It’s been an amazing year at whydev. We celebrated our one year birthday in July this year by highlighting Brendan and my favourite posts from the year before. As I look back and read over them now, I am amazed at the wonderful minds that we have managed to bring together on this site. Way back in May 2010, we would never have conceived that we would have huge international development heavyweights (and I mean that in the figurative sense!) such as Bonnie Koenig, Jennifer Lentfer and Greg Jericho with posts up on our site. Apart from big names, we’ve had some great posts from new up and comers to keep an eye on. These include, among others, those by the always insightful Emily D’Ath, the youthful Akhila Kolisetty and China aid specialist Philippa Brant. We’re exploring not just how aid and development should be done, but also what sort of characteristics people working in development need to cultivate, and we’ve had great ideas on that from Elie Calhoun of Expatbackup, Alessandra Pigni from Mindfulnessforngos and Steve Munroe of Satori Worldwide.
But 2011 hasn’t been about individual posts, or even about individuals. It’s been about collaboration, collective learning and most importantly, discussion. Much more than last year, I have seen people pushing each other to think and rethink concepts, and we’re now moving towards a site that has gone past simple head-nodding and onto provoking thought and asking questions.
On the note of collaboration, we have some very exciting things to look forward to for 2012. At some stage early in the year, we will be announcing a new peer coaching service, in collaboration with Shana Montesol Johnson from Development Crossroads. Using Shana’s advice as a career coach for people in international development, we will be trialling a service that aims to link up interested individuals from around the world with partners who are seeking like-minded individuals to talk about work issues with. We hope that this will be helpful to many people who are working in isolated conditions, and need somebody who isn’t necessarily in the same workplace, or senior or junior to them, to talk over experiences and difficulties encountered during work and life.
Moreover, we are looking forward to more of the same from you – our dedicated and lovely reader base, to keep inspiring us with your submissions, your comments and your reposts of our articles. Remember that whydev is not about Brendan and it’s not about me. It’s your site. We are always looking for more contributions and that is what keeps the site going. If you’ve thought about writing something in a public forum, but never got round to it, make it your 2012 resolution to check out our guidelines and get in touch with us at submissions[AT]whydev.org.
We wish you a happy holidays, however you are spending it, and a happy New Year, and we’ll see you again in 2012!
Weh Yeoh & Brendan Rigby
About Weh Yeoh
Weh Yeoh is a current job-seeker. He is a professionally trained physiotherapist who has completed a MA in Development Studies at the University of New South Wales. With experience in the NGO sector both in Australia and in China, with Handicap International, he hopes to combine his interest in development and passion for visiting far-flung destinations in the future. You can view his LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter below.
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May 2012 be filled with even more exciting developments for you guys… Happy holidays and thank you for creating such a wonderful space.
Thanks for your great writing on development issues and insights in 2011. Happy Holidays and looking forward to more discussion next year!
Do you think I can put "huge international development heavyweight" on my c.v.?
Flattered guys and thanks! All the best in 2012 for whydev.org!
I truly enjoyed your ideas and willingness to connect! All the best for a wonderful 2012 and I look forward to more discussions in the months to come!