Red Cross Blogs

My Desk and I

By Anna Carter
September 30, 2009 at 1:03 pm

I have been noticeable only by my absence in my office lately, a fact that was highlighted this morning when I arrived to be greeted with an “Oh, you ARE still alive then” by a colleague. This comment has prompted me to review my recent blogging activity only to realise that I may need to rekindle my relationship with the blogosphere. So here goes..,

I have spent very little time at my desk of late; although I can faithfully vouch for the fact that this does not mean that I have been shirking my Red Cross duties. Instead of being in the office, I have been training in Birmingham and across the south coast (you are never too old to stop learning), running humanitarian workshops in and around Southampton (thus putting my newly learnt skills into practice), mingling with freshers from local universities (that took me back…), introducing sixth form students in the New Forest to the wonders of emergency response and running sexual health workshops with the refugee groups.

But, I am not going to write about any of that. Instead I thought that I would share a few thoughts about my desk. My desk sits in a fairly central position on the upper floor in the Winnall office. On it sits my phone and my very lovely computer (which is frequently covered in post-it notes but other than that and the semi-functioning mouse is really quite normal) and underneath it is my unofficial storage area where I keep the props I need to run interactive sessions with young people; all very normal really.

Since my hiatus from the office, however, a transformation has taken place. My desk has completely disappeared. Where there was once a beautiful expanse of MDF stretching from the interesting filing system that only I can fathom to the telephone there is now only paper. Breathtakingly high mountains of paperwork have formed, obscuring the view of my monitor. Rolling foothills of post cover what was once (relatively) clear tracts of brown wood-effect desk space and a small herd of coffee cups appear to have taken up residence in the far corner. Which is odd, as I don’t drink coffee.

Whilst this is quite a spectacle, I am pretty sure that my suggestion that my desk has become a cross between a modern work of art and a stationary sanctuary in need of protection is not going to wash with other office users and my latest challenge will be to return my desk to its former state. Luckily for me, I have two new and very wonderful interns who may be called upon to assist in this process. The Red Cross internship programme is a fantastic way for young people to become involved in work for the organisation and gain an understanding of the inner workings of an organisation such as ours. Indeed, I was an intern with the Red Cross prior to being employed by them and I learnt a great deal about the practical realities of implementing programmes and engaging with young people effectively.

Fear not, my interns will be working on far more interesting projects than clearing my desk as I know first hand the benefits that can come from being given a project to work with. Both interns will be working on HIV related projects so watch this space for updates on their progress.

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Comments (4) »

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Tags: desk, emergency response, hampshire, humanitarian workshop, interns, internships, refugee services

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 1:03 pm and is filed under Health and social care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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