all over the organisation, across all the countries we work in. The lunches, dinners and drinks that followed had a strong undercurrent of emotions that I found it difficult to express, yet was very acutely conscious of. Leaving an organisation after a decade was never going to be easy, but I never imagined it to be so difficult. 

I have been reflecting on what made it so difficult. It was most certainly the fantastic colleagues and the thought of leaving them, accentuated further with the wonderful messages and wishes that I received from them during my last 50 days. But it was also about walking away from all the privileges that I enjoyed and experienced, just because I was with Wateraid. And that is what I have tried to capture in my blog post - the privileges of being a Wateraid person !

I will forever miss Wateraid and I can only thank all those who make this wonderful organisation for having provided me with this opportunity !