advice from NGO professionals, please?

[advokat]

im an NGO worker and im in a bind. help, please?

i am a rabid activist in a family of mostly apolitical business people. i have been involved in NGOs since college and ive come to realize that i am happiest when im doing my advocacy, whether it be writing or working with people from the grassroot sectors. if only activism paid well, i will choose to stay on this path for as long as i could. but things are never that simple.

recently, my dad whom i love dearly, has asked me to help in the family business. if i accept his offer, i will gain job security and relative financial stability. i will have the money to indulge in my activism, but will have to forego my (and every NGO worker's) dream of some day working in an international NGO and going to exotic places like rwanda, chechnya, sudan, etc... i will have to resign myself to being a "weekend activist" and be contented (if at all) with being able to help in improving the economy. add to these the fact that i have no training at all in business management...

to NGO professionals, do you have regrets over choosing the socdevt path? is there a way to balance a career in business and involvement in socdevt? how do NGO workers gain financial stability if they stay on this track?

thanks and hope to hear your thoughts...

[pro_tempore]

here's a dilemma close to my heart.

i'm not an NGO professional, but i used to engage in it unofficially... tagging along when i hear my friends need help. i was never affiliated with any group, and i was reluctant to get deeply involved in a project, due to academic and professional concerns.

over time, though, advocacy has jaded me. i won't give out the reasons right now, there ought to be other threads for that...

brief history: growing up, we weren't rich at all. i almost didn't get to college, but thanks to kind relatives, i wasn't held back. in university, i became an "aktibong aktibista." but since then, a few things have turned around - my mother's health failed and my father's business picked up. now my father is asking if i would consider either helping him, or using my savings to start up my own business. and the latter is what i am currently focusing on.

i don't think i have a choice: i'm the only one my family can count on to be a breadwinner after my father retires, and i refuse to go back to being financially dependent on anyone. but i do miss certain aspects of social work. i've fallen out of touch with many of my old friends, but i keep my eyes open for anything i could do while working. while i sometimes participate in advocacy efforts online, i'm not even much of a "weekend activist" anymore. i continue to bank on the hope that my soon-to-be business really will pick up someday and i can at least have money to donate to reliable charity outfits.

i remember that one of my old friends was a very active person though. he was able to balance work, social affairs, church AND studies. secret: lots and lots of vitamins :D

it all depends on you. what is your priority? is it your personal happiness, or your personal security? if it's the former, follow your heart: target research positions in the bigger NGOs, travel around the world, broaden your horizons. you can always come back armed with more practical knowledge, which you could use in building financial stability for yourself and your family. if it's the latter, you could make the most of your family's knowledge to jump into the business world right now - start early and learn much. time for charity work would have to come later, but if you persevere, it will come.

[NoisyCricket]

I work for Children's Hour ( http://www.childrenshour.org.ph ), married, 1 little girl who will be turning 3 years old in July. I would not be able to provide my family with enough if I relied solely on my salary.

Our family business allows us to choose the kind of work that we want to do, not what we have to do. In this sense, i am very fortunate, and that is why I feel obligated to give back to the community.

To work in the family business is not a bad thing.

In my mind, I keep on trying to imagine what the Philippines would be without the Ayalas. If they decided not to go into business. No BPI, No Globe, No Manila Water, no Ayala Land, No Ayala Foundation, No Children's Hour.

You of course can help more people if you have more money. The sad truth. If only good intentions were enough..

I apologize for not telling you anything new.

You can join the family business, work things out, build some stability, "pay your dues", then at a certain point, make the decision of whether to stay or go back into the NGO work. it will always be there.

If you decide to stay with your present work, it is of course not a job, but a vocation which will entail many sacrifices.

Study your options carefully and good luck :)