New Blogger!

After reading through some of Nick Johnson’s blogs from July I knew that I had some big shoes to fill. Witty and informative, what a combo! I had the pleasure of meeting him whilst I was interning on the floor below at The Order of St John International Office. He quickly became my favourite lunch time buddy and since his departure we have somehow ended up doing a bit of karaoke together. I can report that he is really enjoying his new job of entertaining the pre-sessional international students at the university. He will however be back for an intern’s trip to the London Dungeon. So watch this space…

Ok so a bit about me, I have just graduated from the University of Southampton in Politics and International Relations. I have been working at the St John International office for the last five weeks and I will be interning at the St John Eye Hospital office for the next month. I became interested in the charity and non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector since taking a trip to South-East Asia prior to attending university. There I was able to get involved with some NGO projects in schools and in orphanages.

My first day at the eye hospital office has been spent getting to grips with a new side of St John. My first day involved chatting to members of the team including Geof and Nicky who gave me an idea of their role within the organisation and also more general information about the eye hospital. Later on in the day I had a meeting with Alina who is also an intern at the office. The ‘meeting’ was more of a chat in Paul’s bakery over some coffee and amazing fruit cake!

On Tuesday I embarked on my first task of helping set up the Google advertising campaign. I hope that this will be a powerful tool to raise the profile of the organisation. I have to admit that I did not know an awful lot about the organisation before beginning my first internship. Working at the International Office I began to develop a greater understanding of one of the world’s oldest charities. I found that it is a quirky organisation steeped in a rich history which even has its own museum. Although I was developing my knowledge of The Order, I still wasn’t very sure why there was a need for an eye hospital and in the Palestinian region in particular. Working on the Google project I am beginning to understand the need for eye care in the region.  For blindness in this this region is ten times higher than in developed countries. What seems to be most compelling is the contention that many of the eye care problems in the region are preventable and treatable and so the eye hospital services are instrumental in these endeavours.

Akin to Nick I shall also be attempting to find a celebrity ambassador for the eye hospital. I did have to giggle to myself when I typed the letter H into my Google toolbar and then ‘Halle Berry diabetes’ came up as the last search (Nick of course). I will however be looking more in the Eric Bana direction…now to find a tenuous connection….

Well that’s enough for the first part of the week…. x

Day after the third…fourth?

Today something happened. Well obviously, stuff always happens but I’m attempting a dramatic opener. Sure it’s not working very well but hey what can you do? Besides write a dramatic opener of course. Anyway. Today is the day that the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital strode with purpose and poise into the world of Twitter. Oh yeah. Not only do we have a website, Facebook, some flyers around somewhere, a YouTube channel, we can now gleefully add the webternet’s best 160 character max status updater to our forms of communication. We’re all over this new-fangled social media thing like a dropped bottle of red on the carpet. Pretty much every method of reaching out to you beautiful people is being taken care of. Apart from Morse code but then that’s a bleeping palaver to deal with anyway. Oh and smoke signals. Maybe before the smoking ban we could have tried it but now? Don’t make like an elephant- forget it. (Apologies for stealing a joke from the Young Ones. Vyv would absolutely batter me.)

It might be because I’m twenty years old that the team here assume I’m achingly hip, in touch with the developing technology of the 21^st Century and generally ‘down’ with this kind of thing. I’m really not- look what I had to put into quotation marks in the last sentence. Philosophy doesn’t prepare you for the latest software innovations. My housemates know I’ve just about mastered the kettle but anything more complex than the oven baffles me and ignites impotent chimp-like rage. Even the oven’s caused me problems. It didn’t occur to me one time that the pizza was better out of its cardboard box when being reheated. Seriously.

Still, blissfully unaware of my technological shortcomings, the team believed I could be the guy to put the charity on Twitter. I guess it’s fair enough when you consider foetuses hurtle of the womb and let the world know on Facebook. So I battled and fumbled with the website, fully expecting it to be an uphill struggle of Sisyphus proportions. Imagine my surprise when it wasn’t too bad. True, so far we’ve caused a ripple on Twitter so small it stretches the definition like a sweater on Katie Price. Then again, three followers isn’t such a bad start for the first day right?

