Rethinking Work

It’s a classic job interview question: “If you didn’t have to work for a living, what kind of work would you do?”  Volunteering in the developing world last year gave me the chance to ask myself that question. The answer wasn’t exactly a surprise since I’ve known for a long time that I love my job. But it was gratifying to find that what I would choose to do is exactly what I already do – help organizations committed to making the world a better place get the word out about their efforts.

I spent a month in a remote corner of Mozambique as a pro bono communications consultant with a conservation and community development organization. The work was satisfying in large part because the staff at the Manda Wilderness Project were smart and dedicated. Despite the inevitable setbacks, they were accomplishing what they had set out to do. OK, OK. It was also stunningly beautiful there on the sandy shores of Lago Niassa, and snorkeling during off-hours with the brightly colored fish sure was fun.

Mostly, though, I was impressed with what the project has achieved in just a few years. In partnership with the villages it serves, it has built schools and a maternity clinic, established an organic teaching farm, set up a soccer league and a music festival, and worked in several other ways to improve the local people’s health, well-being and economic security. My job was to help the project’s leaders identify what they were already doing well in their communications efforts, suggest ways they could improve their fundraising and media relations practices, and develop a model news release and award application they could use after I left.     

Because, alas, I did have to leave. My time in the Manda Wilderness was a highlight of a sabbatical year that took me many places and taught me many things. But normally I do have to work for a living, and in December, I came home.

Now that I’m back on the job, I’m discovering that my attitude about work has shifted in subtle ways. I’m more aware than ever that I work hardest and most happily when I’m working for an effort I believe in. Collaborating with people who have their own clear sense of purpose energizes me. And having seen with my own eyes many vivid instances of human need in the world, I’m newly appreciative of those who dedicate themselves — however and wherever they do it — to addressing those needs.

Volunteering in Mozambique gave me the rare chance to do what I love just for the love of it. It was an adventure. It was fun. And it reaffirmed my commitment to telling the stories of good people doing good work in the world.