Week 1: Official Entry No. 1

Karina Kirstie Paola Ayco
Habitat for Humanity International

I'll be working in the regional office of Habitat for Humanity International here in Bangkok, Thailand. Habitat for Humanity International was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller. It is a non-profit international organization that is dedicated to building affordable houses to those in need. But what makes this different is that the concept is "partnership housing" where homeowners work hand in hand with volunteers to build simple and affordable houses. It currently has build sites and offices the world over including Bratislava. Our office, being the regional office for Asia-Pacific, is composed of an international staff --- American, Canadian, Mexican, Filipino, Pakistani, Indian, European etc.

I. Tasks accomplished during the week
- Used Microsoft Excel to create the databases that we will use next week as we collate all the data from volunteer evaluation surveys answered by Habitat build volunteers.
- These databases are important for us to collate the date efficiently so that the data can be analyzed later on in order to find the strong and weak points of the volunteer programs and the areas for improvement of each country and for the entire volunteer program as a whole.

II. Problems and challenges encountered
- I only have basic Excel skills so I had to ask help on how to go about creating the databases.
- I didn’t have an idea on how to go about creating the database based on the evaluation forms sent by our boss.
- From this experience I realized that I need to learn more than basic excel and that I need to brush up on other Microsoft office skills that can be helpful in the workplace.

III. Knowledge applied
- Really basic excel skills
- Analytical skills on how to go about with creating and designing the database.

IV. General comments and suggestions
- Provided that we haven’t really be in the office yet because official work starts Monday (because the staff have a conference this week) I’d have to say that it was a good idea to have take-home work done since we can actually do the database at home. So we didn’t waste any time.
- I learned that when you are confused and don’t know what to do, never hesitate to ask for help. Hahaha.
- I’m actually looking forward to next week when the real work in the office starts.

The Premise

Here's the premise for everything I'll be writing here.

I am in Thailand for my OJT. I will be working for Habitat for Humanity International.

And work starts on April 28 upon the request of our boss.

Once it starts, I'll blog some more.