Our last in-person staff meeting was held on March 3, 2020 – that’s four years and four months ago. Back then, we had 26 staff members and we met in the Training Room.  Today we are 36 members strong, and that room is now too small to accommodate us.

I will be taking you down memory lane and sharing with you, especially those who are new to IWSO, how the agency has changed and how those changes look from my lens, at the reception desk.

Let me begin with March 17, 2020. It was on this day that the office officially closed due to the Pandemic.  As staffers, we were sent home to work with no laptops and no cell phones. We had to improvise and use our own.  However, by May 2020, Mercy Lawluvi, our Executive Director, was able to secure funding and purchased laptops for us and later that month we received cell phones. This was the beginning of things to come.

Let there be no doubt, the IWSO of 2020 is not the same IWSO today. In my view, we are stronger and better. With that comes something I am sure we all can agree on, our workload has increased significantly – yet we press on.

With the influx of newcomers, our clientele has not only increased, but it has also changed. Before the Pandemic, our clients spoke mainly English, Arabic, and the occasional French/Spanish/Farsi/Somali.  Today, it is predominantly English/French, Farsi and Arabic with Spanish/Ukrainian/ Pasto and Dari to a lesser degree.

The good news is this – among the 36 staff members we speak 27 different languages.

I cannot tell you how many times I have had to lean on staff to quickly interpret for me or to call someone for me, because the client speaks a language that I do not understand.

Case in point, last week, a lady called and all she could say was Kinyarwanda. I was able to get her number from the call display and contacted Christine who speaks that language and asked her to call the woman back. I am sure that lady was happy to speak to someone who understood what she was saying.

Numerous times I have had to ask Amenah or Soukaina, who speak Arabic, to do the same.  Countless times I have had to lean on Noushin, Sepideh and Gulalai, who speak Farsi to help me as well.

I remember one day I had to call Isis, who was working from home, to speak to someone who came to the office for help but all she could say was Spanish.  Because Isis speaks Spanish, we were able to help her.

Before the Pandemic, these occurrences were rare but now they are commonplace.

Thanks to all who help so willingly when called upon to do so.

As for our programs and services, there are many new programs that have been added since 2020. Among them:

1. The Milk Program.
2. Client Accompaniment Program
3. Laptop Lending Program. (Remember in March 2020, we had no laptops for staff! Today we have laptops that we can lend to clients.)
4. Industrial Sewing – This program is less than a year old but it is helping women.
5. Digital Literacy
6. Leadership for Systematic Change

The services and programs we offer do not just happen, it takes someone with leadership, foresight, vision, and a steely will to forge ahead and get things done.

Every ship needs a good captain, and one of the roles of the captain is to manage the crew.  Mercy Lawluvi, our Executive Director, is the captain of the IWSO ship, and we are the crew. Many of us have sailed with her through calm waters and on rough seas as exemplified by the Pandemic.  As captain, Mercy made sure her crew had the tools and she employed what means were necessary to keep the ship sailing.  Today we are in calmer waters, and we are stronger and getting better each day thanks to Mercy’s leadership and the team which surrounds you.

So, this is my view from sitting at the reception desk at IWSO.  Every day I’m inspired by the tenacity and dedication of all our staff at IWSO.  We have one AMAZING TEAM.

Irma Bailey, Administrative Assistant, IWSO, August 2024