Amazing. As I am writing this blog I am actually taking a break from the press release I should be writing. It’s about the big website launch (August 25th); it’s happening in two weeks, only 2 days before I go home. It’s so fitting that this last project has been the most time consuming and will now doubt have the biggest impact; but, it’s so hard that it ends now. Three months, just one summer, and what happens after. I am so confidant in Alba and her ability to take this project on and I am nervous to let it go at the same time. Emailing is one thing, and I know I will be involved; but, I just can’t get over that I won’t be there for the big pay off.

It’s totally selfish, I know, for me to be thinking in these terms; but, just as I leave KWN will be launching the new site, hosting a regional conference as the Women’s Peace Coalition, and starting to pass out all those pamphlets I made! I’m gonna miss it all. I also want to be here to work after these first exciting events – to get the contact list working on public relations initiatives; to look into some more funding opportunities for capacity building; to utilize these tools that I have left behind. That sounds totally self absorbed, I know. But, I really feel like the templates and changes I have made will positively affect the way KWN does business. What makes me really nervous is the idea that nothing I’ve done is going to make a significant change. I redesigned the website, (big deal); I made their emails and documents look pretty, (so what); I did a few trainings, (what do you know); but – I also wrote a bunch, (who will really read it). There is no way to know, so we’ll all just have to wait and see.

This has been a great summer. I’m ready to go home; but, it seems like I am just getting to make a life here. It’s really amazing how a place becomes home. Streets that once seemed scary are now my main shopping drags, and I am a regular at cafes that seemed too “Albanian posh” to enter. Now I get to pick it up and start over again in my old city; with a new job and a fresh semester. If you know anyone who needs an intern at about 15 dollars an hour/35 hours a week, give me a call. I’ll be in DC by Labor Day. (just kidding)

Thanks for coming with me on this little journey. I’ll write again before I leave – but, I just wanted to express my gratitude to an audience who is obviously concerned with the world and the individuals who make it up. The fact is that advocacy only works with a receptive audience. This is the first step, learning. The second step is working – but, more on that in my next (last) blog.