Penny in Brazil
Above is one of our account directors Penny, second from left. We sent her to Brazil just recently via TIE, an organisation that provides the opportunity for people in the communications industry to work on short term contracts with NGOs in developing countries. Here’s a note from her about her experiences:
In November I went to Recife, Brazil to work with Plan International, a
Non-Government Organisation, who specialise in promoting the rights of
children. The trip was a month long placement arranged by TIE and W+K
to help the NGO with their communications planning and implementation
for a local programme they are running on the outskirts of the city.
It was a bit daunting before I went: my lack of Portuguese, no other
English people, working with a new agency and a sense of wanting to do
something really great for the charity (and not let everyone down).
The charity hadn’t done a large amount of communications at a local
level (well, none at all really) so there was a lot to do, but they were
really receptive to starting something new. Working with the children
on the project was also an eye-opening experience, especially as I’m not
known for my love of kids… But, although they had never done anything
like this before, they were extremely creative, intelligent and
enthusiastic and really added to the planning of the communications.
Together we ended up recommending a film festival, which will run for a
week in February 2009, using the Children’s own films to promote Human
Rights topics and also raise awareness of Plan itself within the
community. They are also thinking of making it an annual event.
It was a hugely rewarding experience, I felt like I learnt a hell of a
lot living and working in a completely different environment. The best
news I had at the end of the placement was that Plan are now starting to
look at all of the project initiatives to see what communications
element they can add to each, which is fantastic.
