Explore and Inovate with WVI

For thirteen years, Olga learned and grew with Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI). She made significant contributions to community development and disaster response work in Central Sulawesi and other areas like Asmat, Papua. During her time at WVI, Olga found inspiration for her own transformation in the changes she witnessed in children and communities. With WVI, Olga became a more exploratory and innovative individual. 

"A memorable transformation for me was about building the confidence to dare to try new things and step outside my comfort zone, and it's a process that's still ongoing within me," said the woman who currently serves as the Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Coordinator for WVI's operational offices in Central Sulawesi. Olga, who previously preferred working behind the scenes, eventually found herself a capable and perceptive field staff member. Her experience in the malnutrition disaster response in Asmat, Papua, became a turning point for Olga. 

"During my deployment in Asmat, I faced security and health risks, as well as significant changes in the context of my work. The disaster response in Asmat, with a very limited number of staff, forced me to go into the field to build partnerships and coordinate with various parties. Previously, I was always comfortable working with data in the office. Imagining the journey by speedboat through swamps and rivers to visit assisted districts made me fearful, but going through it actually became my most memorable experience," Olga recounted. 

As Olga chose to learn more exploratively, she saw how opportunities unfolded. One of Olga's greatest achievements was successfully leading an assessment process involving 42 local and national humanitarian organisations. Besides involving many institutions, this assessment was conducted during the 2021 earthquake disaster in West Sulawesi, which coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. "After successfully leading this process, I also had the opportunity to present the assessment results to the national and provincial governments – a significant achievement that was very meaningful to me personally and professionally," shared the woman who live in Palu, Central Sulawesi. 

Olga's entry point into the humanitarian world was data. Olga built her career as someone who understood the intricacies of monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of good practices in programmes implemented by WVI. Since joining as a staff member in 2012, Olga has concluded that working at WVI has crafted her skills in managing data as a tool for advocacy and a driver of change. 

"WVI helped me see another side of the humanitarian world, which is accountability. How we process data to then be accountable for it and report it to donors, the government, partners, and the community," she explained. 

Becoming a MEL Coordinator also allowed Olga to witness and document the transformations that children experience. The opportunity to discuss and hear children share the changes they have undergone is one of Olga's treasured experiences. On one occasion, Olga facilitated a focused discussion activity with children in one of WVI's assisted areas in Central Sulawesi. The discussion brought a personal reflection for Olga. 

"One of the children who participated in the discussion was very shy and quieter than her friends. When I gave her the chance to introduce herself, she demurred and asked her friend to introduce themselves instead. At that moment, I saw my former self. I reflected that the change in a child's self-confidence is very valuable to be shown in reports or impact stories from the field. Many significant changes in children begin precisely with the growth of self-confidence, when they dare to share who they are and what they have experienced," Olga said. 

Learning and growing with WVI has become a crucial stepping stone in Olga's life. For her, WVI is both a campus and a second family – a place not only for work but also one that opens up many opportunities for staff capacity development. The camaraderie among staff serving in the operational offices is also one of the good things that makes Olga feel at home at WVI. "The relationships between staff are not only limited to work targets but are also built on a foundation of care and mutual support, including with the families of the staff," she concluded. 

Author: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)