Jume, have you heard of AfID? What? Aphid, as in green flies? Says I!

Imagine this... sitting round a campfire, somewhere in Waddi Rum, Jordan...

(and yes, it was the evening that I seriously sprained my ankle, but that is a different story)

... were 2 chartered accountants (Lauren and me) and one HR professional (CPD accredited, Maxine), replete, after a lovely Jordanian meal cooked the traditional way, eaten round the fire, under the stars AND the full moon...

The conversation went something like this:
BC 1 (BC = Bean Counter): I really want to do something different, something worthwhile but that's fun at the same time.
HH (HH = Head Hunter):What type of things are you interested in?
BC 1 = Dunno, just something more than just work to live!
HH: There are plenty organisations who would welcome your skills; just have a look around. When you see what you want to be involved with, just write to them.
BC 2: Have you heard of aphid (that is what I thought was said).
BC 1: green flies - what do you mean?  (I thought she might have mistaken mosquitoes for aphids!)
BC 2: No, you idiot! A-f-I-D.
BC 1: What the heck is that?
BC 2: Accounting for International Development.

(You have to understand that by this time, after a jeep ride / race across the desert, yelling, giggling, yodelling at the top of our voices; watching the sun set and the moon rise, it is very surprising how one very small beer can be oh so... intoxicating! (And if you believe that it was just one small beer, you are unbelievably gullible!)
 
BC 1: oh, I see. What do they do?

.... I leave it to your imagination as to how the rest of the conversation went...

The next morning, while waiting for the camels to come and fetch us for a ride, one of us got out the device (I will not say who was sad enough to do this) and googled "AfID" in the middle of a Jordanian desert!...

We got back to the UK on Sunday 31 March. By midnight that day, I had subscribed to AfID e newsletter. By 2nd April, I was committed to attend an AfID workshop in London on 3 May! The workshop was called: "Development Workshop: Building Capacity through Financial Management"

Check out

 www.AfID.org.uk