Not everyone would bring up their desire to take a year’s sabbatical leave at their job interview. But Mo Saber’s future employers at South West Trains accepted exactly that request when they offered her the position of Project Manager, based at London Waterloo. Today, the 31-year-old chartered civil engineer is half-way through a 10-month stint of voluntary work in Afghanistan.
“Someone with the committment and determination to spend a sabbatical in a hostile environment is just the sort of person we want working for South West Trains,” explains Akison Ingram, Major Projects Director. “They are likely to be a more effective Project Manager after the experience.”
Mo’s placement was arranged through the UK charity Tearfund, which has recently built two schools in the war-torn country and is currently involved in several water and irrigation projects. Her decision to work in Afghanistan was partly influenced by her knowledge of Farsi, which she learnt in Iran where she lived as a small child. Its strong similarity to Dari, one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, has enabled Mo to be a critical link between the local and expatriate staff. Her job is to help local staff with the planning, budgeting and the long-term sustainability of these programmes.
One of just three international staff among the 40 at the Tearfund compound, Mo’s working day starts at 0700, when the team meets to discuss plans for the day and to coordinate transport requirements for getting to the field sites and to meetings. The poor security situation means expatriate staff can only leave the compound in vehicles, and access to the surrounding villages is sporadic. Despite the problems, Tearfund staff remain optimistic and determined to provide help where it’s so desperately needed.
Mo has developed a close relationship with the local community and staff. Keen to see the real Afghan way of life, she dropped hints until she was invited to visit the homes of some of the local children. The local staff caught on. “Then there was a flurry of invites. Seeing just how little people have to live on was perhaps the most shocking aspect of being here. That and the scarcity of medical care.”
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