Establishing Professional Contacts

Hello.....is anyone there?

In my field of work, law, when one begins to establish professional contacts you tend to go to varying social events of like minded people and rub shoulders and exchange cards.   

Then in about a week or two depending on the extent of your conversation at the social event, you give the person a call and see if a mutually beneficial acquaintance will develop. 

When I read the title of the Blog Assignment, I thought about going to my daughter’s school and trying to convince her teachers that I really wanted to get to know them and in particular, their understanding of the issues and trends in the Early Childhood Field in Jamaica.  Well, the instructions given put a twist on the matter and I sat down and composed emails to persons from the Global Alliance for the Education of Young Children based in Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras and Mexico.     These countries were selected first due to their proximity to me and visions of a possible trip in the future.

When a couple of the emails bounced back and there was no forthcoming response, I sent some more emails to Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa - the motherland and my roots.  

Still waiting………hello anyone there?

So the next step was to go to the alternative assignment.  I went to the World Forum Radio website and listened to a couple of the podcasts  which were quite interesting – especially the one from Delfena Mitchell, Director of the Liberty Children’s Home in Belize and her encounter with an abandoned and abused boy named Joseph.     I sent an email to the Liberty Foundation to initiate some contact and am awaiting a response.

I would love to hear whether any of my classmates have received a response from anyone.  

This assignment brings back memories of having a pen pal in a far distant country.  You would post a letter at the Post Office and wait several weeks for a response.  But when you did get a response, it was more than worth the wait, as you learnt about a new country, saw different stamps and got pictures which gave you a glimpse into another world.