have an official representative structure of the NGO community but me didn’t and this other guy became kind of the defacto [leaders of the NGO network in northern Afghanistan]. So when I arrived in Darfur, there a more formal it’s structure. You have an NGO steering committee, an NGO forum, etc. Then the NGO steering committee members are in the humanitarian forum with the UN and the area security management team. So when I first got there, I think the first meeting I was at, one of the ladies on the NGO steering committee (after drilling me with questions for one hour) said, the next time we “Okay, do elections you need to run for NGO steering Peter. committee.” So I played a bigger role in Darfur then even in met with Afghanistan. I’ve Ban Ki-Moon, the ambassadors, the special envoys, and the top people coming from DPKO and New York and the OCHA people who come from New York. Everybody kind of knows now to talk to me when they come. Which gives me a chance to try to put some input into the madness which is the humanitarian work in Darfur. Peter. professional journey took him from the quiet backwater of social work in Peter’s Texas, to community development work in Andijon, Uzbekistan (an even remoter location) and eventually to becoming an influential INGO leader in Darfur. His experience of being invited to is the functional equivalent of an sit-at-the-table accomplished journeyman being invited to join a guild. In my case studies, master’s the invitations typically came from: International bodies (like UN organisations) Host governments Donors and partner organisations Programme beneficiaries Communities of Practice Colleagues These all served to validate the professional identity of international aid workers. I noticed that Peter and Mike volunteered the most extensive and diverse set of invitations. It made me wonder if invitations are not sit-at-the-table especially cherished and validating by those new to the profession and/or by those who do not have strong academic validation of their professional identity. From their comments, Peter and Mike esteemed invitations more highly than sit-at-the-table academic credentials as evidence of professional competence. They enjoyed a quiet satisfaction that came to them for help even though they had fewer academic experts
didn’t have an official representative structure of the NGO community but me and this other guy became kind of the defacto [leaders of the NGO network in northern Afghanistan]. So when I arrived in Darfur, there it’s a more formal structure. You have an NGO steering committee, an NGO forum, etc. Then the NGO steering committee members are in the humanitarian forum with the UN and the area security management team. So when I first got there, I think the first meeting I was at, one of the ladies on the NGO steering committee (after drilling me with questions for one hour) said, “Okay, the next time we do elections you need to run for NGO steering committee.” Peter. So I played a bigger role in Darfur then even in Afghanistan. I’ve met with Ban Ki-Moon, the ambassadors, the special envoys, and the top people coming from DPKO and New York and the OCHA people who come from New York. Everybody kind of knows now to talk to me when they come. Which gives me a chance to try to put some input into the madness which is the humanitarian work in Darfur. Peter. Peter’s professional journey took him from the quiet backwater of social work in Texas, to community development work in Andijon, Uzbekistan (an even remoter location) and eventually to becoming an influential INGO leader in Darfur. His experience of being invited to sit-at-the-table is the functional equivalent of an accomplished journeyman being invited to join a master’s guild. In my case studies, the invitations typically came from: International bodies (like UN organisations) Host governments Donors and partner organisations Programme beneficiaries Communities of Practice Colleagues These all served to validate the professional identity of international aid workers. I noticed that Peter and Mike volunteered the most extensive and diverse set of invitations. It made me wonder if sit-at-the-table invitations are not especially cherished and validating by those new to the profession and/or by those who do not have strong academic validation of their professional identity. From their comments, Peter and Mike esteemed sit-at-the-table invitations more highly than academic credentials as evidence of professional competence. They enjoyed a quiet satisfaction that experts came to them for help even though they had fewer academic