Hiking and Harassment but Separate: Week 4
This week I onboarded two new interns, and managed one intern who was assigned to work with me on the training of trainer’s manual. I began updating templates and instructional documents for the manual as the intern assisting me found documents on the server. In a few days, together we were able to finish tracking down all of the documents from the hard copy manual. On the agenda to update include the fundraising structure country managers should follow, and financial compliance procedures for reporting to headquarters. I plan to update documents as I restructure the manual.
I also finished drafting IBJ’s new harassment policies and procedures, and drafted IBJ’s project proposal for TrustLaw, an organization connecting pro bono attorneys with NGOs. I wrote the updated harassment policy modeled off of the policies from Medair and the International Labour Organization. Both NGOs are headquartered in Switzerland, so I rest assured knowing their procedures are compliant with Swiss Law. The largest changes I made to fit IBJ were to add additional measures to protect victims of harassment during travel. I put in place remote reporting procedures, and change of travel arrangement options to give the ability of reporting immediately back to the victim even while traveling, and to lessen risk for IBJ. Knowing that how a policy is worded can dramatically change the experience of the victim, getting to write a policy that will protect the rights and options of the victim has been incredibly rewarding.
After working on travel procedures, I decided to do some travel of my own! I ventured out to the German speaking end of Switzerland to take my first solo hiking trip! I traveled to Lauterbrunnen, a quaint, picturesque town in the valley base of the Swiss Alps in the Jungfrau Region—think James Bond set locations. I stayed in a hostel for the first time, and listened to the chiming of dairy cow bells ringing while hiking a -purposefully- extended route of the Mountain View Trail. I hiked at least fifteen miles the first day of my holiday weekend, and the beauty of the surrounding mountains fueled my continued hiking. On my second day, I went inside a waterfall! You read that correctly, inside, seeing Trümmelbach Falls. I ate bratwurst all three days, and got to drink a beer with the Alps as my view. I would say mission accomplished, but that’s a different movie, right?
