Why I Love Being a Program Officer

Being a Program Officer at Firelight Foundation is like no other job I have ever had. My daily life is consumed by coordinating multiple people, in multiple countries, across multiple continents; working with tireless people who have amazing talents in countries like Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia. Through the many phone calls, Skype calls, emails, and various online multi-media platforms that we regularly use, I am able to engage daily with the many grantee-partners that do the hard work I often wish I was doing--working directly with children, families, and communities to strengthen their ability to learn, thrive, and live healthy lives. The work that our grantee-partners do is amazing--and I love that I am able to play one small part in making that happen.

But it is days like this when I really love being a Program Officer—when all of the coordination and networking comes together and we are able to offer a fabulous opportunity for one of our grantee-partners. We are currently in the process of working with Women Thrive Worldwide to bring Juhudi Mbwambo, Executive Director and Founder of Elimu Community of Light, to the United States to speak at International Women's Day.

This will be Juhudi's first trip to the United States and the first time that he will have the opportunity to speak to an international community about his organization's work; which focuses on involving the community in Early Childhood Development initiatives that support girls’ education. Juhudi will be part of a panel discussion and will also have opportunities to meet with many other bilateral and multilateral funders working in international education.

As Juhudi (third from left in photo) states: "The trip is so HUGE"!

We wish you much luck Juhudi and cannot wait to hear about your adventures in DC later this year!

Read our previous blog posts about Elimu Community of Light:

Making a Child’s Education a Community Goal in Tanzania

It Takes a Community to Educate a Child

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