Twitter was one of the jobs I had in the afternoon, though it does seem odd to consider it work. Earlier in the day I was given a great induction of the International Office of St John’s by Gemma from the office below. She didn’t work for the Eye Hospital bit but had more to do with the other parts of the St John’s charity. There are thirty three independent associations of St John’s in places all over the world ranging from Wales to Papua New Guinea. Gemma herself has worked extensively in the Caribbean and many more places besides. It was fantastic to hear about her travels and the real positive differences made. Apparently, there’s another Southampton intern joining her office on Monday so there’s going to be two Soton students runnig amok around the offices at Charterhouse Mews. You’ve got to pity them.

Moving on, I started my great project for the internship today, a marketing strategy for the Hospital. It’s going to be lengthy and look hopefully rather official with graphs and flowcharts and stuff. If I can fit in a pie chart somewhere too that’d be awesome. There was a sweet cartoon in yesterday’s Metro detailing what marketing is all about. Underneath a marketing sign was the slogan ‘Honesty is the next best policy’. Nice. But I’m treating the strategy like I treat any other piece of work from my degree. However, instead of using big words and scattering them about pretending to know what they mean, I’ll be actually using big words and scattering them about knowing what they mean. That’s the plan.

Right, you’ll be glad to hear we’re almost at the end of the daily blog. Last day of my first week tomorrow, with a team meeting to boot, so it’ll be pretty busy. Best prepare now, don’t think I’ll be able to wing it like my semin…nothing else I do in my life. Speak to you soon.

Nick

The attempt to atone

In a spirited, yet probably doomed, attempt to make up for yesterday’s late showing here is the blog for day three of my internship. My last entry was certainly no where near hot off the press; this one hopefully achieves a lukewarm temperature. I really don’t want to talk too much (i.e. at all) about how these bumbling efforts are written: a) because people who try to explain how they write/ perform/ paint usually dribble phrases like ‘I explored my inner darkness and synthesized that with the inspirations of 11^th century neo-Kantian post-modernism’ out of their mouths and b) to talk about writing a blog in a blog gets way too meta even for a philosophy student like myself. But it does help bump up the word count.

Today I grappled with the Raiser’s Edge database. Raiser’s Edge is probably the most popular database aimed at serving charities and stores data on pretty much everything to do with fundraising. Dom, kindly and incredibly patiently (almost to a fault-I think soil would have grasped the spreadsheets quicker than me) lead me by the hand into the world of Raiser’s Edge. All of the records of the St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital are stored in it so it was pretty crucial to tread carefully. Thankfully, Dom was a good teacher and so, eventually, I was changing records and registering donations like a machine. Albeit a cack-handed, infuriatingly slow one.

The pace did pick up though the more I practised and the software is pretty user-friendly. My degree rarely makes use of databases, or numbers for that matter, but repeated use really hammered home the how’s and where’s and what’s. It felt good to be doing something where the instant benefit to the charity could be seen. As a form of practical production data-entry can rarely be beaten. The only problem is that completing necessary, recurring administrative processes can turn you into a bit of a robot. Or a cricket score-keeper. Both of which I admire but would not necessarily want to become for an extended period of time. Actually a robot would be ridiculously cool. As long as I could fly. With booster jet wings. And thruster rocket legs. Yeah.

But I digress. The practical data entry was to be superbly balanced with some immense political theory. John, our Communications Manager, unleashed an hour long whirlwind explosion of information detailing the fundamentals of political lobbying and the legislative processes of the EU and the UK. My only previous experiences of political theory were ‘The West Wing’ and ‘The Thick of It’ respectively so it was a lot to take in. Oh and, if it counts, a political philosophy module from first year. (Clue: it doesn’t). But John persevered and slowly, like an ice lolly on wallpaper, things began to stick. It was a blitz of words like ‘implementation’, ‘statutory’, ‘the’ etc but John was as clear and concise as these things can be and I am very grateful. On another note, he was an undergrad at Soton- though pints at Jesters were even cheaper when he was there.

