04 June 2008

Baucau, Timor-Leste: I work as a Movement Coordination (Movcon) Assistant for the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). I ensure that every movement in and out of my duty station follows UNMIT's rules and regulations. I get things moving.

I bring to my UNV assignment eight years of logistics, administrative and personnel management experience. My work entails planning, organizing and executing movements of inbound and outbound cargo and passengers via suitable modes of transportation; drafting movement orders; preparing work orders related to movement preparing reports on the same; flight monitoring, checking in passengers prior to departure etc.

I look forward to coming to work every day. My typical day starts off with me checking my e-mails and looking into any requests that are pending, such as Movement of Personnel (MOP) and Cargo Movement Requests (CMR).

My proudest moment, a real achievement for me, was when I was entrusted and responsible for Dom Alexio subdistrict, the most challenging in terms of population and security, during the election period. Dom Alexio was a very volatile subdistrict in Dili but all election work was done without any mishap or unwanted incident - it was a peaceful process. All pre- and post-election work went on without any glitches.
 
On another instance, I am proud to say that I also received recognition from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General during the Secretary-General's visit in December 2007 to see the logistical support from Movcon. All arrangements made for him was well planned and coordinated and his high-level visit here was successful.

Coming from a background with a diverse and colourful culture has certainly enabled me to work well with everyone here. I have learned much from my assignment and I am certainly grateful for the experience I have gained with my tenure here.

I chose to become a UN volunteer so that I could extend my experience in helping those in need and make a difference in the lives of people who are troubled. Volunteering with the UN is the best thing anyone could do and to be able to assist and help the community is blissful.