On the Trail to Timor

Progressio is an international development organisation working in 11 countries around the world on HIV and AIDS, Civil Society and Sustainable Environment. While many of you first became acquainted with us by sending seedpackets to your MPs expressing your concerns around Terminator technology, as an organisation we actually do much more. Progressio's Press Officer, Jo Barrett brings you more information about how we work through skilled professionals around the world to end poverty.

'There wouldn't be anything worse than sitting in an armchair at seventy and thinking "I haven't done anything that matters".'

It's hard to imagine the thoughts that creep through the mind of a Progressio development worker (DW) as they embark on a two-year placement in a distant country. But this is how Nicholas Molyneux summed up his motivation as he prepared to ditch England for East Timor (Timor Leste) last month.

Nick is joining more than 90 other Progressio DWs working around the world to help eradicate poverty. As a Sustainable Environment Capacity Building Adviser (yep, that's NGO jargon for you) he'll be supporting the Haburas Foundation - East Timor's leading project on environmental issues.

'I'm passionate about the environment, but more so about how the environment relates to society and improving people's happiness,' says Nick, two weeks before setting foot in the East Timor capital, Dili.

Progressio's skillshare approach - pairing professionals with partner organisations in developing countries around the world - has been at the heart of our development work since the 1960s. In that time, our DWs have worked in Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

We're especially keen to share skills between regions - which means the majority of our development workers are from the Global South. In Somaliland, professionals from Ethiopia, the Philippines and Zimbabwe have worked on projects to improve the lives of local people.

Wherever they're from, the DW remit is essentially the same: to help partners like Haburas build long-term skills and capacity. 'I want to make sure what I do is felt directly by the people,' says Nick.

'Anything else?' I ask gingerly (green with envy that Nick is off to warmer climes). 'Oh yes - I'm going to bring kite surfing to East Timor,' he adds. As if being a DW isn't glamorous enough, Nick is also a kite surfing instructor!