miniAID

I am Chris Whitehouse, native British, more than 20 years overseas experience, with long term postings taking me to Kenya, Turkey, Singapore, Thailand, Zambia, Nepal and most recently Bhutan. Shorter-term assignments and consultancies have seen me travel to Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, and Maldives. With a Master's in Development Studies, I have worked with VSO, UNV and UNDP, and am experienced in the development of projects, project appraisals, reviews and evaluations, the development of improved project monitoring systems, staff security, quality enhancement initiatives, and more. Writing, editing and proofreading have been key elements of my work in the field, and it is on this area that I now focus my attention, working from home. Through [login to view URL], I have acquired significant experience writing, editing, proofreading and guiding those writing documents. I always loved writing, whether articles, press releases, discussion papers, or more academic papers, such as the one I presented at the international conference held in Bhutan on Gross National Happiness. I have edited newsletters in Thailand, Zambia, Nepal, and Bhutan, and contributed articles to others. Some would describe my writing as out-of-the-box thinking. Others might use a less complimentary description, no doubt. But I do feel it is important to question how we do things, even if we have done them this way for a long time. The idea of offering support for development professionals through '[login to view URL]' emerged from a recognition that many working in the field are 'doers' more than 'writers', and tend to face heavy workloads that prevent them from putting as much time as they should, into producing reports and proposals. Moreover, the much maligned consultant often faces enormous challenges when given just a few days to brief him- or herself, carry out interviews or whatever, and produce a shining document.