Ark Zimbabwe: For the next nine weeks I will be working is a pro-bono accountant with this NGO in Harare. They are starting a new maternal and neo-natal mortality reduction programme, involving clinical training programmes to improve local skills, and an education programme. I was recruited via their UK parent organization Ark (Absolute Return for Kids) to help out for approximately three months.
The initial scope of work is generically defined as Capacity building in Finance team. The original Ark Zimbabwe programme that ran from 2012 was coming to an end so the team was reduced to a skeleton staff. A bid for funding for a 5-year programme was successful and now they are now re-building.
A new Finance & Operations Manager and Finance Assistant both started very recently and have done a great job getting the reporting up to speed, but there is work to be done to establish robust grant recovery procedures and financial policies and procedures as quickly as possible. There is also a one-off task to finalize the work to establish the organisation as a local organisation, independent of Ark UK.
I am thrilled to be a small, short term member of this dynamic and dedicated team!
A Travelling Accountant 