Juggling Act

Back in SL Dunc and I are doing the juggle of career aspirations, life aspirations, location aspirations to name a few!

Given the contractual nature of this "industry" it seems fairly common for couples i.e. we've met several, to be apart for short or even long (often unsustainably) periods of time whilst they follow their career/ life goals. Regularly one individual finds a job in Afghanistan (for argument's sake) and leaves a partner behind somewhere whilst they try to find employment in the same location. Often the partner just tags along and picks something up when they arrive. Other times they are happy to be unemployed or volunteer. And some seem quite happy for their spouse to be off in some forsaken part of the world whilst they have access to the bank account in (delete as appropriate) New York/ Paris/ Geneva!

To me it's a human resources disaster and costs the organizations involved a fortune. The opportunity costs of an expert (take Watsan for example) leaving Sri Lanka mid-project, 'cos his missus hasn't been able to gain employment is astronomical. Often the replacement is recruited from overseas with a huge time-lag and in the interim, the existing staff have to "cover". Why no consultancy has worked out that there's a shadow market in "spousal" employment to mirror the work being done by the contracted employee is beyond me. And I am incredulous as to why these international organizations persist in shipping people around the globe for often ridiculously short periods of time, with no hand-over at beginning or end of projects/ contracts, only to do the same thing over and over again. What no doubt started as a way of maintaining flexibility for the organization now seems to serve the opposite function and hamstring them.

Of course there are financial implications on an individual level to all this, and if you've got a mortgage as big as ours, then even contemplating work in the development field is CRAZY. But that doesn't stop me as it's where I want to be. Poor old DY is left playing the role of the "sensible" one, trying to keep my feet on the ground (and not in the air on the way to Afghanistan etc etc) and a roof over our head. I of course would rather face the practicalities later (like when I'm 80) ..... but I write this safe in the knowledge that I do still have a roof over my head!

What a dilemma. So watch this space - we could end up anywhere, or nowhere, but rest assured one factor will remain constant, there'll always be dogs that need rescuing .....