Looking forward.........

Hey peeps,

Hope you all had a good week. This week has been another hectic week for me. I was at a charity audit this week for an organisation called British Limbless Ex Service Men Association(BLESMA).

The organisation provides aid to ex service men e.g. chiropody treatment or various other treatments and support they or their families might need. Members are mainly ex service men from WW2. I wonder if Malaysia have something similar set up back home?

I have always been interested in working in charities and I've had more exposure in seeing how charities are set up since I started work here. When I was at uni, all I wanted to do was get a good degree and get a good high flying job which earned enough money. But as I grew older our priorities change. After I qualify (eventually!) I want to try to avoid going to the obvious routes many people I know have gone into i.e. investment banking. It just doesn't interest me and I know I would be pretty crap at the job because I have no interest in stocks and shares.

This may sound corny and perhaps a naive view but I want to make a difference in the world. People see accountants as people who merely prepare accounts ..it's worse for us auditors cuz most people think we just A.U.D.I.T (i.e. All U Do Is Tick)

I want to use the skills that I have into something more useful (yes! us auditors do more than tick and bash y'know! :p ) I would love to gain experience working for Voluntary Service Organisation ( V.S.O). If you haven't heard of the organisation before, it's a charity organisation but different from any other organisation. It doesn't just provide aid but it looks for experienced professionals from all areas i.e. doctors, engineers, accountants, scientists etc. Basically you volunteer yourself and in return you can participate in various projects around the world where your expertise are needed.

For example if a village in India want to set up a clinic in one of the rural areas, but do not have sufficient resources like a management to build and run the clinic. An organisation like V.S.O could help e.g. volunteer members who are doctors who can train local people to become nurses and doctors. Volunteer members who are engineers can provide expertise in terms of the logistics in building the clinic itself. Volunteer members who are accountants can train the local people to teach them basic bookeeping and basic rules of management in running a clinic.

The best thing out of this organisation is everyone has a part to play and by passing our knowledge we can help people. Knowledge is something precious because people can learn from themselves and hence will be able to help themselves in the long term development.

I hope that I will be able to get involved in these types of projects.....at least it's an incentive for me to keep my head down and pass this last ever paper!!

If any of you are interested in finding out more about the organisation just click on the VSO link in my blog.