Another thing I started today was the noting down of the recommendations for the creation of a fundraising committee. It’s one of a few things I want to bring to my first team meeting on Friday. The team meeting’s held in the rather swish boardroom (where we hosted the sixteen Malaysians yesterday) and involves a teleconference call to the CEO, Rod Bull, and some of the other team members in Jerusalem. I’m looking forward to it and have been practising my ‘business face’ in anticipation. But I’ll bring my recommendations for the fundraising committee as well as some research into the Al Jazeera International Documentary Film Festival and the meeting should prove valuable and successful. Of course, I actually have to finish those two things which is why I’m going to log off now. I’ve learnt not to make rash promises (both with work and other areas of life) so I’ll play it safe. Will see you when I see you.

 

Nick

The Intern returns…eventually

I hold my hands up. Know I planned to publish a daily blog. Really, I did have the best of intentions. Honest. But the best laid plans of etc and I think I was being hopelessly ambitious and ridiculously optimistic. Then again, that is a pretty accurate description of me.

Right apology over- onto better stuff. My pink screen’s fixed! No longer do I get that psychedelic, trippy feeling of staring so long at 80’s style cherry that blank paper appears radioactive green. It wasn’t mended by the classic IT cure of turning it off and on again but something almost as simple.  Dominic, a member of the team I met today, jiggled a wire connected to the monitor. Sorted. Course, this was after I begged Tech dude Julian over two calls and twenty minutes to replace my screen. It wasn’t that is was a terrible colour. It just kept getting me in the mood for a tight and bright night at Reflex. Which isn’t something that should be happening when you’re planning for a meeting with a Malaysian delegation from that Asian nation. (Couldn’t resist- it’s a fun thing to say quickly.)

They were lovely though. I started the day on a biscuit, juice and grape run. With a basket full of Jaffa Cakes, shortbread and, to even it up, fruit juice it was a lot like my weekly shop in Portswood. Rather than my usual grocery destination, I dropped into Marks and Sparks for the supplies. Slightly classier than the broken biscuit collection Farm Foods have in store.

That meeting wasn’t until the afternoon though. In the meantime I had plenty of other things to get on with. One thing I really want to achieve is to establish contact with different Student’s Unions around the country. Southampton was of course one lot I messaged but there was also Sheffield, L.S.E and Birmingham. I focussed upon society’s that may have an interest in the work we do- the Palestine Solidarity Society at Queen Mary’s, various human rights and international aid charities and so on. Hopefully, sometime soon I can get a response from the respective people. But with the potent blend of it being the summer holidays and general classic student organisation I won’t be holding my breath. Fingers crossed though.

The Malaysian delegation were scheduled for 2 PM. We were expecting a fairly large group, around sixteen in total, and all the most important preparations were set up. Biscuits being most crucial of course. 2 PM came…then went. Quarter past the hour, half past the hour and still no sign of any Malaysians, be they in a delegation or otherwise. I had an odd vision of the sixteen Malaysians, knocking on every door in Charterhouse and asking in heavily accented English for the whereabouts of the eye people.

Luckily, just before ten to three we received a tentative knock on the door. They’d found us! They were apologetic and slightly overheated from the stifling London heat but otherwise fine and dandy. We ushered them into the boardroom and, after serving them the all important biscuits and juice, sat down to the short film Eye to Eye and a presentation by Nicky, the Head of Fundraising and Marketing here.

The film was both moving and informative, detailing the tremendous efforts the charity makes. Case studies were shown as well as some of the harrowing statistics: the rate of blindness in the areas St John’s serve is ten times higher than in the west. Further more 80% of that blindness is preventable. That is what St John’s Eye Hospital is striving for: to eradicate preventable blindness by 2020.

During the film the delegation sat attentively, engaged with the material in front of them. By now the biscuits had all been munched but, as tasty as they were, the group were not here for the snacks. After Nicky’s presentation there was a very involved Q and A session. It was heartening to see how much of an interest they had in the work of the charity.

I was sorry to see them go; they were bright and perky and so enthusiastic about visiting. Their cameras were being whipped out throughout and I’m pretty sure that every square inch of the boardroom was snapped. Trigger happy doesn’t do them justice. Think of Rambo, but with a camera rather than an M16. They were the nicest paparazzi group ever. Before they left they presented us with a plaque, a lovely token that recognised the work completed in our hospitals. There were a few more photos and then they collectively strolled off onto their next stop. It was a good end to a good day.

