DISENCHANTMENT

After 6 months fresh out of university, I am considering a career change.


To be honest, halfway through my Social Work degree, I discovered the wonders of "theatre" and only completed the degree as I had convinced myself that the discipline of finishing what you have started is indeed, a virtue. Now, with a degree I only half-heartedly completed (but still excelled at, mind you!) I am left wondering whether this was the best attitude to have taken.


That said, I have had some challenging experiences that I will not regret having had. They continue to inform my sense of ethics and how I relate to people in the world, striving for empathy and a practice of non-judgementalism.

How many actors-in-training can say that, I ask you?


The challenge I am confronted with now, however, is not so much a matter of adhering to ethics, or committing to my principles... it has more to do with the lack of financial stability that I am finding whilst working for organisations that I truly believe in.


I first came across the need for better financial management and better prioritising of fundraising in the 'community sector' when I did an internship for an organisation that campaigns for international aid justice.


A job opportunity came up for which I was a likely candidate, but knowing the difficult financial situation that the organisation was in, I declined. I thought that I would be put in a position where I needed to find funding for my own position whilst still expected to fulfill the other obligations of my role as one half of a very small campaigning team.


Picturing the stress and insecurity that such an arrangement would involve, I decided to avoid the unstable situation. In addition, I had seen the people who filled these roles leave as a result of feeling 'burnt-out' and 'over-worked'.


Sadly, I find myself in exactly such a situation now, whilst working for a different independent organisation. I work for an organisation that advocates and provides (to a limited extent) for the welfare of asylum seekers- a purpose I hold in high regard.

However, after scantly 3 months there, I have been told that the organisation's future is at risk, given its dire financial situation.

Why, oh why do all these organisations whose values I truly believe in, and whose work I know to be essential in making this country and indeed, the world, a better place (however small its contribution), why- do they keep dissolving into an unsustainable mess?