The BVSc opens up a diverse array of exciting careers
By Pamela White - BVSc 1984
Pamela White is currently employed as a project director, and coordinator of the Environment and Rural Development Group at FCG International Ltd, based in Finland. We caught up with her recently to find out a bit more about her exciting career and life in Finland.
“I’m afraid I’m a great disappointment to Professor Blood, having veered away from the straight and narrow of veterinary work! On leaving veterinary school my main career goal was to be a ‘gun equine surgeon’, but I scarcely touch a horse these days. I do still use my veterinary training to some extent, and it was important as a route for me to get into the career I’m in today.
“I’m currently employed by a private company specialising in international development projects (or to put it more crudely, aid work), with financing from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, the European Commission, and the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank. We work in a wide variety of areas, including rural development, environmental management, water and sanitation, forestry, education, health, IT, small and medium enterprise development, and social sectors.
“A typical day varies a lot, depending on what country I’m in. In Helsinki I work on project management, mainly administrative issues, dealing with advisers working in the field in developing countries and the clients – both the financiers and the local governments. My other main task in Helsinki is to work on tenders, to try to win more assignments. This part of the work is stressful as you inevitably lose more than you win. On the other hand it stretches your intellect, I have written tenders on subjects as varied as human blood transfusion, sustainable forest management and Information Technology management.
“The other part of my work involves carrying out assignments myself, be they desk studies in Helsinki or fieldwork in developing countries. This is perhaps the most stressful but also the most rewarding part of the job, as I’m learning all the time. I also travel to support projects that are underway.
“Some of the fieldwork I do might involve animal health issues. For instance in a dairy cattle project in Kenya, I was training veterinary assistants and developing an animal health extension manual. In other cases I have been evaluating projects, for instance a sexual and reproductive health project for women in Nicaragua; or collecting and disseminating the stories of farmers supported by our rural development program in Vietnam; and working to establish a participatory monitoring and evaluation system with herders and rural dwellers in Mongolia (and drinking lots of fermented mare’s milk!).
“There are many aspects of the job that I love, particularly leaving Helsinki in late November, in the dark and sleet, to travel to the Solomon Islands and travel around in a small boat visiting project sites on tropical islands.
“However what is really rewarding is that I feel I am ‘doing good’ and helping people develop their own lives and expand their opportunities. I also enjoy the fact that my job is so varied, I do something different almost every day and am constantly challenged. I have been able to travel a lot and to get to know many different cultures. I don’t get to see many tourist sites, but I get a unique perspective to local lives.”
Contact: Andrea Jones
Phone: 8344 7844