Catch you later,

Nick

Intern’s Blog

This is my very first blog, hence its posish on the main page. If you want to read any more, do check out the intern’s blog page at the top. Or head to the original source on our website at http://www.stjohneyehospital.org/blog

As I woke up on a delightfully bright Monday morning, a tingle of excitement hit me like a shot of tequila. Usually at half seven I’m either comatose or about to go to sleep (I‘m a Southampton Uni student) but today was a special occasion. Not Independence Day, as something my American cousin was keen to remind me of for some reason last night and which, frankly, is something I associate most with Jeff Goldblum giving some aliens a computer virus and the Whitehouse blowing up. The reason for getting up at such an unearthly hour was because it was the first day of my internship at the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group. I’d shined my shoes. Ironed a shirt. Packed a lunch. Since finishing my exams all I‘d been doing is “researching my dissertation” i.e. an hour in the library then messing about in my student house. So I was eager to enter the hustle and bustle of the working world, hit London town, and get to work in my marketing internship for this worthy cause.

A little about me first. I’ve just finished my second year studying philosophy at Southampton. Yup, you read that right, philosophy. It is a bit of a transition from reading Nietzsche to initialising and implementing marketing strategies. In fact, I’ve a few friends who (half) jokingly remarked that taking up marketing in the city was selling out, trading in my soul for materialistic capitalist peanuts. Of course, pretty much any job after philosophy that doesn’t allow the wearing of dressing gowns and smoking of pipes can be considered selling out. But when I told them what I’d be doing, the people I’d be working with and the cause we strive for they all quickly agreed that I wasn’t flogging my soul. Rather the opposite in fact.

Southampton University have a great scheme in connecting undergrads like me with internships around the country. I have to confess when I saw the position available at the Eye Hospital I hadn’t really heard of the charity. Everyone’s heard of St. John’s ambulances but an eye hospital in Jerusalem? There’s not much coverage. Which is a crying shame because as I looked around the website and saw the fantastic work that they do I knew damn sure such efforts should be much more widely recognised.

There’s no way I could do justice to the activities of the hospital in a blog like this. Hopefully, you’ll have a browse through the rest of the website and check out some of the stuff undertaken. But in essence the hospital provides eye care to those whom desperately need it in the troubled areas of Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank. Regardless of a patient’s ethnicity, religion or ability to pay the Hospital tries to treat as many people as they can. 40,000 patients are treated each year by the hospital. They also train doctors affend nurses from the region so that even more can be treated.

When I read more about the group I appreciated even more the difficulties these guys face. It is not the most stable of regions. On my charity jailbreak earlier this year we were banned from hitchhiking to the West Bank. Also Afghanistan. That’s fair enough I suppose.

Today was the standard newbie initiation; tour around the office in Farringdon, meeting and greeting the team, being given the pink monitor. I was immediately struck by how helpful everyone was; the enthusiasm was infectious. Coffee had just been served but hey it’s still pretty impressive to be as welcoming as they were at 11AM on a Monday. My thanks to everyone who took the time to show me around when no doubt they had proper work to be doing.

After the talk I was told about the sort of things I will be working on over the next four weeks. This blog for one thing. Fingers crossed I should be delivering one each day for whilst I’m here, giving you updates about the hospital’s work and my experiences here. The next thing I’ll be working on is how to secure some celebrity endorsements. Really should start working on that; I’ll call it a day for now but don’t worry I’ll keep you informed on how it goes. If I can figure out how to get a comments section going feel free to drop me a line. Suggestions for celeb patrons would be appreciated. Hopefully not everyone will put Eva Mendes.

See you tomorrow,

Nick

 

Our mission

The St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group is the only charitable provider of eye care in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In these regions rates of blindness are ten times higher than in the West.  In 2010, we treated 102,382 patients – 34,238 under the age of 18.

The original St John Eye Hospital was established in Jerusalem in 1882. Since then, we have opened satellite centres taking expert eye care to the people of Gaza, Hebron and Anabta and initiated a Mobile Outreach Clinic taking vital services to those unable to travel to us. it is our mission to ensure that our patients are able to access poverty-relieving ophthalmic services regardless of where they live.

Training local Doctors and Nurses is also an essential objective.  In training local people, we invest in the region and help to rebuild its fractured infrastructure. That is why the Jerusalem Hospital operates a four-year Medical Residency Training Programme that is recognised by the Palestinian and Jordanian Boards of Ophthalmology.