Maryah On the Cutting Edge

of Corporate Social Responsibility In Jordan

Mel picked up a March edition of Jordan Business, and I've been reading it over breakfast. I found an article related to this article by Nas of the Black Iris about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a movement I've recently become more and more aware of. This is the principle behind such organizations as the Ford Foundation or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the idea that corporations have a moral obligation to give back to the community, and moreover, that such "charitable" acts can actually improve their brand image and increase their market share. For example, by donating computer labs to schools all over Jordan, the Gates Foundation has assured that when Jordanians do buy computers, they are most likely to buy Windows (or pirate it, if it's only for personal use!), because that's what Jordanians are familiar with.

I recently learned from Sameh that Ruwwad, where I volunteer on Saturdays, was established by Aramex (the Arab version of Fed Ex). They are one of the organizations featured in the Jordan Business article. Although you surely noticed that I'm somewhat cynical about CSR, I also believe very strongly in Ruwwad's mission, and I can see clearly how it has improved life in Jabal Nathif. Whatever their motivations, Aramex is doing excellent work in the community. Besides, let's face it, corporations are inherently selfish, beholden to their stockholders and their profit margins, and unlikely to do anything that doesn't enhance their long-term profits and market share. I'm just pleased to see them thinking beyond the next fiscal year!

Also in the magazine article was Questscope, an amazing organization empowering Iraqi refugees and poor Jordanians to work to improve their own communities. I did some work with them a year ago, and was really excited about the possibility (ultimately unfulfilled) of maybe getting a contract for full-time work with them.

So there I was, delighted to find that I had serendipitously fallen in with two of the most progressive CSR programs in Jordan without even knowing it.

Freelance!

Amman, Jordan

I finished my first project for Questscope today, and it occured to me that I've unexpectedly gone freelance. I mean, I'd always read about being a freelance technical writer, and I'd given it sometimes glancing, sometimes semi-serious thought. It had always kind of scared me. I mean, for starters, your income is awfully unsteady as a freelancer. I know this well, with a father who's an entrepreneur, and a mother who's become a freelance artist. It was common dinnertime conversation.

Suddenly, however, I find that I am, at least temporarily, working freelance. And immediately I thought of my father. I think this is what he means when he says, "You have to be young and stupid to go to work for yourself!" Out of a job, in a foreign country, too stubborn to retreat to the comfort of Mom's kitchen, I'm taking a leap of faith.

It's not that much of a leap of faith, it's more of a trial period before the founder of Questscope comes back to Jordan and meets me. And the way a week of upset stomachs just melted away as soon as I got started on the first project tells me that I'm not really as scared of going freelance as my conscious brain thinks.

Options!

Amman, Jordan

On the recommendation of a new friend, I sent a blind query to Questscope, without knowing if they were looking for people or what kinds of positions they'd have to fill, but I found the work they were doing so exciting that I just had to get in touch. So Bob and I tweaked and tweaked the email last night over IM and email, and I sent it off last thing before I went to bed. I fully expected to be round-filed.

So this morning in my free period, my phone rings, unknown number. It's Questscope. The guy says, he'd love to know more about what my skills are. Well, if that's not a vague, hard to answer question, especially considering that he'd already seen my resume and email, and I thought I'd been pretty clear about what my skills were.... So then he asked what kind of job I was looking for, and I said I didn't know anything about the development sector, and was looking for some introductory admin kind of job that would help me learn the system. So he says he couldn't justify to his donors offering that kind of position to an American. But he said he'd let me in on a secret: the real money in the development sector is in writing. Well, I said, that's my best skill! So he said he's been working with Questscope since it was founded; the founder finds the donors and grants, and this guy manages and spends that money. He said they would have about 16 mos of work for someone who could write grant proposals, project proposals, project reports, etc. And he said he might be able to offer me more than I'm making at both of my jobs at once! And then he asked me if I could come and meet some project coordinators today!

I told him I couldn't make it today (I'm too sick and drugged up for it to be coherent at the moment, anyway), but have agreed to come Sunday or Monday after school.

He also said he's gotten lots of unsolicited resumes over email like mine, and occasionally he asks his secretary to write them a nice rejection note, but this is the first time he's actually gotten in touch with one of these hopefuls. I guess Bob wasn't just being a nice ex-boyfriend last night when he said he wished he had a job to offer me with such credentials, and that it was a pity it was so hard to fit all my great qualities into a readable cover letter! But I guess we managed to do just that between the two of us!

So, I'm not giving the American school my notice just yet, but it's so nice to know that I've got some options!